Railfanning Advice on FEC

Hello,
There's a pretty good chance that I may be taking a vacation to the Miami area between the end of January and early Feb. Which are the best spots in the MIA area to railfan the FEC? I'm not going to be driving down there. Thanks.

At this end of the railroad (Fort Lauderdale/Miami) most of the action is at night. Daytime trains include the locals out of Fort Lauderdale (960 and 965, one north and one south but maybe not every day) plus 202 but again probably not every day. Sometimes you can combine a trip to watch Tri-Rail in Fort Lauderdale as I outlined in your other request with a side trip downtown to watch train 222 pass through northbound. ATCS is a big help in this case as 222 can show up anytime between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. At the right time you can see three or four trains in a three hour period while at other times you will be looking at shiny rails but not much else. Check closer to when you make this trip with specific days and I will try to help you with some more information.
Noel Weaver

Hi Noel........

Glad to see you posting again and hope you are well......

I am headed to the Fort Meyers/Tampa area...........are there any FEC lines through there or is the closest Fort Lauderdale?

And what wouldbe a good time to catch any of these moves?

Thanks!

Reader#108 wrote:Hi Noel........

Glad to see you posting again and hope you are well......

I am headed to the Fort Meyers/Tampa area...........are there any FEC lines through there or is the closest Fort Lauderdale?

And what wouldbe a good time to catch any of these moves?

Thanks!

Can't help you with the time, but you would have to leave the west coast of Florida and go to the east coast of Florida to catch any FEC trains. The Florida East Coast railroad name is accurate.

Good news, trains 218 and 117 are being put on between Fort Lauderdale and Bowden Yard (Jacksonville) effective next week. Both jobs will go on duty at 6:-00 PM for 6:30 PM to go and run through. 218 will make a couple of stops enroute north, heaven't heard about 117 but that one might run all the way nonstop. This will take some of the load off NB 224 and train 107 has a huge drop at Fort Lauderdale that will not happen anymore either. The FEC has at least 2 more 700's (SD-40-2's) back from lease and I have heard that more are on the way as well.
Much crossing and track work is taking place for AAF as well so more work trains are in prospect as well.
Noel Weaver

Trains 218 and 117 begin today, power will be EMD's, two 400's SB today on 117 and two 700's NB at 218. Most likely the same power that comes down tonight on 117 will return tomorrow on 218.
Noel Weaver

So how many daily road jobs does FEC now run North of Ft Lauderdale?

roberttosh wrote:So how many daily road jobs does FEC now run North of Ft Lauderdale?

Out of Hialeah 210, 202, 222 and 226 with IM and anything else as well plus out of Medley 336 the Unit train for City Point. SB 101, 107, 109 and 121 for Hialeah, 335 the empty rock cars for Medley. Sometimes the Unit Train will also carry more rock to drop enroute NB.
Out of Fort Lauderdale 218 and 224 NB and 117 and 123 SB. This makes a total of seven trains weekdays. The Unit trains run Sunday - Friday while the other jobs out of Hialeah run every day. Out of Fort Lauderdale trains 224 and 123 run Sunday through Friday while 218 and 117 run Monday through Friday.
Restoration of 218 and 123 means that 224 is not as long as it was before although it is much heavier than 218, 224 runs non-stop to Bowden while 218 makes stops enroute to pick up more cars, I am not positive just what stops 218 makes except I am pretty sure they do work at Fort Pierce. Southbound 107 was a monster with a big rear end drop at Fort Lauderdale, now 107 gets a straight shot to Hialeah with 117 running to Fort Lauderdale non-stop from Bowden.
On another subject I have heard at a bunch of the 700's are coming back from the CSX lease to the FEC for service or whatever while the four remaining SD-70's might also be coming back but in this case I think it is just to be parked at NSB for storage.
Noel Weaver

Great info; thank you!!

I heard just today that the 700's (SD-40-2's) will be coming back very soon and will be either stored or used depending on need. The four remaining (at least in these parts) will also return but only to New Smyrna Beach for dead storage and these will not be used. Most likely the FEC will be paid by the owners of these units for storing them. The 700's on the other hand are owned by the FEC and will see future use sooner or later as need be.
Noel Weaver

It is quite possible that the 4 SD70s may also be heading to New England. There were rumors of that when the first 4 were sold.

lirrelectrician wrote:It is quite possible that the 4 SD70s may also be heading to New England. There were rumors of that when the first 4 were sold.

I don't think these engines were sold, they are still owned by a leasing company like a lot of other engines in the national fleet.
Noel Weaver

Anybody headed from out of the area to FEC territory, please be advised that just about everywhere between West Palm Beach and North Miami there is construction of one degree or another all along the ROW. I don't get about the railroad as much as I have done in the past but everywhere there is construction with dirt, debris, track materials etc along the track and photos will not be as attractive as they usually area. As these projects are completed I suspect things will be cleaned up but there are areas that photos will not be nearly as good as in the past and some areas are not really as safe either. If you are driving take time to scout first and continue to enjoy our interesting railroad. In addition to the above, I suggest extra caution when walking around these parts as well and especially when crossing at a railroad street crossing, some sidewalks have debris on them and some might be closed and torn up as well.
Noel Weaver