Route Suggestion: South Florida

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by Noah Berger, Sep 4, 2020.

  1. Noah Berger

    Noah Berger Member

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    OK... So I have been hesitant to add this suggestion for fear of being called a homer and wanting my home line. But I really feel like the South Florida area has such a wide variety of rail traffic and such a storied history that it would be a great route for TSW.
    This may get rambly so bear with me.
    I'm gonna try and keep myself organized.
    The area that I suggest includes the parallel main lines of the South Florida Rail Transportation Authority (CSX/Amtrak Trackage rights) and Florida East Coast Railway (Brightline Trackage Rights) between West Palm Beach in the north and Hialeah Yard/Port of Miami in the south.
    For the SFRTA part of the route, you have the double track main line from Mangonia Park down along the I-95 to the Miami International Airport Station, with industrial spurs dotted around, sidings, and the spur near the MIA station that takes you around the perimeter of the airport and links you to the bottom of the FEC Hialeah Yard. Amtrak runs two daily round trip services departing currently from their Miami station near the Metrorail transfer station of tri-rail, they are planned to use the airport station but the platform position would leave the trains blocking a major road so that is on hold. CSX operates a couple of trains daily through the area with a few locals and a unit rock salt train heading up north. CORRIDOR-FEB-2016-NEW-EDIT-1.png This chart is slightly outdated but is mostly accurate.
    There also is a connection at Iris Interlocking with the Florida East Coast Mainline to allow Tri-Rail trains to operate into the Miami Central Station in Downtown Miami. Which leads me to the fun part... Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline. The mainline from West Palm Beach all the way through to Hialeah Yard is double-tracked with Brightline Stations currently in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. There are stations under construction in Boca Raton and Aventura. There are also plans for commuter service with 5+ stations between Miami Central and that Aventura station. When these are completed there will be more than 50 trains a day in this area consisting of Brightline trains destined for Orlando, The local commuter trains, and at least 4 round trip FEC Intermodal and mixed freight trains. Along the line, the FEC operates large intermodal Terminals at Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) and in Hialeah. The double-track spur down to the Miami Central Station for Brightline also has the single track spur that goes through downtown, over a drawbridge, and onto Dodge Island which is the Port of Miami and has a nice surface yard there. Hialeah yard is a very active intermodal yard. There are also two spurs that lead west out to rock salt mines where trains are constantly being loaded for hauling north. Overall this is a very active and very interesting route that I feel would be a great addition to TSW.

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that I have some connections to employees at these railways and I live in the area and can provide a lot of information about the lines.

    111517-Florida-East-Coast-Railway-LNG.jpg This is a normal locomotive setup for FEC... there is another locomotive facing the other direction on the left of the picture. That tank is full of Liquified Natural Gas, which the Florida East Coast railway uses.

    brightline.png
    A brightline train.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2020
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  2. MetrolinkF125#916

    MetrolinkF125#916 Well-Known Member

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    Nice, I’ve seen a lot of videos of the trains that operate in the area and I can say without a doubt that a route like this would be a very awesome add on for TSW! The only problem with the creation of the route would be that DTG doesn’t have a license to use the Tri-Rail, FEC, or Brightline logos. Anyways Brightline is now Virgin trains USA so that’ll be another problem as they’ll need two licenses, one to use the Brightline design on trains and the virgin trains logo, but hey, there are more routes coming out based on the TSW 2 roadmap, and they’re mostly made by third parties, so this means that a third party could decide and make a dlc like this although unbranded, anyways nice suggestions!:)
     
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  3. Noah Berger

    Noah Berger Member

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    Actually, brightline recently ended their partnership with Virgin so that wont be an issue!
     
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  4. MetrolinkF125#916

    MetrolinkF125#916 Well-Known Member

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    Wow, I didn’t know that, I guess I’ll have to do a little more research on that but that’s what I’ve heard last time I’ve heard news of the rail line, but great, one less problem off the board!
     
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  5. Noah Berger

    Noah Berger Member

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  6. JGRudnick

    JGRudnick Well-Known Member

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    I would love to see a FEC/Brightline route in TSW2! I really like the streamlined NA high-speed trains and the LNG tenders are pretty neat!
     
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  7. MetrolinkF125#916

    MetrolinkF125#916 Well-Known Member

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    Me too, we’d also get more heavy freight and another American passenger route! These trains would be nice to drive!
     
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  8. TSWx

    TSWx Active Member

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    Looking fancy! I like it.
     
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  9. shores_richard

    shores_richard New Member

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    Hello fellow members;

    I am very pleased that the route from West Palm Beach to Miami was recently created for TRS 2021. It was the motivation for me to become a member last week.

    I am no stranger to all of the railroads being discussed in this thread. I am hearing FEC Trains pass through what used to be the Hypoluxo siding as I write this post. The Boynton Beach TriRail Station is a short walk west of my house, and I work next to CSX trackage during the weekdays. I got to ride on and even drive locomotives as a former FEC employee.

    On September 13th, 2001 The Florida East Coast Railway Society began its operations. I was its founder. The Florida East Coast Railway welcomed this new rail-fans organization with open arms. Within the first year, we had our annual convention, taking members on a tour of FEC Headquarters and Bowden yard by the busload. Members of FEC Management and staff often attend our annual meetings. Brightline has done the same. There should be little problems securing rights to use their logos.

    The FECRS has members throughout the United States and the world. Over the years, our group has been invited to visit facilities of CSX, Tri-Rail, FECR, Brightline, and the NASA Railroad. I would enjoy bringing all of these Florida routes to Railroad Simulator. I believe that there are many FECRS members who would like to help as well.

    Let's discuss how we can make that happen.

    Richard
     
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