On Friday, before the evening railfanning activities began I made a side trek to Hialeah and North Miami areas. I caught one Tri-Rail but wanted to look at Hialeah Yard to see if anything was happening. Saw some decent train activity and learned of 8054 being the yard slug. I eventually made it up to Tompkins to see if this industry, Perez Trading, had the track still full of boxcars. Well... it was half of what it had, but I still got a good set of photos. Otherwise, I had good findings. This industrial park is really and truly a cool place to railfan. I wonder what fun a switching move would be to see. I believe either a midday or evening job works this area but will like to find out more.
Perez Trading (above) had cars fill every last door to the point that it would almost make it to the street. Still a positive note seeing half of the cars there.
A closer look at this covered hopper on the other end, which is almost to the street. A different customer here, United Oil.
A deeper look (above)
Lance remarked about Higgins (Above) which at the Birds Eye time had a Canada hopper. Today, a BNSF hopper sits outside. I think grain or a dry bulk ingredient of dog or cat food is in it. This car was not there on Tuesday.
There were about 6 high cube boxcars in this house track. Not abandoned! ;)
Meanwhile, the frequently worked gypsum customer in the back hasn't had that spot to the left on the main track.
Gordon Food Service fooled me into thinking they didn't take cars in on Tuesday but Friday told otherwise with that lone boxcar sitting on the second spot.
Thanks to Mike M. for sharing this with me. This photo way back in '06 in the real estate boom time has a yard replete with cars. I'd assume Dania yard was full back then! F05 is in the background with F06 and F07 closer to frame. Back then there were always two jobs around the O717 district. I am glad to say today that O718 now does some of O717's work as well. Yesterday O718 switched Brick America, and I believe on May 10th O718 worked AllSteel; I saw coil cars on the night switcher.
Always nice to check up on the hometown train and see what manifest is in store. 2 cars for Lehigh Spur and 3 gons for Miami Iron & Metal in the mix with 2 tubs for Yelvington as well.
Being into model railroading, chances are one would find their way to seeing Lance Mindheim's layouts of the East Rail and Downtown Spur district. I found my way actually by accident. When I googled "CSX Miami" in 2004 I found pictures of east rail. The whole thing seemed to escape me until I got back around '08 and found his site.
One goal emerged and it became clearer as I developed my YouTube "Career". Catch the jobs working these two areas. No one had ever posted videos of these trains and photos were extremely scarce. Of a present day operation, this one journalist who just got a photo of cars stopped by FPT and myself are probably the only folks who have accomplished it. I got lucky on three occasions and planned more.
On July 22, 2011, in the brink of time I managed to actually beat Y322 in a eureka moment to the Hialeah Yard Ready track around SX 1033.6. I don't know how; it was just pure luck when I saw northbound after northbound lined into Hialeah Yard and magically found 'it' in the sea of Tri-Rails. Because of the last minute shot I became inspired to leave a little earlier and get it a little deeper.
As an aside, I was hoping to get coal action on April 20 when Y220, instead of working the Lehigh Spur, went to East Rail. I knew that was a new pattern for Fridays and followed suit. I caught it working and pulling out of the NW 59 ST section of the Big Hole lead. Was a cool catch but now they run in daylight under job Y121. Tony scored them at Sentry.
Now on Monday I caught Y322 again, earlier as hoped but not doing what I wanted. The job was already stopped and waiting for lights back to Hialeah. I was a bit disappointed being late for any real action but seeing it is what counts. I have the photos up and videos will come sometime next week. Being a Monday it was also the shortest Y322 ever with 4 cars. I have hopes when I attempt it next Friday, June 29 that it will be longer. I don't think I can make a marked attempt to be up at 6:00 AM and head east at that time but can try. When I get older, however, I may plan to dog the train with friends. Since this train works earlier on Fridays as well, I may be able to sneak out at midnight and get him heading south. We'll wait and see.
Monday was a fun trip without any doubt. I did recon on the ex. SAL main that once connected to Downtown Miami. The results were not satisfactory with everywhere but the four nearby customers devoid of cars on the house tracks. It is still believed Family and Sons receives the way that ADMX tanker was on there so we can hope.
It is funny how people say this job is hard to catch. Truly just look at this blog and the answers are here. It is on duty 11:59 PM but usually leaves Hialeah Yard about 2:00 AM-3:00 AM. It will definitely be somewhere on that line after that time, probably first off around FPT/Miami Iron and later on around Cliff Berry Inc. At about 5:45-6:00 AM you can find them running their train around at NW 10 AV, but that changes based on how many eastbound trailing points have to be worked and the same for customers such as Florida Bottling and Proveedora Jiron. They will usually work Trujillo and Sun Gas being whoever is actually left. I suppose around 7:30-8:00 AM in the depths of the Tri-Rail ops you can find them arriving to their wait along N River Drive and then they get into the yard around 10:30 AM, the first clearing of Tri-Rail. If you want a shot in Hialeah, during the AM hours, you can wait on Tri-Rail P620 and he'll dog him. The mornings that this job is flat out guaranteed are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is easy when you would be up for it. It can be challenging being in the area around 4 am but yet when you have company you are a little safer. They say 'strength in numbers' and with this job it works.
They are the biggest annoyance in the world. You never know when you cling them on to you. Looks like any ol' ray of grass. But the spikes ignite a painful fire on your legs and feet (Yes they go inside shoes!). Take them out and your fingers suffer their wrath. They are sand spurs.
Not what I expected, but still at least part of the character this job is renowned for. A cloud dumped in on me so Photoshop is my safety valve. Pardon the rushing involved with this pic. ;)
Last Saturday, June 9th, I completed a day blitz to greater Jacksonville, FL with the SFRM gang, Paul M, Tim S, Rudy R, and Mike M. We were the same group as in Railwatch 2012 except I rode full-time. I have a mix of thoughts relating to the concept of "eco-trips" as I have blogged earlier and geographically the train pickings. Don't worry, they are all good.
Eco-trips are the best idea that has come since the internet. Well, maybe not; but they put a train buff in a good position. I enjoy this hobby as a means of photographic art and film, so geography matters quite a bit. This allows one person's trip to West Palm Beach from Miami to be truly four people's trips to Jacksonville.
It is a simple science. Carpooling is the best way of putting it. Gas funding is split, so you are really paying for a quarter of a trip (there can be exceptions to that rule but it is really at the discretion of the group). Another liberty is the fact that everyone in your group is not only watching each other's backs, but in the same streamed interest. Many of us have parents who do not enjoy the trips (myself included) in full so it works.
JAX Blitz was almost a complete success save for factors outside of our control. As Paul M. reported (traditionally with each trip), the weathermen are "highly paid liars"... A washout beyond our control dared attempt to spoil our day. But truly our spirits were not that dampened.
In the process we broke the day trip record, me more so. I have video recorded about 25 trains while the club got about 20-22 (depending who you are). Part of this is my engagement in dashcam railfanning (Ted's term) whereas I set up the cam monopod style between my legs (Ted has a designated spot however) and film from the car. My posture and height allowed me the front seat (I'm the second tallest of the crowd) for much of the trip. Another was willingness to film every last yard job, which I don't regret at all. Either way 20 or 25, this was a record for the traditional Jax Blitz, which connoted good news to begin with.
I liked this part however. The traditional and ridiculed "dash-8" (C40-8W) was the minority this trip! Railwatch gave them a good presence but this trip in all truth didn't produce dash-8s-a-many. Part of this did owe to the fact that my Sunday coming home was about 80% C40-8W (save for Q606, Q458, the leader of Q180, FEC 107, and the SD40-2 on Q452). This trip gave in my first videos of the CSX SD70M, the SD70ACe, among seen-before HLCX SD40-2s and CSX SD70MACs. This produced plenty of CSXT SD50s, SD40-2 and 3s, SD70MACs, and SD60s in all of the three makes (Isolated, Safety and Spartan cabs). Spartan cab -8s made a presence; I do not count those engines as the despised dash-8s due to their image and the slightly different horn.
The geography is fun but I admit some areas can get a little tiresome. The meat of the trains were caught at CR 108, a crossing located smack-dab in the throat of Callahan interlocking. Jax terminal makes for an interesting area as far as action as well with the yard action and the proximity to Norfolk Southern.
Here are the videos from the trip before I admit that the Miami Sub is not worth any downplay even with the grail of Jacksonville.
I love Jacksonville; now do I hate Miami?
Not at all. I actually miss getting some Miami terminal action. The area has a completely different aura and atmosphere, one that can be sensed anywhere along the corridor. The freight car arrangements are a little different too. Much of 452's or 453's carloads are modern pieces of rolling stock put together much unlike any other trains.
I am still dying to catch some urban yard jobs as well. Y322 has been catching my eye since the July 22nd catch as well; that is the famed Downtown Spur Switcher that is getting modelers to empty their pockets for HO Scale palm trees and scrap gons.
The atmosphere that frames the shots of O722, O721, O717, O718, Y322, Y220, and any other nameable job in Miami terminal is something that truly cannot be reproduced anywhere else in the world. When you catch a yard job, you are living some truly exotic scene. I think it is just the mix and match of pastel tones, palm trees, sand spurs, and every bit and piece of debris that just composes the shot beautifully. Outside of the yard jobs, for the rest (the first four locals I mentioned above), the area looks very clean and fresh. The areas that receive service from those locals are in some fairly young industrial parks surrounded by lush trees and green spaces. It infuses the tropical scene with suburban America, making for another unique and compositely pretty shot. O721 passes through some very Latin American looking NEIGHBORHOODS (!) as well, making that something that cannot be replicated elsewhere too.
Miami doesn't have too much action. 10 FEC a day, and about 5-6 CSX (locals and freight hauls combined) in a given area make up the area, but it can work out like a science there too. If a day trip can be planned correctly, numbers can be scored. Or maybe an hour or two given to a train or two helps too. But the good tradeoff is the geography.
I will still seek North Florida railfanning without any doubt. Yet, South Florida is an area that cannot be neglected as well. The Eco-trip will continue to serve as a wonderful motive for railfanning; as my friends and I colloquially say to anything: "I Approve!".
(I'm not speaking of the excellent hobby store in this entry! ;) )
With the arrival of summer, a time period at which wasting time is a regularity, I will now return to continuing the development of the Miami Sub Pompano area layout.
I will be streamlining my LEGO and Model Railroad quarters to allow a more efficient, better laid out area then continuing the benchwork. I anticipate a trip to Lowe's next week to purchase extruded foam as well. I have two LEGO projects in progress as well so I also have something to do in case I crash to the realm of boredom.
I am glad that the school year (and underlying Cambridge tests) are over for the year! I will also be thinking meticulously about college options. It is possible that I will study here in Florida but if I can be fortunate enough to go abroad, that's welcome too!
A recently found or dug up catch of O717, the Sentinel local through Fort Lauderdale. This person isn't really into this by what I can see but it is a great video nonetheless. This find puts Home Depot, Publix, Sentinel, and Fast-Dry in a good place on the industry barometer.
Miami Sub outings are best done "tranquilo".... Why?
On weekends, despite the lack of traffic for the most part, recon is easy to do, the mainline catches are easy to get, and there's time to hit the hobby shops.
Needless to say I love weekday outings. They get high numbers and are a nice efficiency challenge. Weeknight... even better.
Sometimes when school is in with brute force it is almost necessary to just get away for the weekend and have some camaraderie with your friend.
