Running around Miami today...

Earlier this afternoon I scouted some area industries in Miami proper and Hialeah for the usual excuses... Trainz research, keeping up with progress, model railroading, the works. Today went not as it was planned. Originally I was arranging to chase the Downtown Spur job, Y322, back to the yard around 7-something in the morning. I changed the plan to start with the usual "last chance" shot of the train at 10 AM and chase around town up until 4-5 PM. Sounded good, but didn't work out as good as it sounded.

This all Miami chase for me has become a popular item since Miami was essentially "rediscovered" as a busy terminal, for lack of a better term. It is supposedly even busier since FEC pioneers jobs 984-987 to shuttle rock for the Fort Lauderdale runway project.

This entry will point out the highlights and lowlights of my day as well as mention how the logistics are going on CSX.

Part I - Hialeah

I was looking for Train 202 on the FEC to head out to Jacksonville but it wouldn't and since I wasn't supposed to be hanging and putzing around in Hialeah, I skirted the exotic city and made headway for East Rail and the Downtown Spur. The industrial recon for the CSX side industries was on the list and I made good on checking on every customer south of Hialeah Yard. 

East rail was a desolate stretch of track save for Sentry Industries. They had six tanks. After tossing and turning through the streets around East Rail, I knew P625 was due in so I headed to 46th St to catch it at my secret spot. This is a great spot, especially the north side by the signal. But CSX needs to get on trimming those weeds.

Part II - Downtown Spur

This segment was the heart of the excursion. Originally we were supposed to dog Y322 on this line getting it where we could but the job came back when I was having REM sleep most likely. We visited an old friend at his shop for the first time in 2+ years since we were in the area and spotted around taking pics. My dad was fascinated with the Miami Canal area in particular but shots were damned tight and I said I'll leave it for another trip.

The Downtown lead is strong industriously with FP&T, Miami Iron (presumably), Sun-Gas, CBI, Family & Son, and Trujillo all full of cars. Of note was a broken gate/crossing malfunction here at N River Dr. In the meantime we lunched at a BK at 12th Av / 20th St in the medical district (and missed a chance to speak with an attractive girl waiting on her food - oh well). 

Part III - Hialeah (Again)

The most fail-ridden part of the trip was the look around Hialeah. Something was coming off of track-3 at Dania and I thought it best to check out the north side of the yard and bag it. Wrong. We waited there and my dad handled business matters but saw only track. We did manage to check out Hialeah Yard from the bridge. It's nice to see most of the yard tracks filled with cars, a  good sign.

Train 986 was narrowly missed (by a darn hair) and so was a Tri-Rail that left when we used the restroom at Amtrak Miami. O721 in the meantime was getting its train together.

Part IV - Chasing O721

I met up with Cesar (tonymagona334) at Aero Squadron to pick up the O721 I saw at the yard. This was our first time chasing together and our second time meeting in person. This midsize train passed us and we were able to chase it down to SW 12 ST. Nothing special on O721... overcast skies, 2 cars for Orr, and a lot of CYDX cars. We would run to La Carreta for snacks, camaraderie, and saying goodbye for the day and with the promise that we will chase again, in the future.

Our videos compiled together (I let him do it all) can be found here in this package:

Changes to Miami Terminal Locals

With the new year CSX appears to have taken to changing the profiles of their locals. If a source can confirm this that would be appreciated.

Y220 now has to work East Rail most of its days. This does not sound like good news since it appears CSX has abolished the midday and photo and video friendly (or unfriendly given the hassles) Y121. Y220 works all the terminal industries and those customers as well. I would not be surprised to see some of the workload in Hialeah shuffled to another yard job, but Y220 still is the main job. I will have to confirm if Y121 is abolished but given ATCS tracking, the switches have not been seen to point to East Rail in the midday hours. Now as an update, to contradict that, there is an occupancy on East Rail as of 12:45 PM. Hmm.

Y322 still runs as usual but has not been going to the Lehigh too often. It's still in its profile but probably on some sort of as needed basis.

O721 now appears to run Monday-Friday with the Rock Trains running as their K symbol on the weekend. The K-trains on record now show a trend favoring sporadic runs. December 22 and 29 K996 ran; the 22 was on O721's schedule more or less, and the 29th was on their ooooold schedule. January 6 saw the K996 again but in the morning, and January 13 saw K978 on the Lehigh Spur. K996 ran again this time on the 19th at night. O721 switches their customers Monday through Friday, evidenced on December 21, via Joe (BusProwler) on the 28th, and January 18th. Given the Homestead almost firmly sees 6 moves a week, this is a good upturn from five and this spells good news for the Homestead Sub.

More will be found out about these changes as time goes on.

2012: A Year in Logistics

Throughout the year, within the scope of my life I have been able to focus on trains quite a bit. I'm not sure if it's more than I should but at least for me to have maintained decent grades, I guess it will do.

This  blog post will reflect on the "Winners" and "losers" of the SFL area in terms of industry...

First, the losers... Yes, we gotta get that over with.
The Lehigh Spur has not been taking in nearly as much as it did back in the day. When I started filming in the spur, activity occured 3-4 times a week, just as much as the Homestead Sub. This was 2009. 2011 presented the biggest flop when FRKX stopped producing rock trains and since then, there have been only two rock trains to date coming from the Lehigh Spur's plant. Coal ash/flyash/whatever goes in the First Union hoppers or "Green Gons" of the past has been down since 2009 but has not shown much picking up. It may appear given the current schedule that the Lehigh is all but abandoned, but the thing is now Y322 works the spur in weekday mornings. Carloads have topped 2-3 per week of the construction material on average. There was one Q453 (Dec 2) that brought optimism given it had about 9 loads, and the 29th had one load.
The coal on the other hand has been in good shape and unit trains have been maintaining a mostly monthly pattern. V149, 48, 47, and 45 have run in total January, February, April, June, July, August, October, November, and December. 9 coal trains have run this year which is pretty good compared with years past as I think the annual records were about 8. But what could deceive things is the December coal train came at the very end of the month so perhaps there could be one less expected train in January.

The Downtown Spur has been so-so this whole year but has been in better shape come the end of the year. Any cuts that look like it on Q452 trains seen throughout have been fairly short especially in the summer. However, the number of cars have really shot up at the end of the year with up and coming railfan Timothy Duggan bagging a Y322 with 13 cars. I have also noticed back to back Q453s with high scrap gondolas for Miami Iron in the "Last Railfanning Weekend of 2012" (Video coming soon). Things appeared as though Trujillo, Family & Sons, Sun Gas, CBI, Miami Iron, FPT (which had 2 gons on Q453-28 December), et al are receiving, in the end.

The Homestead Sub south of Sterling has spelled desolation, desolation, desolation. AFEC appears not to be taking in much if any at all, even though they had cars in January. Part of this could be noticed by O721 having 6-axle power most of the time, whereas the 75lb section of track is 4-axle only. Properties that once housed Stock and a boxcar customer in proper still carry For Lease signs, current to last Saturday the 29th.

The Winners:
Homestead Sub  between the GPC Spur and Hialeah has been strong industrially. Almost every time I catch O721, it would have something additional to its mix for Conrad Yelvington. Covered "Tubs" (gravity discharge covered hoppers) have shown up much more frequently, and so did Probuild's centerbeams. At times they would receive two maybe three beams of gypsum. Cars for Orr have also started showing up on Sundays as they would most others and shipments could top 10 cars (July 31). I have also at times seen cars for Seal-Tite Plastics.

East Rail held out strong especially around SALCO. The demand for freight apparently prompted CSX to add job Y121 beginning June 2. However, I believe that job is either rare or no longer. Cars are still delivered almost daily on job Y220. Tompkins has also been very strong, especially whereas in June I saw a whole line of boxcars spotted at an industry.

The biggest winner is the Pompano corridor. O717 has always had its work cut out for it, rain or shine, and 2012 was no exception. Especially towards the end of the year, there would be ample freight waiting for it in Dania's "Middle Track" and "Back track". The cut of cars has been recently noticed to go to the curve in front of the airport's runway whereas it hasn't for much of the year. I have noticed at year's end plenty of cars for Cross Dock, Boise-Cascade, Home Depot, and Amerigas. Amerigas is one really active customer, sometimes prompting the train to work weekends to set out cars for it.

Rock has slowly shifted upwards, especially at years' end. There has been a time peaking in the Summer where both FEC and CSX rock shipped well, but at some point CSX rock went mute for some undisclosed reason (end of July). K996 has been the most prominent rock train, probably for the 618-I-4 connector construction.

In the end, this was a great year for railfanning and business is slowly improving, even though the signs are subtle. Let's hope 2013 will be even better!

CSX Meets Tri-Rail At The Diamond...

Up-and-coming South Florida Railfan Timothy Duggan bagged a really good catch. It came with good timing, and GREAT business news for the Downtown Spur.

Train Y322-18 Looks like CSX is doing great on the line and it's surely due a check. Cars from FP&T, Family and Sons, Miami Iron and Metal, Sun Gas, and a hodgepodge of boxcar customers. This is a 13 car train which about ties my 13 car Y322 from July 2011, and shot on a Wednesday. I hope to be getting action here on the 26th or 28th, and will be focusing on the monitor to know which days are choice for the catch. What makes this more appealing is as you'll see below in my archives, I had a catch from June 18th that was only 4 cars of length, and when scouting the spur, found it to be almost desolate and on near-abandonment, for lack of a better term.

2 High Gondolas (Miami Iron)
3 low gondolas (FP&T)
2 LPG Tankers (Sun Gas)
4 Boxcars (Either Trujillo, Miami Waste Paper, or some surprise customer)
1 Tanker (Oil) (Family & Son)
and 1 Boxcar (Family & Son)

The 2011 catch: (13 cars) 

The 6/2012 catch: (4 cars)

Train P619-19 Tri-Rail's SB 9:00 train from West Palm Beach had an all Hyundai-Rotem consist.

Santeria on the Lehigh Spur & O721-11

Miami is known for it. Chicken sacrifices placed spiritually on a set of railroad tracks, with a Cuban person's bad luck and the expectation that the train crew will pick it up. Now what makes this case particularly interesting is the fact that the chickens I saw are not covered.

It is without a doubt gross to catch one of these sacrifices in plain view. But historically and sociologically, it is utterly fascinating. When spotting on Tuesday, Dec. 11, I managed to see these while running after O721-11, the Sterling Switcher. Belief has it that the crew of Y322-10 ran the chickens over.

For more information: http://www.lancemindheim.com/lore.htm

Note: O721 had 1 for ProBuild, 1 for Seal-Tite, 1 for Cemex (loaded) and about 15-20 CYDX empties.

Thanksgiving Holiday Train Annullments

As Thanksgiving is a pretty big holiday, local railroads operate on a much slower note during the holiday, Black Friday, and into the weekend ahead.

(copied from FECRailway)
FEC: 
Wed. Nov. 21,2012 - 335
Thurs. Nov. 22,2012 - 123-224, 193-292, 336, All locals except 963 & 965
Frid. Nov. 23, 2012 - 101, 109-210, 202,All locals except 963,965,970,937
Sat. Nov. 24, 2012 - 109-210, 202

CSX:
All trains that would operate on Thanksgiving day proper that are not of priority.
Expected: ALL SFL area locals, which are O721, O722, O717, O718, Y322, Y121, et al
Q453 and Q452 MAY run. New Years saw them running.
All K Trains are usually annulled. If a V-series coal train for Miami is coming, it may run.

Amtrak:
No interruptions

Tri-Rail
Weekend Schedule. P600-P649 do not run, instead P660-P675. Thanksgiving day only.

Record Length CSX O721 & New Camera

I have gone on a trip to Central Florida on the 27th and will be reporting on that soon.

On Sunday the 28th, the whale of the Lufthansa A380 came back. Also, I'd take the time to spot planes and watch for CSX  train O721 which had freight from Q453 plus what happened to be two rock trains' worth of hoppers. Tony (Train Hunters ) would join me.

This record train clocked in at 115 cars, 6,000'. Here are a couple of pinnacle shots from my Nikon S4000, the last train historically that would be shot with that Point-and-(you know what).

O721, led by SD60I 8738 and GEVO 5378. The last time this power would go on the HS before going north.

Nice little wave from the engineer.

So all I can say now is the winter season is back. And it is with a fresh start:

I purchased a Canon Rebel T4i with the 18-55 mm lens. It's a great deal and an excellent cam. Above's a night test shot, representative of a feature that I will really appreciate when it comes to catching the likes of Q453.

CSX NEW Hoppers on the Lehigh Spur

Did a short hop to the Homestead Sub after the doctor's appointment I had today and found a cut of the brand spanking new hoppers on the Lehigh Spur.

October 10, 2012 - A BIG Day for CSX Operations!

It was 9:53 PM when for the first time since April 26, 2012 I have heard a horn on the Lehigh Spur in regular hours. It was an eastbound power move, running as Y220, which had freshly set out a cut of Florida Rock NSC hoppers at Lehigh Spur's very own Florida Rock plant. The spur was reborn.

Information provided by my CSX sources was too vague that evening. Either the power just arrived into Miami or the cars were Progressively Stored in Hialeah. But today, I got the confirming answer that they were "Placed at Industry: Lehigh, FL" after midnight.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, on a similarly fated Brooksville Sub, CSX N036 has brought in the first cut of coal to Cemex in over two years. This action has spurred cheerful conversation on the mailing lists and has brought new hope to business on the line.

Both of these lines, sharply changing from desolate to active, are bringing hope that the economy is recovering. Things are finally getting back to normal, and for that I am very happy.

CSX N036:

For the Driver 1 Fans

A little OT here, but hell, I discovered this on a Homestead Sub bike-ride. Went on Red to see if there was a Y220 (there wasn't) but discovered this when waiting on SW 8 ST.

Image from Google Street View

It's not like this is a landmark of sorts, but this is one of the lower level buildings recognizable from the Driver: You Are the Wheelman game in the Coral Gables area. There are like four of these, LOL. A childhood memory reconnected.

I couldn't find an ingame screenie to compare, can anyone help?

Industry Update for Fort Lauderdale-Pompano

BrickAmerica and Allsteel/Gypsum were dead last week (7/4-7/8)... But it looks like Q453 is to the rescue with 6 coil cars for Allsteel/Gypsum, the only recipient of such in south Florida!
















Meanwhile Home Depot had a couple of 60 footers in sight.

The above industries I mentioned are all worked by O717 and it is critical to know of activity. I am really only including Allsteel out of the three but the other may see placement in an extended layout.

MSL Episode 1: CSX Atlas TRAINMAN GP39-2

The Layout Plan

Due to being informed of limitations in the room of choice, I revamped the plan to suit a smaller footprint. More storage than was anticipated is needed and the windows in the back need access - so I redesigned the layout. It is still from Fort Lauderdale to Deerfield and the switching will be a little modified.

Unlike the other layout S Dania would need to be accessed through a removable helix and the storage track north of DFB station is eliminated, plus I opted out of including Home Depot. However with the support of Google Maps, CSX has gained / regained three customers in Pompano Beach, FL. Boise Cascade is a frequent customer now and was shown to house two boxcars and two centerbeams in the 3/21/11 O/L; Fast Dry Courts had four tank cars; and Amerigas had seven (!) LPG tanks plus three waiting on the main track. The latter two "came from the dead" while Boise is new. Grace Construction is intact and included. I had a tossup between the Water Treatment Plant off of Powerline/Prospect and the Amerigas since I wanted one that was realistically located. Sun Sentinel and Publix are included as planned. Also, I added Allsteel and Gypsum, off of Sunrise Blvd, which was not in the original plan, a frequent recipient of coil cars. TRANSFLO, who receives dry bulk, granular, and ethanol loads, and the scrap metal team track, F05, and the spur track were not forgotten as well, in accordance to the old plan.

The pictures Mike M. graciously sent me before were a great help and support in deciding this plan, and I thank him.

So here is the rundown of customers by product:

• TRANSFLO: Cement, Plastics, Gravel, Ethanol, Corn Oil
• Team Track: Mainly Scrap Metal
• AllSteel: Coils of Metal *and lumber too! (Google Earth)
• Water Treatment Plant [Option A]: Chlorine and Soda Ash
• Amerigas [Option B]: LPG Gas
• Grace Construction: Um.... Oil?
• Fast-Dry Courts: Um... Chlorine? Bleach? 
• Boise: Lumber and Construction Products
• Publix: Plastic Pellets
• Sun-Sentinel: Newsprint

Updated Layout Specs

Note that this layout's design is subject to any change at any time.

Phase One
TRANSFLO

This should be done by fall of 2011 but the table should be installed by summer 2011.

It will have the ethanol house tracks and team track. I can't wait to buy the materials for the flyover!

F05 should come out interesting as well. Look for the industrial buildings to be rendered as a backdrop.

Instead of Homasote which is hard to get I feel Plywood is a viable material as there are no noticable rivers that will interfere with this design. The new river is not to be rendered yet until I maybe find more space.