i’ve seen articulated flats for fecl lines… i thought this was a r.r. absorbed by sal or acl years ago…??
That would probably be for “Florida East Coast” RR
I just have to make a joke here though, with those reporting marks, how many people thought it was the “fecal” railroad? HOWDY-HO!!!
thanks, i know what the letters mean… was this line previously merged w/ sal or acl? were the marks revived by the parent r.r. to set the cars apart from other rolling stock as part of a mgmt. or tax advantage?
The Florida East Coast is still very much an independent railroad. Prior the ACL/SAL merger in 1967, it was more aligned with ACL to provide access to South Florida for them. In the early 60’s, it went through a long and sometimes violent labor confrontation. Ultimately, FEC decided to operate without employees represented by a collective bargaining agreement, becoming the largest non-union railroad. This also made it less than compatible for merger or absorbtion by anyone else. SCL didn’t need it any more, since it used the former SAL routes. Of late, it has become aligned with NS to provide access to South Florida to them. In the late 80’s, I believe, NS was interested in merger/absorbtion, but FEC was not and wad adamant about saying so. NS would have had to mount a hostile takeover. The liklihood of that being successful was dim and it just wasn’t worth it. The operating alignment(s) with NS and others keeps it well and happy.
Good question. Have a good day. gdc
When did they abondon and remove the line between
Miami and Key West?
dlw
Dallas
I believe it was abdanoned around 1936-37 after a devastaing hurricane, the line was never very profitible, actually it was a huge drain on the FEC, would have been fascinating to see though. The existing FEC between Miami and Jacksonville is very busy and doing great, a big plus for them lately has been new orange juice business from Tropicana. The state is trying to get passenger service back, most of the route is heavily populated with some now large fast growing communites( Melbourne, Daytona, West Palm Beach, Vero Beach, etc) Its a natural for a passenger rail corridor. The Miami area is looking into commuter rail on the Southern end also.
Thanks for the comeback. I have seen stories
on the History Channel about the hurricane but didn’t realize the line was never rebuilt. Does
1935 sound right?
dlw
Much of the original bridge structure became U.S. Highway 1. Although U.S. 1 has been rebuilt, many of the original structures still exist as fishing piers, historical exhibits, etc.
Regards, Have a safe day. gdc
the florida east coasts’ “key west extension” was ripped up by the labor day hurricane in 1935. that unnamed storm had the lowest barometric pressure reading in the western hemisphere. a rescue train that had been sent down the keys to evacuate hundreds of workers that were building parallel route 1 was totally destroyed by a tidal wave (tsunami) that washed the train right off the tracks. NO ONE SURVIVED!, except the engine crew. the steam engine was heavy enough to not get washed over. B0B
This was on the website of the FEC parent Co.
S. Augustine, FL—September 3, 2003—Florida East Coast Railway, L.L.C. (“FECR”), the transportation subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. (NYSE: FLA, FLA.b) (“FECI”), has launched a new Web site which now can be accessed at http://www.fecrwy.com. The redesigned Web site will enhance the Railway’s ability to provide customers with more real-time shipping information.
We use FEC as an intermodal carrier at work and they do a pretty good job. I’ve worked directly with their electronic commerce dept and they ROCK. They absolutely put the big boys to shame in terms of how responsive they are.
i only have to say this . how many original railroads still exsists to this day. you got too hand it to the FEC … she is still pulling for America and doing so for past 108 yrs. and still going strong…
up may not be the oldest r.r. which is still here, but it is the original r.r. that went west as the transcontinental r.r… it was chartered during the civil war with the support of pres. lincoln…
the eastbound r.r was the central pacific… dont know what it was supposed to be ‘central’ of…
The “central” route was just that. Several routes to the west were surveyed.
The “southern” route would eventually become the Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route. The Civil War prevented it from being the first transcontinental route.
The “northern” route became the Northern Pacific. The route between the two was the central route, thus the Central Pacific.
FEC is the reporting mark for Florida east Coast, not FECL.