Are you allowed acess to parts of Rice Yard to take photos? I once heard that if you ask permission there, you can go on certain areas to get pix. If still allowable,where do you go to ask permission at?
I am not familar with the yard and any info appreciated ! cr
I think they are pretty strict in Waycross. I doubt you will get any pics from there.
Don’t know whether CSX allows railfan visits to the yard itself, but you should be able to see some train action from public property. The line from the yard thru Waycross and east to Savannah is right next to U.S. 84 for miles (the highway bypasses the center of town, but take 84 Business to go to the center of town; the RR bisects the business district). The old depot and Railway Express building still stand. Going west from the center of town the yard is off to the left, with the outside tracks easily visible from a public road. Further west, the hump itself is maybe 100 yards off the road, but timber in between makes it hard to see much. U.S. 84 rejoins the rails west of town, and except for short stretches in the tiny towns and a few timbered stretches the railroad is easily visible from the road out past Valdosta, 60 miles or so.
I drove through Waycross with my inlaws a few years back. It was neat seeing long miles and miles of multiple tracks. I saw the hump area mentioned above. There was a CSX SD40-2 shoving cars on that hill.
One thing I kept looking for while I was on Hwy 84 was the big diesel locomotive servicing shop that I’ve heard about where units are overhauled. However, on a lot sections along hwy 84 there were either trees or strings of freight cars blocking my view. I really wanted to see that facility.
One enjoyable sight was going through Jasper. As we slowly crossed a bridge, I looked down and saw a clean and shiny Amtrak train stopped at the station on the north/south CSX mainline (former ACL).
I am sure your talking about Jesup not Jasper but close. Basically it gets anything from Savanna coming south and Waycross and Folkston coming North. Not the greatest place in that area. Jesup also gets 6 Amtrak but only 4 stop PO91-2 and PO97-8.
The only good place near Rice is on the East End (?), there is a station there but isn’t used for RR and the tracks from Atlanta, Jesup, and Brunswick or Nahunta come in there. After that it spilts to Folkston (then later JAX or Baldwin) and also spilts with Rice Yard.
Try Folkston if you get a chance. Also visit Waycross Recycleing just near the station, its a place where engines get rebuilt last time I was there they had 2 NS C39-8’s.
kevin
I think you are speaking of Republic Locomotive Rebuilders [?]. Just North of Waycross there is/was a small nondescript metal building with a couple of tracks leading into it. The times I was in the area there were usually some pretty tired GP style diesels on the tracks out front. The whole thing had a pretty hardscrabble look about it Check the back of the latest TRAINS magazine, there are ads in the back for trainwatching facilities in Jessup, Folkston, and an Inn ( at Folkston), as well as at Douglas,Ga.
Trainwatching can be accomplished at a number of locations in the area of Waycross, in areas open to public access, as well as those mentioned above. Good Luck, CR,and Enjoy!
Progress Rail is also in Waycross, I think you can see it from a public place. I have seen a lot of pics from there.
Oskar,
Thanks. You’re correct. It was Jesup, Georgia where I saw that Amtrak train. I had Jasper in my mind because I drive through there on my way to Georgia from Florida. I catch highway 221 in Jasper, Florida which connects with Highway 84.
Samp, Railfan,
Thanks for that info. I’ve heard of Republic some years back but I didn’t know they were in Georgia. But what I was looking for was the actual CSX locomotive shop that’s supposedly large and has a constant batch of locomotives coming in and out receiving major and minor repairs. I was hoping someone here knew where it was.
Next time in that area I’ll look for those other loco shops as well.
The shops are near the ‘‘old folks home for engines’’ in Waycross. Just look for a dirt road past the bridge and take it there should be a caboose, WLO1, or some coaches. Sadly thats all I can tell you since its CSX property and can’t go past it.
kevin
Don’t know if it’s still the case, but at one time Waycross was the “home shop” for all of CSX’s GE power. Am not sure where it was, but think I saw (from a great distance) the locomotive shops once, long and very old buildings with large ventilators on top. Believe it was off to the left of what used to be U.S. 84 (main drag thru the business district) after passing the station/REA buildings headed west.
There is an overpass going southwest, and sorry, I cannot remember the name, but you can see a lot from that. My wife and two of her sisters and I once decided we’d hop a freight underneath it. A slow-moving freight finally came along after I’d watched a switch engine move cars around for some time. I was the only one who could hop on so I jumped off and we went to the Holiday Inn for roast beef night. Right in front of us was the freight conductor who’d been on the engine I was watching. he recognized us and kidded us about not being able to hitch a ride to Jacksonville. But that afternoon, he hadn’t tried to stop us. At the engine shops in the '70s, they had a pair of E units which were in use as promotional train pullers or some such use.
I hired out with CSX two years ago, and did class training in Waycross. Towards the end of the program we all got to tour the yard. It was pretty impressive. But to answer your question I would say they probably frown on stepping on company property. I wish I knew who to tell you to talk to, but I didn’t work at that terminal or know anybody who does. CSX may have a list of contacts on their website for managers in the Jacksonville Division. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, I hope you get the contact you need, lots of photo opportunity in there.
Thank you for responding. Would you be able to tell me where along Hwy 84 this shop is? Is is one of the locations mentioned above by posters? I certainly would not trespass, but I’m pretty resourful when it comes to finding good photo vantage points.
[;)][:D]
I wish I could remember. I don’t usually pay much attention to street and highway names. I just sorta went out and rode around after class. The only shop I can remember is the one close to the hump, which if I’m not mistaken can’t really be seen from the highway. As I recall the engine shop was a fairley big shop. It services many of the engines used on the Florence Division, and Jacksonville as well.
You have to drive back in one of the neighborhoods to see the loco shops. The shop entrance is at the corner of W Hamilton Ave and Ball st. Waycross is where all the remaining GE Dash-7s are assigned. They are being retired as they break-down and are lining up in storage in the yard. You can see the storage lines by following ball st to W Washington Ave. Take a right and it will turn in to Kentucky Ave. The road come up right beside the storage lines. Plenty of 4 and 6 axle GE Dash-7s and even a Chessie painted GP40. Waycross recyclers is located by the Haines Ave overpass. They are friendly there. I got premission from the foreman to walk the lines at take pics. They had some NS C39-8s, UP tunnel motors and some x-BC Rail GEs that went to Brazil. last time I went they had half a dozen CP SD40-2s.
Neil,
Thank you very much!
I have made many trips to the Rice Yard in the past few years. I have been in the top floor of the tower before and through the access roads in the yard. The deadline on the south side of the yard has a lot of old power stored there (mainly C30-7s). I went in tower building A and asked permission to look through the yard. I was sent to the terminal superintendent where I was given permission to look through the yard as long as I stayed on the paved roads in the yard. The superintendent asked for my ID and made a copy of it. You might can get into the yard but the employees in the yard are NOT railfan friendly and I have been asked not to take pictures and have been asked to leave immediately before. I suggest you give it a shot because the yard is a neat CSX spot, especially the locomotive repair facility.
The C30-7s are gone. They had been collecting the B30/36-7s as they are being retired upon mechanical failure but when I was there a week ago the storage tracks were full of second and eary third gen EMD and GEs. SD40-2S, SD50s, SD60s, C40-8s, C40-8Ws and even an SD80MAC were lined up there.
Was the 80MAC in CSX or Conrail colors? How many of the stored units are Conrail? Have you noticed what type of units are stored at the Waycross Recyclers facility by the yard lately? It has been about 6 months since I’ve been to Waycross.