The Folkston Railfan Platform is located in Folkston, Georgia along CSX Transportation's Nahunta Subdivision, and provides a location where railfans can safely view and photograph trains. With the help of a $30,000 state grant, the city built the train-watching platform in 2001 and is promoted by county [1] and state tourism agencies. [2]
Since that time, the city has attracted thousands of railfans from across the nation who come to Folkston to see the dozens of CSX and the six Amtrak trains (including the daily Amtrak Auto Train ) that operate between cities in Florida and cities in the south, midwest, and northeast. The platform is equipped with ceiling fans and a radio scanner that allows railfans to hear railroad-related radio traffic. Wireless internet access is available.
The double-track mainline that passes through town sees about 40 trains each day. Most CSX freight traffic into or out of Florida passes through Folkston.
Columbia County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 69,698, up from 67,531 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Lake City.
Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census.
Wildwood is a city in Sumter County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,709 at the 2010 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 estimates, the city had a population of 7,024. Due to rapid growth the city had over 33,000 residents by October of 2022 with plans to swell to over 100,000 in the foreseeable future.
Folkston is a city in and the county seat of Charlton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,502 as of the 2010 census, up from 2,178 in 2000, largely due to the extension of the city boundary to include D. Ray James Prison.
CSX Transportation, known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates on approximately 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track. The company operates as the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Silver Star is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand, the Silver Meteor, are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century.
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company also seen as "GARR", was a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at the end of the year it operated 331 miles (533 km) of road and 510 miles (820 km) of track.
The Floridian was a train operated by Amtrak from 1971 to 1979 that ran from Chicago and Florida, with two branches south of Jacksonville terminating at Miami and St. Petersburg. For its Nashville to Montgomery segment, its route followed that of several former Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) passenger trains, including the Pan-American and the Humming Bird. Originating in Chicago, the train served Lafayette and Bloomington, Indiana; Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama; and Thomasville, Valdosta and Waycross, Georgia.
Joliet Union Station was a train station in Joliet, Illinois that served Amtrak long-distance and Metra commuter trains. It was replaced by the new Joliet Transportation Center in 2018, a train station that was constructed adjacent to the Union Station's location. Train service to Joliet Union Station permanently ceased in September 2014. The station is 37.0 miles (59.5 km) from Chicago Union Station on the Heritage Corridor, and 40.1 miles (64.5 km) from Chicago LaSalle St. Station on the Rock Island District.
The Plant City Union Depot is a historic train depot in Plant City, Florida, Florida, United States. It was built in 1909 and was crucial in the development of Plant City. The city was named after Henry Plant, who introduced railway lines to improve the transport system in Central and Western Florida. The architectural design is credited to J.F. Leitner.
A public viewing area is a space set aside for members of the public to safely view sites of interest, such as airports, railroads, construction sites or other facilities. Sometimes they are known as visitor centers or interpretive sites.
Waldo station is a former train station in Waldo, Florida along the CSX S-Line. It serves Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach bus system and previously served trains for Amtrak and other rail operators. The station is located at the interchange of US 301 and State Road 24 in Waldo, Florida.
The Western and Atlantic Depot is a historic Western and Atlantic Railroad train depot in Dalton, Georgia. It was built in 1852 in the Greek Revival style. The building is the oldest surviving commercial structure in Dalton and is a "fine example" of depot architecture in Georgia in the mid-1800s. It served as both a freight and passenger station.
The Jesup Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in Georgia. The line runs from Jesup, Georgia to Folkston, Georgia for a length of 72.7 miles. It notable passes through Waycross, Georgia, a major CSX freight terminal and CSX operates numerous freight trains over the line. The Jesup Subdivision was once a major route for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, one of CSX's predecessors.
The Lakeland Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in Florida. It runs along CSX's A Line from just west of Lakeland and heads west through Plant City to the community of Mango in Hillsborough County, just east of Tampa.
The Nahunta Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida and Georgia. The line runs along CSX's A Line from Ogeechee, Georgia, to Dinsmore, Florida, for a total of 129.2 miles (207.9 km). At its north end it continues south from the Savannah Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision A-Line. The line is double-tracked from Folkston, Georgia south. All of Amtrak's Florida service also traverses the line.
The Yeoman Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. It runs along CSX’s S Line from Zephyrhills south to just east of Tampa via Plant City for a total of 31.2 miles.
The Waycross Short Line was the unofficial name of a railroad line built by Henry B. Plant that ran from Waycross, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida on the St. Johns River. The line through Georgia was chartered by Plant as the Waycross and Florida Railroad and the Florida segment was chartered as the East Florida Railway. The line crossed the Georgia/Florida border just south of Folkston, Georgia at the St. Marys River.
The Folkston Cutoff is a railroad line in southern Georgia. It runs from Jesup southwest to Folkston, a distance of 54 miles. It was built in 1901 by the Plant System to allow trains from the northeast to Florida to bypass their busy terminal in Waycross.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad’s Main Line was the backbone of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's network in the southeastern United States. The main line ran from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passed through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Florence, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando. With the exception of a short 61-mile segment in Greater Orlando, the entire line is still owned by the Atlantic Coast Line's successor, CSX Transportation, and is still in service as their A Line.
30°49′49″N82°00′27″W / 30.83032°N 82.00754°W