Railfanning in Yulee, Nassau County, FL

When one thinks of rail fanning in Nassau County, FL, one usually does not think of Yulee as a hot spot, but the junction of the CSX branch line with the Gennessee and Wyoming's First Coast Railroad (FCRD) has its moments.  The CSX S-line use to the Seaboard Air Line's main line into Florida, roughly paralleling US 17 from Savannah, GA,  to Jacksonville, FL.  Since the merger of the SAL and ACL, the tracks have been taken up from Riceboro, GA to just north of Kingsland, GA (parts have become a rails-to-trails portion of the East Coast Greenway). The branch line that remains services a huge swathe of area that includes Northern Jacksonville and everything east of I 95 in Duval, Nassau, and Camden Counties. Their biggest customers are the ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina (serviced by FCRD), Talleyrand Terminal (serviced by Gennesse and Wyoming's Tallyrand Terminal Railroad, TTR), the Blount Island Commercial and Military Port; Rayonier, Rock Tenn Mills in Fernandina and Nassau County Tradeplex (serviced by FCRD); the Busch Beer Plant; Imeson Industrial Park; and Kings Bay Naval Base and various customers in Candem County (serviced by the St. Marys Railroad via FCD). The traffic is funnelled south on the S-line across the Trout River swing span bridge into urban North Jacksonville then switched on the old ACL's Jacksonville and Southwestern Line westward to the CSX main line in Grand Crossing. (Due west of the US 1 (Kings Road)  and 45th Street intersection in Northwest Jacksonville)
I am not sure of the timetable of when CSX goes to Yulee to interchange with the FCRD but it has to be before 10 AM because that is the time FCRD opens the Amelia Island Swing Truss bridge to let their train onto Amelia Island and into Fernandina Beach.  I was recently on my way to Yulee when I was stopped by one such CSX train around 9 AM.  It had stopped across SR A1A/200 grade crossing (as it often does, much to the frustration of many motorists) to allow the proper switches to be thrown inside the yard several 100 yards north of the crossing.  It finally cleared the crossing and I pulled to the left in front of the old Flood Store (one of a few buildings left of the small, yet historic Yulee district that sprang up along the junctions of Hart's Road and the Florida Railroad {1856} and later the Fernandina and Jacksonvillle RR {1882}, the latter becoming the S-Line when it was extended north to Savannah in the 1890s.)  In 1925, Seaboard built the Gross Bypass (named after a small turpentine town on the S-Line just north of the I 95 and US 17 junction north of Yulee) that funneled its passengers trains Southwestward through Callahan and onto its main line in Baldwin and away from the congestion of Jacksonville.  By the 1950s, SAL pulled up its tracks from Yulee westward to Callahan and most of the businesses moved eastward to the US 17/SR A1A intersection.
I wasnt able to wait to see the FCRD train pull out of the yard and head to Fernandina but I was able to see the CSX train while it was inside the yard. Yulee's SAL depot, now covered with abestos shingles and looking nothing like its former self, still sits vacant along the track where the two SAL lines once crossed.

Railfanning in Yulee, Nassau County, FL

CSX train prepapres to drop its cars into the Yulee Rail Yard

One of only a couple of buildings remaining in the historic secition of Yulee (formerly call Hart's Road untill the 1890s) where the Florida Railroad (SAL) crossed Hart's Road. The new Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad connected Jacksonville to Yulee in 1882. The diamond was completed when the F&J was extened northward to Savannah, Georgia in the 1890s, forming SAL's main line into Florida.

FCRD engine 1602 awaits on the begining of the spur line to Fernandina for its mix of cars to be readied and sorted.

 The old SAL depot sits vacant beside the S-Line just south of where the Florida Railroad (SAL) diamond.  The abestos shingles hide what was once a beautiful wooden train station

 Milepost 612 meant Yulee was 612 miles from Richmond, Virginia,where the SAL and the ACL interchanged with the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad

The crossing signal isn't as busy as it once was. but it still can frustrate motorists when the CSX trains stop traffic as they prepare to enter the Yulee Yard.

I am not sure where the name "Trinity" comes from or how far south the DTC block extends. I do know in Jacksonville, the S-line is divided into such blocks as "Kraft", "Imeson", and "Trout River", the latter being controlled by the bridge tender on the Trout River swing span bridge.FCRD engine 1602 awaits on the begining of the spur line to Fernandina for its mix of cars to be readied and sorted.

(NOTE:  I have since found out "Trinity" comes from the old Trinity Bag Plant that is on the CSX line several miles south of Yulee. I remember the name of the plant being Terminal Bag Company when I was growing up. I think an export company is using the facility now.)

5 trains in 55 minutes for Cinco de Mayo in Callahan, Nassau County, Florida

Train 1: SB CSX intermodal pulled by engine 5313 approaches CR 108 grade crossing

Train 2: Another CSX intermodal pulled by engine 5103 races SB toward Jacksonville

Train 3: NB manifest train pulled by 7840 rounds the curve and toward the main line

Train 4:  Another NB manifest pulled by 7695 from Baldwin approaches the CR 108 grade

Train 5: A loaded coat train veers southward onto the Baldwin-Callahan line on its way to Baldwin

Train 3 chugs across the CR 108 grade and toward the switch on the main line

Train 3 enters the west track of the main line and prepares to crossover to the vacant east track

Train 4 passes the last signal tower before it enters the main line

Train 4 enters the mainline and approaches the crossover to the east track

Train 5 loaded with coal thunders across the CR 108 grade crossing

I was running some errands today in Callahan when I noticed off in the distance a Northbound CSX train parked on the Callahan-Baldwin line. That usually means it is waiting for a Southbound train to clear the mainline so I drove to the Callahan Junction (the bottom of the Florida Funnel) and grabbed my camera.  As I walked closer I glanced northward on the mainline and saw a Southbound CSX train waiting at the Old Dixie Highway grade crossing. I asked myself why 2 trains were stopped in Callahan and before I had time to answer, the gates at Old Dixie came down.  I grabbed my camera and caught a CSX intermodal racing across the CR 108 grade crossing headed for the Jacksonville port. I waited for the train on the Baldwin- Callahan line to move toward me and the main line. After about 15 minutes another Southbound intermodal raced around the SB train parked at Old Dixie and barrelled across CR 108 on its way to Jacksonville.  Finally the NB train whistled its approach and entered the main line. But too my surprise another NB train appeared on the Baldwin-Callahan line and inched down the Crawford grade toward the Callahan junction. In no time it too entered the mainline and disappeared behind the parked SB manifest at Old Dixie.  In no time the SB manifest whistled its approach.  I stepped across the tracks to get another angle and noticed it was a coal train. It gathered speed as it veered off the main line and onto the Baldwin-Callahan line on its way to the Baldwin yard. Five trains in 55 minutes made for some great pictures and for a great Cinco ee Mayo surprise.  On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 5 (times 2)