Railfanning in Keen, Nassau County, FL

When it comes to railfan hot spots in Nassau County, FL, the now-vanished hamlet of Keen (or Keene) is not among them. Yet, the Thomas Creek Road/Ratliff Road grade crossing on the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) line just south of the Norris Siding at Keen does have its moments. Just today while traveling southbound on US 301 I spotted a southbound NS intermodal train crossing under the US 301 Viaduct at Crawford. It was doing below-average speed for an intermodal on a Friday so I veered left on Thomas Creek Road which parallels NS's Valdosta-Jacksonville line (it was built around 1900 as the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad). It had already cleared the north end of Norris siding (not sure where that name came from) but by the time I made it to Keen, it had stopped just before the south end of the 2.3 mile long siding. I stopped next to the Thomas Creek Road grade crossing (at the intersection of Thomas Creek and Ratliff Roads) and got out. To my surprise the SB intermodal had not only stopped (intermodals are usually high balling to the ports or trying to make the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC) connection at Bowden Yard), it stopped on the main line and not on the siding.  I figured at first it was waiting on the okay to proceed onto the NS's Simpson Yard in Jacksonville then I noticed the bottom light of the NB track signal was yellow which indicated a NB train had to pass first. (The old NB track signal always had a bottom yellow-top red because of the sharp curve trains had to negotiate just before passing under the US 301 viaduct in Crawford. It only had a red bottom-red top signal when a SB train was on the line).  After about a 15 minute wait I heard the faint whistle of a northbound NS train blowing at the Acree Road grade crossing just to the south of the Duval-Nassau line. I took a pic of the train (pulled by NS locomotives 8842, 9365, and 9821)  as it dipped down and over the Thomas Creek trestle. I took some more as it blew its warning for the Larsen Road and Thomas Creek Roads grade crossings. The engineer waved as he slowed the locomotive down and entered the north end of Norris siding. I figured the dispatchers had him enter the siding (as opposed to having the other train wait on the siding) so that the NB could clear the main  line then wait on the siding for possibly another SB train.  I wanted to drive to Crawford and see if my hunch was right or if the NB slowly reentered the main line without stopping, but duty called and I had to go. However, thanks to my initial spotting of the SB intermodal, I was able to snap some good photos of the oncoming trains. Maybe I need to stop in Keen more often or split my rail fanning time between it and Crawford.

 A southbound Norfolk Southern (NS) intermodal waits on the main line of the old Georgia Southern and Florida RR's (GSF) Valdosta-Jacksonville line. The yellow light on the bottom signal of the new "Darth Vader" track signal means a northbound train will soon make its way from Jacksonville.

 A northbound NS trains blows its whistle as it approaches the Acree Road crossing in Duval County. The Thomas Creek trestle is at the bottom of the dip.

 

 After crossing the short bridge and passing the Larsen Road grade crossing, the Northbound manifest train blows it whistle for the Thomas Creek grade crossing as the crossing bell chimes its impending arrival.

 

 

Slowing down to a near crawl, the northbound train prepares to enter the north end of Norris siding. The middle light of the track signal changed to green for a brief moment then both middle and bottom lights changed to red after the train crosses the small creek bridge and passes the track sentinel.