F.E.C. Service Plan
Train Schedules
This should be considered only a general guide as to train schedules. The company will deviate from this schedule as business conditions dictate, perhaps even daily. Remember: the advertised time of each job is the earliest that the company can call a crew, so usually the on-duty time is later than the advertised job time. The charts below list the typical departure times since that is what matters if you want to see a train on the road.
In January, 2007 the Company forecast declining business compared to the hectic pace of 2006 so cut several yard jobs in Bowden and local jobs 955 in West Palm Beach and 909 in New Smyrna Beach. F.E.C. is a freight railroad so it has no need to adhere to rigid timetable as does a passenger railroad. Business conditions change constantly and the Company changes with them, so train times will vary day-to-day and week-to-week. Those who treat this schedule as gospel are fooling themselves.
Stations
Bowden yard — mp 7; Jacksonville; car shop; intermodal, rock, mixed freight yard.
NSB — mp 124; New Smyrna Beach; engine, car, paint shops; rock and mixed freight yard.
Cocoa-City Point — mp 169; rock facility; terminal point for The Unit Train (336 northbound, 335 southbound)
Cocoa — mp 173; rock and mixed freight yard.
Fort Pierce — mp 242; rock and mixed freight yard; newly revitalized intermodal ramp; terminal for Tropicana juice refrigerated boxcars.
West Palm Beach — mp 297; rock and mixed freight yard.
Fort Lauderdale — mp 343; intermodal and mixed freight yard.
Hialeah — mp 365 (LR7); northwest Miami; intermodal and auto ramps, mixed freight yard.
Medley — mp ML4.5; four track rock yard, 120 car capacity; terminal point for rock trains; reached from Hialeah yard by way of the Medley Lead.
Through Freight Trains
Through freight trains carry the long-haul cargo from Jacksonville to either Fort Pierce, Fort Lauderdale, or Miami.
F.E.C. interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern in Jacksonville. For example, NS train 209 comes into Bowden yard and is operated by an F.E.C. crew as F.E.C. train 105 with F.E.C. power.
Table 1. Northbound service plan
Northbound notes
Day codes: M=Monday, T=Tuesday, W=Wednesday, R=Thursday, F=Friday, Sa=Saturday, Su=Sunday
Ft Laud = Fort Lauderdale
NSB = New Smyrna Beach
WPB = West Palm Beach
As of early 2007 train 290 has been abolished due to a slowdown in rock demand out of New Smyrna Beach; train 208 drops loads at NSB and 109 picks up empties. Train 290 ran rock all the way to New Smyrna Beach and swapped crews halfway with train 191. Train 292 runs rock to Fort Pierce, then turns around and comes home. All rock trains now leave directly out of expanded tracks at Medley, northwest of Hialeah yard, using the north Medley wye leg to the mainline.
Weekend departure times are highly variable. The times listed here are only approximate.
Table 2. Southbound service plan
Southbound notes
Day codes: M=Monday, T=Tuesday, W=Wednesday, R=Thursday, F=Friday, Sa=Saturday, Su=Sunday
Ft Laud = Fort Lauderdale
NSB = New Smyrna Beach
WPB = West Palm Beach
Sunday and Monday mornings, 121 drops off cars at Fort Lauderdale, then continues on to Hialeah.
On Fridays, 107 runs in place of 105. In either case, the Jax crew returns north on 202 Tuesday through Saturday.
Weekend departure times are highly variable. The times listed here are only approximate.
On Sundays, train 117 does not swap, instead running straight through to Fort Lauderdale with the crew from Saturday's 218 crew.
On Sundays, train 119 does not swap, instead running straight through to Fort Pierce, returning on Monday's 240 which runs in place of 220 on his off day.
Extras
Extras are unscheduled trains that fill a specific need. Some of the extras run at fairly predictable times, but they are staffed by the extra board crews, those who do not have seniority to get regular train runs. This table lists trains that can be expected to run as listed, but these trains' schedules still vary much more than others. The train number depends on how many extras run that day since midnight; see the notes following the table for the numbering scheme.
Table 3: Common Extras
| Train symbol | Depart time (sort) |
Depart station | Arrival time | Arrival station | Stops | Stop time | Consist | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14x1 | 19:00 | Bowden | 02:00 | Ft Pierce | NSB, Titusville, Cocoa | 21:30, 22:30, 23:30 |
extra replaces 119 on his off day; juice, mixed freight, autos | Su |
| 24x2 | 15:00 | Ft Pierce | 21:00 | Bowden | Cocoa, Titusville | extra replaces 220 on his off day; mixed freight, autos; sometimes light run to Cocoa (Frontenac) | M | |
| 14x | 18:30 | Bowden | Hialeah | monthly CSX coal train to Medley; CSX & NYC/Conrail coal hoppers from W.Va. coal region | R or F | |||
| 14x | 00:01 | Bowden | 10:00 | Hialeah | auto racks | as needed | ||
| 24x | 00:01 | Hialeah | 10:00 | Bowden | mty auto racks | as needed | ||
| 14x | ??:?? | Bowden | ??:?? | Cocoa | added 2006 to handle extra business | as needed | ||
| 24x | ??:?? | Cocoa | ??:?? | Bowden | added 2006 | as needed |
Note 1: Southbound extra trains are numbered beginning with 141 and incrementing by 2 for each additional extra job that day; e.g. 141 is the first extra of the day since midnight, 143 the second extra, and so on. The numbering sequence resets at midnight.
Note 2: Northbound extra trains are numbered beginning with 240 and incrementing by 2 for each additional extra job that day; e.g. 240 is the first extra of the day since midnight, 242 the second extra, and so on. The numbering sequence resets at midnight.
Local Trains
Locals get the “last mile” job done, delivering product to the customer, picking up empty cars, and switching and buiding trains in the yard. There are even some local jobs that run as extras when traffic warrants.
The lower-numbered locals handle the north jobs, higher-numbered locals handle south jobs. See Fort Pierce for example.
Locals are the most difficult to track, so if you have updates or corrections, please send them in! This list is not complete by any means.
Table 4: Local Trains
| Train symbol | On duty | Station | Remarks | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 905 | 05:00 | Bowden | Bunnell turn | M-F |
| 910 | 06:00 | NSB | Dorena turn | M-F |
| 915 | 06:00 | Cocoa | Hall turn | M-F |
| 916 | 18:00 | Cocoa | relieves 915 as needed; new for 2006 | M-F |
| 920 | 05:00 | Ft Pierce | Pineda turn; north mixed freight | T-Sa |
| 925 | 05:00 | Ft Pierce | 328 turn; south to Jupiter & Camp Murphy | M-F |
| 928 | 12:00? | Ft Pierce | info needed | M-F |
| 931 | 21:30 | Cocoa | Cocoa turn, switches Unit Train rock at City Point yard | M-F |
| 932 | Ft Pierce | K-branch switcher; brings Tropicana juice to yard, 3 runs each day | M-Sa | |
| 942 | Ft Pierce | |||
| 945 | 16:00 | WPB | WPB north; to Camp Murphy | M-F |
| 945 | 08:00? | WPB | WPB north; 218's pick-up to Camp Murphy; works Jupiter | Sa |
| 950 | 15:00 | WPB | WPB south; to Lake Worth, Boynton; assists in making 218's pigs solid when he picks up in WPB | M-F |
| 960 | 10:00 | FTL | “Boca local”; north to Pompano Farmer's Market, Deerfield | M-Sa |
| 965 | 01:30 | FTL | cuts up 117 and 123 when they arrive, switches south to Dania, Hollywood, Ojus | M-Sa |
| 970 | 15:00 | FTL | Fort Lauderdale pig ramp switcher, never leaves the yard | M-F |
| downtown | ??:?? | Hialeah | “Downtown Miami” yard job; never leaves yard limits, thus is not a local and no number assigned; works Little River belt line industries, rarely runs to the Port of Miami on Dodge Island | M-F |
| 998 | 08:00 | Ft Pierce | Extra north rock switcher to Vero Beach, yard duties | Sa |