Is the Tropicana juice train still running from Florida to New Jersey daily on the CSX line? Years ago I was told it passed through my area in early afternoon and I waited and never saw it.
From this site
http://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/CSX_Train_Symbols
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I have heard that it still runs, but it does not have the colorful "Tropicana" insulated cars any longer. They are supposedly much more plain now.
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I should know more since this is "local" for me.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Oh, they still have the "Tropicana" cars, I see the train occasionally passing through the Richmond VA area.
The main difference now is, under the Hunter Harrison regime CSX doesn't run the "Juice Train" as a dedicated train anymore, the "Tropicana" cars travel in blocks on the regular freights. Priority freights, I'd assume.
I'd also assume that as long as the cars get where they need to be in a reasonable amount of time the Tropicana folks don't care how they get there.
The listing for the Q140, on the link I provided, has a note "effective April 2017"
The current cars are the white ones (see photos in the Wikipedia article on "juice train"). Many of the cars have a heavy amount of graffiti. I cross paths with it a few times a month, most recently a week or so ago. The Tropicana cars are, as noted elsewhere here, usually a block in a train that includes other cars.
Thank you for the information everyone. I have another question, the Q140 that departs Jax Sun-Thu, does it depart the same time each day or does that vary do to traffic?
Firelock76 Oh, they still have the "Tropicana" cars, I see the train occasionally passing through the Richmond VA area. The main difference now is, under the Hunter Harrison regime CSX doesn't run the "Juice Train" as a dedicated train anymore, the "Tropicana" cars travel in blocks on the regular freights. Priority freights, I'd assume. I'd also assume that as long as the cars get where they need to be in a reasonable amount of time the Tropicana folks don't care how they get there.
They've been running on an intermodal for years now. Nothing has changed under Harrison, from my office perches at L'Enfant Plaza and CP Virginia. Sometimes still dedicated, but haven't seen any Tropicana reefers in manifests.
100 Q-series - Intermodal
I model the Juice train and on my railroad it's a dedicated train with Tropicana reefers only... I see it sitting off the NJ Tpke on occassion or when I am parked on the overpass of I-78 in NJ. In the past it's been a solid string of cars. According to a friend who works for NJ Transit, it's part of a larger train..
Neal
[quote user="NittanyLion"]
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Interesting. Good to know.
Didn't the Juice Train originate in Sarasota, FL? I know when I was younger we would see it pull through Gainesville going North. Later, when I moved to Southwest Florida, before Interstate 75 was complete, we would ocassionally get stopped by the Juice Train North of Sarasota.
Why is it originating in Jacksonville? That is way far North of any Juice Concentration Plant I know of.
I am very curious.
Years ago I had a VHS video of the "Juice Train". If my memory is right, the train starts out in Bradenton Florida and winds it way through Florida getting to Jacksonville to the CSX mainline and becomes the Q140. I remember it took awhile to get to Jax because it had to cross over many bridges and numerous speed restictions.
willy6If my memory is right, the train starts out in Bradenton Florida and winds it way through Florida
That makes sense. Bradenton and Sarasota are adjacent to one another. I wonder if it still originates in this area? I have not seen the train in ages.
I also loosely model the northern end of the juice train. I don't know if the train runs by itself anymore or not. All i know is that the cars have become a rolling billboard for graffiti and that's one part I refuse to model.
Also the modern cars are very plain I miss Tropic-Anna.
Joe Staten Island West
I'm modeling HO CSX / NS around my local area. I got 26 Tropicana reefers. I'll be running my own Juice train soon after I get more of my layout completed.
My Juice facility....
joe323 I also loosely model the northern end of the juice train. I don't know if the train runs by itself anymore or not. All i know is that the cars have become a rolling billboard for graffiti and that's one part I refuse to model. Also the modern cars are very plain I miss Tropic-Anna.
I know what you mean. Graffiti "artists" find those big white boxcars an irresistable canvas. Disgusting. If I was the Topicana company I'd be throwing a fit over that vandalism.
Apparently it doesn't seem to bother them and the railroads in general. It's like they have thrown up their hands and given up trying to fight it.
Given how faded and bleached the paint jobs are (most of the oranges have turned white), I'd encourage graffiti if I was Tropicana. A fresh coat of paint for free!
I think cites have given up on graffiti too, it is ridiculous how people have no respect for others property any more.
As for the faded oranges, maybe if the graffiti was a Tropicana orange juice conatiner they might appreciate that.
NittanyLion Given how faded and bleached the paint jobs are (most of the oranges have turned white), I'd encourage graffiti if I was Tropicana. A fresh coat of paint for free!
Funny you should say that. About ten or fifteen years ago when "tagging" of railcars really started becoming a problem a CSX official was asked about what his railroad was going to do about it.
Reportedly he just laughed and said, "Probably nothing, we're getting a fresh coat of paint on our cars for free!"
I hope he was joking, but now, who knows?
Seems to me that if the MTA was able to stop subway cars from being tagged perhaps their is hope
From what I've read, in addition to beefing up yard security the MTA uses a special clear-coat finish that makes it very easy to remove graffiti, just a little bit of effort and off it comes.
MTA has found that a lot of taggers just give up when they find their "work" is anything but permanent. Seems to be working pretty well.
Whether it would be practical to apply that finish to every railcar in the country is another matter though, to say nothing of the expense.
Uh Oh... I think this thread is about to get locked!!!
We went too far off the Juice Train theme and wandered into forbidden ground.
I beat the lock!
I find it somewhat funny how one topic wanders into another. I don't see anything wrong with it, just more of us model railroaders communicating. It's like a topic of "how to build a pizza parlor in ho scale" and it ends being a recipe of how to make spagetti...nothing wrong with that.
Can't see how it might get locked, there's no political content, it's all about a prototype, in this case the "Juice Train," all are annoyed by the graffiti on the cars, no-one's excusing the same, and as such the subject of possible prevention's come up.
Nothing wrong with any of the above, as far as I can see.
Now if you build a pizza parlor in HO gauge I'd expect to see a pizza recipe before a spagetti one. THAT might be going off-topic!
I did not intentionally wander into forbidden territory. I just was making a comment about modern juice cars. Anyway I prefer older reefers because in addition to the above they fit better into my era and look better on 18" curves. I am not sure I could run a more modern consist if I wanted to.