Note: Plant City, Fl is just east of Tampa right off I-4, the major diagonal north - south highway which traverses Florida from Daytona Beach on the north (or east as we like to say) and Tampa to the west.
Plant City is almost directly in the middle of this Google map.
http://tinyurl.com/5fmjpo Plant City Commission Puts Trainwatching Platform on Fast Track
Posted by: "Danny Harmon" distsig(at)aol.com Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:56 am (PDT)
PLANT CITY, FL - In the wake of other towns like Folkston andManchester in Georgia and Rochelle, Illinois, Plant City will soonhave it's own railfan viewing platform.
Monday night, City Commission members voted 5 to 0 to go forward with plans to build a two-level structure at the Plant City diamond.Commissioner Mike Sparkman spearheaded the presentation, saying "These folks come from all over to Plant City to watch trains and take pictures. This will help attract even more of them and give them a safe, comfortable place to do it."
Jerry Lofstrom of the Whistle Stop Cafe also made a presentation on behalf of the Plant City downtown merchants. "I know many residentsdon't like the trains, but these railfans do and we should take advantage of that."
Plant City sits squarely at the intersection of CSX's "A" and "S"Lines. One of only a few places where that happens. 25 to 30 trains daily cross the diamond.
Al Collinge of the Chamber of Commerce also spoke, affirming the popularity of the Plant City Depot among trainwatchers. The Commission then voted unanimously to approve the project and MayorRick Lott offered to "fast track" the project using funds earmarked for downtown improvements. The platform is expected to cost between $30,000 and $50,000. CSX officials have already voiced preliminaryapproval of the project, according to Sparkman.
The platform will be in the southwest quadrant of the CSX railroad crossing, at least 26 feet from the tracks, in the current cityparking lot. Plans include a radio receiver to hear train crews and an ATCS display to see train movements on approaching lines.Regards,
Danny Harmon
Tampa We should be throwing our full support behind this endeavor.
Email Gilbert Thomas thomas_12399(at)msn.com and Danny Harmon
(Distant Signal Productions) distsig(at)aol.com
Plant City is on its way to being a major railfan/historical site. Plant City will have a railfan platform, railroad museum and a very active model rr club. The Western Division of the Sunshine Region is on its way to being the premier division in the state of Florida.
I'm a native of Plant City (which is EAST of Tampa, not NORTH, by the way ), so I was pleased to see this story. Can't wait to check out this new platform on future visits back home!
The model rr club in the old high school building is top-notch, by the way. I visited one evening a few months back, and was very impressed. The club has a good group of guys, too.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
Neutrino wrote:You're right Dan, Plant City is east of Tampa. It just seems like it's north when traveling up to Kissimmee (Where I live.) from Tampa. Perception and reality rarely mix at my age...
Jerry,
I know what you mean. Growing up, I always thought of I-4 as running due east and west. I am still a little surprised when I look at a map and see how dramatically it keeps turning northward beyond Lakeland. But as a kid, my whole universe was contained in the area between Tampa and Lakeland. A trip to Orlando was like going to the other side of the world!
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
So very glad this is happening as Plant City is just a 15 to 20 minute drive east of my area.
This is also a very smart move for safety reasons as well.
One of my friends has gone to that "A Line/S-Line diamond and near the edge of the public property, observed the intermodals whip by. He told me that on one occasion he and his wife observed pieces of metal flying out from underneath an intermodal train as it bounced over the diamond at speed.
I remember that back in the late 1970s, Plant City legally forced the then Seaboard Coast Line to slow down to 30mph. However that didn't last and the trains cruise through today at a pretty nice clip on the A Line.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Sorry to dredge this up.........but it's been a couple of years. Anyone know if the platform plans were given the green light? On my last trip through Plant City not too long ago, there was no platform yet.
Antonio:
Googled 'Trainwatching in Plant City, Fl.'
Got a few responses from 2008 referencing the Train Watching Platform by the aforementioned CSX Diamond in Downtown PC. Fl.
and then tried a website for 'Things to Do in Planct City, Fl.' the following things poped up to do there:
Apparently, Train Watching has fallen from the lists of approved activities.
Then there was this website from 2008: http://www.pctrains.blogspot.com/
It's loaded with politicians bloviating about what a wonderful idea a place to watch trains was, and since then only some YouTube videos of trains in and around Plant City, and little else.
Maybe someone familiar with Plant City and the local politics can illuminate this issue.
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