Railfanning around Central Orlando

[brynna79]

Just reaching out for some help.  We're lucky enough to get away in a week's time to Orlando and I wondered if there were any reasonable spots to see locos in this vicinity.  Going with my wife and 1 year old, so nothing more than a look where possible. Or is there any good spots in the general area away where units can be seen, plus some shops to keep them entertained for half hour why i nosey.  We will have a vehicle. 

 

TIA

 

Bryn

[F-UnitMad]

When I was there in 2017 I went to Plant City (on the road to Tampa) where there's a rail museum & viewing deck at the junction there. BUT - I went on a Monday. The museum was shut & I only saw 5 trains all day - one of those twice!!

Edited April 28, 2022 by F-UnitMad

[jasond]

Lucky?  Lucky??  If it's only a week away ....  You don't want to listen to me.  I've only been twice, 1974 and on a bargain holiday just after 9/11.  It cost me more to upgrade the car (Granada equivalent) than the whole holiday.

 

Get searching.  I've had 1-year olds and their only use is to get you instantly to the front of theme-park queues.  Hang-on, go to a supermarket and get him/her a great toy while you shop.  Don't take a huge range of clothes for yourselves or you'll have to buy a larger suitcase.  If you have leftover coupons (AKA dollar bills) go to the shopping malls, but park as near the entrance(s) as you can.  I learnt that the hard way, it was 96/96 (temp/humidity).  Another advantage of having a 1-year old: when you get back in a long-time parked car open the doors while the buckling up happens so you'll still be able to breathe when you close them..

 

Do ask the nice Irishman where the museums are, read the rail contents to make selecting them easier: a rail museum in Florida may have a caboose and a Whitcomb diesel (from the defunct quarry along the trail, and a load of blokes' trouserbelt buckles or badges.  Some of the theme parks that have general interest things might have a 3ft railroad as well as shops for the missus.  The Irishman?  Sorry ... G O'Ogle.  There was a small freight yard just east of town, I'll have another look and there was a model shop nearer the center centre.  In the old town centre there were some passenger cars belonging to a local club(?).  Mexican food?  You gotta try it/have more?  Chicken Mole (mo-lay), hang on got to wipe my keyboard.

 

 

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!

Jason

[brynna79]

Thanks for the replies.  Great time was had, and we have missed not travelling there for the past few years. We had a holiday prior to going to isolate and avoid picking covid up for the test.  That felt like an eternity. 

 

@F-UnitMad I have watched a few Plant City videos and the live cam.  Certainly some good action there, although not much else for the family. 

 

There was very little time TBH. Only action I saw was a SunRail passing the White Wolf Café as we went for breakfast - no camera either.  I visited Colonial Hobbies a couple of times (connected to food Poke Hanna and White Wolf) and a chap called Jim was quite helpful in both discussing where CSX have active yards (south of Orlando) at the end of Orange Avenue and in relieving us of a chunk of dollars as well.  Alas, SunRail have limited the amount of daytime action in the central Orlando area and with a then 13month old, nighttime prowling was not  really an option.   I did make it 90% of the way to the Amtrak station towards Sanford, but traffic was horrific heading north and we headed south again. 

 

Plenty to think about when we get to go back and a villa would make me disappearing for a few hours much easier than a hotel. 

 

Cheers

[F-UnitMad]

7 hours ago, brynna79 said:

I visited Colonial Hobbies a couple of times

Was it any good? Must admit I gave it a miss, but then American 2-rail O Scale isn't exactly Mainstream, so Colonial were highly unlikely to have anything in stock anyway, & the web reviews I saw gave the impressìon even mainstream HO is rare in that shop these days!!

[melmerby]

I went to Orlando in 1982

Spent a few hours around Church Street and the only train at that time was this parked up for nostalgia effect:

Its about where the commuter station is now.

 

I was expecting at least a few freights on the line but absolutely zilch.

In the whole time in Orlando, including a fair bit of driving around, I never saw a single train outside the theme parks!

 

 

[brynna79]

On 01/06/2022 at 22:32, F-UnitMad said:

Was it any good? Must admit I gave it a miss, but then American 2-rail O Scale isn't exactly Mainstream, so Colonial were highly unlikely to have anything in stock anyway, & the web reviews I saw gave the impressìon even mainstream HO is rare in that shop these days!!

Yes, it wasn't too bad, they had a decent amount of HO and N gauge on display, but nothing like what I would like to see from a model shop - they sell cameras and plastic kits in larger volumes.  I got a few nice modern HO Gauge locos from them at a more reasonable price than being sold at the only real UK seller now.  But nothing that was massively cheap, especially with the £/$ exchange rate being as low as $1.25. They are really friendly and it might be worth dropping a message ahead of any visit if you wanted to check what they had.  They did have a O Gauge SD70 that peaked my interest, but after spending what i did on a handful of wagons and the three locos, I was happy I had enough for that visit.  I did buy around 4 months of issues of Railroad and Railfan, plus Railroad Model Craftsman to stave off the UK prices. 

 

The other place I visited was Zitnik Trains south of Tampa.  This would possibly better suit your desires. They had half a shop full of oversized new and older stock and while i felt the price of HO Gauge items from more than a few years ago was expensive, I did not pay much attention to the larger scales. after a 90min diversion, I only left with a couple of steel signs for the wall and four packs of grade crossings from Woodland Scenic, which i know are rare at the best of times.  I won't go back and even the wife was less than impressed with the trip there - but we used the Publix opposite to stock up on water and toddler friendly food for the day! 

 

Cheers

[brynna79]

On 01/06/2022 at 23:50, melmerby said:

I went to Orlando in 1982

Spent a few hours around Church Street and the only train at that time was this parked up for nostalgia effect:

Its about where the commuter station is now.

 

I was expecting at least a few freights on the line but absolutely zilch.

In the whole time in Orlando, including a fair bit of driving around, I never saw a single train outside the theme parks!

 

 

That is pretty much my experience each time that I have been there as well... Aside from the Sunrail effort, which was not why I love US railroading.  TBH, when in Toronto and Vancouver, i had zero luck as well.  I guess you need to deviate from the main areas to see more of what we love.  

[mdvle]

Too late for the posters visit - and not the exact area wanted - (and I haven't watched it yet for lack of time reasons) but this YouTube video claims to show railfanning locations around Tampa

 

 

[melmerby]

Florida East Coast Railway have regular freights on their tracks and Brightline construction as well.

Cocoa is only about 40 miles and on the way to Cape Canaveral

Edited June 7, 2022 by melmerby

[brynna79]

21 hours ago, melmerby said:

Florida East Coast Railway have regular freights on their tracks and Brightline construction as well.

Cocoa is only about 40 miles and on the way to Cape Canaveral

Yes, our drive from Melbourne to Orlando ran parallel to the twin tracking they are doing alongside I95.  The works looked rather impressive and certainly interesting to see new enabling works for a major line being undertaken.  Haven't had chance to see HS2 yet and most of my experience is widening/making good of existing infrastructure.  I think that line will be a massive gain for Florida when it finally gets completed and we would definitely consider that over a hire car initially when arriving there.   It's fitting such visits in with the 'family' aspect of the holiday, but I am sure there will be chance at some point in future visits.  But the FEC is a must for sure! Cheers

[brynna79]

Thanks for the link. Regular viewer of Distant Signal and Tolga East Coast on Youtube.  They do add some useful discussion and details to the videos that are a bit more than just watching trains (which i love as well...). 

 

Cheers

 

[melmerby]

If you are interested in following the FEC upgrade for Brightline trains, as well as the new construction (e.g. to Orlando International Airport) the "Roaming Railfan" has been doing comprehensive coverage, mainly using drones, giving a good view over the work sites:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbr6nOYIcuf9HbWQ4XX2bAg

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by melmerby
spelling etc.

[brynna79]

6 hours ago, melmerby said:

If you are interested in following the FEC upgrade for Brightline trains, as well as the new construction (e.g. to Orlando International Airport) the "Roaming Railfan" has been doing comprehensive coverage, mainly using drones, giving a good view over the work sites:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbr6nOYIcuf9HbWQ4XX2bAg

 

Great link. Thanks for sharing. Will take a proper look. 

Cheers