Favorite Spring Break or Warmer Climate for trains

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CSXBOY
Railroadfan...fan
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:07 pm
Location: Just north of the CSX Detroit sub

Favorite Spring Break or Warmer Climate for trains

Unread post by CSXBOY »

Okay I have done at least one trip down to a warmer climate for railfanning due to being from Michigan which is a tundra more than half of the year in my opinion, but I gotta say the southeast is greatly overlooked in terms of rail buffs visiting. Here is some of my favorite places 1-5

1. Folkston GA: Right on the Florida/Georgia line. Very small town with a great passion for railfanning and the railfan tourism industry. Has a great railroad park and museum super close to the CSX A line. Traffic has seen better days as CSX's mega PSR has taken effect. CSX sees 25-30 trains a day and Amtrak runs 4-6 trains a day including it's super famous auto train. Why do I love it so much then? Weather wise! It usually is 75 degrees or above year round and thunderstorms usually last a few hours and boom it's sunny again!

2. Cordele GA: Busy CSX and NS junction located in the heart of Georgia. CSX runs 20-25 trains a day and Norfolk Southern provides 12-15 trains a day along with the shortline the Heart Of Georgia. The City of Cordele even established a rail park here equipped with a scanner. Located right off I 75 and is a great spot to stop while driving to Florida from Michigan.

3. Dalton GA: Very busy NS and CSX junction located in northern Georgia. This time CSX is the less busier railroad with 10-15 trains as you can see Harrison's PSR taking full effect with huge trains here. Norfolk Southern runs a ton more as it is one of the busiest lines in the state of Georgia with over 30 trains a day some days. Has a very nice rail park with rail cars, a scanner and a ATCS monitor. Right off 75 just like Cordele

4. Austell GA. Easily the busiest junction in all of Georgia and one of the busiest on the entire Norfolk Southern System. Two Norfolk Southern lines converge to create a super busy mainline into Atlanta boasting over 50 trains a day. Does not have the gazebo it once had but has a safe parking lot right by a police station.

5. Decatur AL. Just like Durand has it's union station in Michigan. Decatur AL has great history and a union station which is open to the public and has a model railroad and a scanner. Decatur has an incredible bridge over the Tennessee river. In a rare instance, Norfolk Southern and CSX have to team up to get over the massive bridge. Norfolk Southern boasts around 15 trains a day on their former Southern line to Memphis and CSX has around 25 trains a day on their L&N mainline towards Birmingham AL

Honorable mentions are Chattanooga TN, Nashville TN, Danville KY and Memphis TN

There is still alot I have to cover in the south and as time goes on and my passion for traveling grows I hope to get more places in. I hope to do Birmingham, the KCS meridian speedway and more. I cant get enough of it seems like. I tend to go south more than I go up north if you can believe that

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