Brightline Trains

[jrs2]

4 hours ago, HankStrong said:

It would be nice if (in my lifetime) there was a circular loop from Miami to Orlando to Tampa to Naples to Miami that someone could take.

Tell it, Hank, tell it!

[shardoon]

On 2/14/2023 at 3:40 PM, HankStrong said:

Interesting note on someone completely unlike you. 

I had a conversation with a guy I know the other day who said BL trains are just about useless.  There is no one in either Miami or Orlando that will take a train when they could just drive it.  First, that's not true at all just because he believes it.  Second, it's probably not going to become the #1 way to travel between the two cities, but it will make a difference.

It's roughly 4 hours from MCO to MIA on a normal day.  The train is supposed to take just over 3 hours and you should save an hour each way.  Even if it takes 4 hours and there is no difference on time, there is a difference in experience.  You don't have to drive.  You don't have to fight traffic.  You don't have to pay $30 in tolls.  You don't have to buy $50-$100 in gas.  You don't have to put 450 miles of wear on your car.  Some people's daily driver is limited (in trust) to local commutes and they would never drive it out of town voluntarily, so they rent a vehicle if they travel by car.  

It opens up travel from MCO, MIA, FLL, and PBI.  That is a lot of options.  It opens up cruising from Orlando to the Port of Miami & Port Everglades, instead of just Port Canaveral.  Not to mention when the Tampa leg opens and if they really do a leg to Jax.

It's actually 4 hours min by car. That's if you avoid arriving in south Florida during the dreaded 2 hour span between 4 and 6 pm and then you can turn that drive closer to 5 hours. Also, that assuming no bathroom stops that always turn into food stops greater than an extra 30 min. 

This train should be great. What's not to like? Zero traffic. Drinks. Down time to do work or surf the web or watch TV. Arrive in down town and a quick uber ride to your hotel. 

[HankStrong]

8 hours ago, shardoon said:

It's actually 4 hours min by car. That's if you avoid arriving in south Florida during the dreaded 2 hour span between 4 and 6 pm and then you can turn that drive closer to 5 hours. Also, that assuming no bathroom stops that always turn into food stops greater than an extra 30 min. 

This train should be great. What's not to like? Zero traffic. Drinks. Down time to do work or surf the web or watch TV. Arrive in down town and a quick uber ride to your hotel. 

Yeah.  I was being generous for the people that always claim to be super fast and saying "roughly 4 hours" for them.  I've done speed runs in my younger days where I only stopped for gas, peed in widemouthed Gatorade bottles, and went a wee bit ()over the speed limit.  That's really abnormal and not something you should ever factor in for normal travel.

I did Orlando to DC in less than 11.5 hours once as a younger man and Louisville to Dallas in about the same amount of time.  Those were serious speed runs.  Literally only stopping for gas and getting immediately back on the road.  The Dallas trip my gf at the time got in the backseat of the car, fell asleep, I shook her awake at a gas station to get up and pee, and she fell back asleep back at the car.  She didn't even but barely remember the pee break and the trip was instantaneous for her.  That Chevy Cavalier wasn't luxurious, but it got near 40mpg on the highway and had a 15 gallon tank.  I could easily go 500 miles on a tank without pushing it and almost 600 miles if I pushed it.  Those were the days.  I slept all afternoon and she packed the car, we left about 9pm and arrived near sunrise.

Not being that boy anymore, I'm taking the train every time.

[jrs2]

16 hours ago, shardoon said:

It's actually 4 hours min by car. That's if you avoid arriving in south Florida during the dreaded 2 hour span between 4 and 6 pm and then you can turn that drive closer to 5 hours. Also, that assuming no bathroom stops that always turn into food stops greater than an extra 30 min. 

This train should be great. What's not to like? Zero traffic. Drinks. Down time to do work or surf the web or watch TV. Arrive in down town and a quick uber ride to your hotel. 

you're right...it is closer to a 4 hr trip...I keep forgetting that...

[jrs2]

 

https://www.wesh.com/article/bright-orange-2-train-orlando/42989520

the 10th train arrives in Orlando, Big Orange 2.

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by jrs2

[shardoon]

Brightline supposedly starting 125mph tests between cocoa and airport today. Will report if I see anything on my commute. 

[codypet]

That'll be a sight to see.  My friend said Thursday was the first day he had seen the signals turned on.

[shardoon]

5 hours ago, codypet said:

That'll be a sight to see.  My friend said Thursday was the first day he had seen the signals turned on.

On my commute home to Orlando, I saw a brightline train slow rolling maybe 40 mph eastbound. Pretty cool to see the real thing and not HERZOG lol

[HankStrong]

17 hours ago, codypet said:

That'll be a sight to see.  My friend said Thursday was the first day he had seen the signals turned on.

I have seen no trains, but I've seen the lights on a few times over the past few days

[aent]

 

[jliv]

Call me a geek, but this is a visual I’ve been waiting more the decade for. And that’s not the top speed possible in those tracks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[codypet]

Ohhh man that dust.

[HankStrong]

15 hours ago, codypet said:

Ohhh man that dust.

That's exactly what I thought.  WOW, that dust.

[Alleri459]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:56 PM, codypet said:

Ohhh man that dust.

Has to be from the track being new and very little rain before this testing.

[codypet]

14 hours ago, aleonrivera said:

Has to be from the track being new and very little rain before this testing.

Absolutely.  I suspect that was shot before the rain two days ago, but that was a sight to see in the video.

[shardoon]

When are we gonna get video of the train going the full 130mph? So far, I do not see any video along the beachline greater than 70 mph. 

[jrs2]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:49 AM, aent said:

 

do we know what that dirt is just south of 528 where the toll booths are?  it looks like an easement for a road extension, and looks like it's to the north of Boggy Ranch and west of Innovation Way.

[jrs2]

On 3/8/2023 at 11:59 AM, shardoon said:

When are we gonna get video of the train going the full 130mph? So far, I do not see any video along the beachline greater than 70 mph. 

if you look at the video again, around a minute into it when it is parallel to a yellow Ryder truck, it looks like it's going 1 1/2 times its speed...

[aent]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

if you look at the video again, around a minute into it when it is parallel to a yellow Ryder truck, it looks like it's going 1 1/2 times its speed...

Yes, that does appear to be 130mph. Note the train is only going to do 130mph during testing, it will be 125mph when launched, FRA requires passenger rails to be tested and certified 5mph faster then the permitted speed to all track as a margin of error.

[HankStrong]

14 hours ago, jrs2 said:

do we know what that dirt is just south of 528 where the toll booths are?  it looks like an easement for a road extension, and looks like it's to the north of Boggy Ranch and west of Innovation Way.

It's a new neighborhood.

Some company I've never dealt with called Mattamy Homes built a few neighborhoods off Dowden Road just South of it.  Tax appraiser site says they were held under the name BEACHLINE SOUTH RESIDENTIAL LLC until they were sold.  The land you describe (I believe you mean at the 5:30 mark of the video) appears to be the next phase of that work.  It's also under the name BEACHLINE SOUTH RESIDENTIAL LLC, so I assume it will also be the same developer.  That's not a fact, that's a reasonable guess.  Googling that name also leads to a bunch of articles about Mattamy Homes.  That said, the individual parcels haven't been recorded on the tax appraiser site yet.

[codypet]

The proposed roadway shows up as a future road on the property appraiser site too.  It is interesting to me that they keep building and realigning that intersection every 5 years or so.  Like they can't make up their mind.

[jrs2]

https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/news/142322/watch-history-made-as-brightline-becomes-fastest-train-in-florida/

 

[jgardnerucf]

This puppy was flying! 2:25pm Monday

[aent]

On 3/20/2023 at 2:30 PM, jgardnerucf said:

This puppy was flying! 2:25pm Monday

Apparently that train was also short because demand in South Florida has the trains filling up and they need the extra passenger cars. They're also running mismatched colored sets as a result. 

Brightline also ordered additional passenger cars

The order is for a total of twenty new passenger cars, with half to be delivered in 2024 and the remainder to be delivered in 2025.

Edited March 27, 2023 by aent

[HankStrong]

9 hours ago, aent said:

Apparently that train was also short because demand in South Florida has the trains filling up and they need the extra passenger cars. They're also running mismatched colored sets as a result. 

Brightline also ordered additional passenger cars

The order is for a total of twenty new passenger cars, with half to be delivered in 2024 and the remainder to be delivered in 2025.

This is the kind of positive news you want to hear.  People saying nice things is great.  Solid news stories are wonderful.

Ridership forces you to buy more trains?  That's gold.

Edited March 27, 2023 by HankStrong