Jacksonville Florida

Jacksonville Union Terminal

This Beau Arts station, designed by Murchison K. Mackenzie (or possibly Kenneth Mackenzie Murchison a New York Architect who was the son of a Confederate Colonel from North Carolina depending upon your source), was opened in 1919 to serve the burgeoning passenger traffic, particularly in the winter, between the frozen north, places like New York City, Cleveland, Chicago and Charleston WV, and the growing balmy beaches on Florida’s “Gold Coast,” Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and the rest. As such, most of the passenger traffic this station saw was “through” traffic. That is to say, in its heyday 85% of the passengers who used this station had arrived from elsewhere and were going to another location. Thus, this was a “Terminal” in name only for the vast majority of the travelers. Jacksonville was not their destination or the point of departure. They were only there to change trains, have their car switched from one train to another, or to use the station’s platforms as a good place to get out and stretch while the train’s operating crew changed and the train was serviced with fuel, water, and all the other items a passenger train needs (contrary to some Congressional expectations) to operate comfortably and efficiently.

The first Jacksonville Union Terminal was built in 1904. Interestingly enough, when the 1919 structure was built to replace the by-then inadequate structure, instead of tearing down the old station, it was incorporated into the new structure as a baggage and perishable freight facility. Thus, even today, it sits beside, and in the shadow of, its replacement.

The biggest problem with the Jacksonville Union Terminal was getting the trains into and out of it. Because of its location along the St. John’s River, a location dictated in part by the need to be near the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), many of the trains coming and going, had to back into the terminal, or, back out when departing. While most of the trains coming in from or going onto the FEC simply pulled through on the station trackage located on the river side of the building, trains from the other lines using the terminal, the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Southern Railway (and its subsidiary line The Georgia, Southern and Florida Railroad) were forced to make several inconvenient, and potentially hazardous, switching moves. This awkward situation was compounded when, as a result of labor strife, the FEC stopped all passenger traffic in 1963.

Jacksonville Union Terminal, nevertheless, soldiered on into the early days of Amtrak. It finally closed on January 3, 1974, when Amtrak’s Floridian made the last stop at this facility. The next day Amtrak opened its new facility on the northern outskirts of town.

The new location, is not as convenient to downtown Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Landing as the old Jacksonville Union Terminal. However, it is convenient to the tracks Amtrak uses for its “Silver Service” trains. Further, it allows a “run-through” operation (except when the Sunset Limited ran through Jacksonville on its New Orleans LA to Orlando FL leg). While this new facility has never seen 115 trains and 20,000 passengers, the design capabilities of Jacksonville Union Terminal, it nevertheless can be quite busy in the mornings and again in the evenings. Many times I have had to “wade through” a huge crowd of people in order to board at this new station. It does appear to have some expansion room available so that it could handle more trains and people. However, it does not, IMHO, have as much as might possibly be needed if the “dream” of a high speed rail line up and down the east coast is realized.

As for Jacksonville Union Terminal, it has survived to “live another day.” Now it is the key structure in Jacksonville’s Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. Prime F. Osborn was the last president of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and, consequently, the one who led it into the CSX merger.

Naples Florida

The Atlantic Coast Line Depot

Florida, unlike many of our states, is not so much the product of "settlement" per se, as it is a product of "Development." This is best explained in this way. In many states of the present-day United States land hungry settlers moved in to settle, in reality to "squat," on a piece of land and farm it (i.e. "work" it). They figured on purchasing that land for little or, in the case of the "Homesteaders" nothing. However, in Florida the thousands of people who came, came to play. And this time, they were willing to pay for their pleasure, or at least let people think they were paying for their pleasure. This fact is what makes the history of Florida a bit different from all the other states (including Califormia's). And so much of this difference can be seen in a name.

"The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as 'surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy.'" Thus is the self-described history of the birth of the name of this city. By the late 'teens of the 20th Century, promoters in the area, and, in particular, Baron Collier the biggest landowner and developer in the area, wanted to emulate the astounding success that they could see happening over in the Miami area (an area which had taken upon itself the nickname of "The Gold Coast."). And they wanted to do it the same way as it had been done in Miami, by promoting their area as having a "Mediterranean-type" climate. After all, wasn't the original Naples in Italy? And wasn't Italy on the Mediterranean Sea? So Naples, the American answer to Italy, became a growing reality. Frederick Lewis Allen in his classic book "Only Yesterday" describes the realities behind this early "development" of Florida in the Miami area in all of its gory details, including the use of a sophisticated financial instrument, for its time, called "The Binder"(sorry, Google does recognize this term, you'll have to read the chapter on the Florida Real Estate Boom in Allen's book to understand it). NOTE WELL: A Binder is not to be confused with "The Derivative" BUT in a certain sense, I regard them as "cousins" in the Financial World. Apparently, much the same type of land speculation happened at many other locations in Florida, including Naples.

The emphasis on "Mediterranian-style" living extended even to the railroads that were quickly built through the swamp-land that was, and to a large extent still is, Florida. And so it was, and is, that most Florida train depots from this era are built to represent Spanish Missions. Because while few Americans had been to Italy, many were aware of the Spanish influence in architecture in our Southwestern states. And after all, isn't Spain on the Mediterranean Sea also (and so the logic goes, remember we are dealing in speculation here)? Thus, you see in this posting a Spanish Mission-style Naples Depot built in 1926-7.

The Naples Depot was built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It was the starting point for their passenger train which became most famous for inspiring a fiddle tune, "The Orange Blossom Special." What the lyrics of the song do not make clear is that "The Clearwater Line" does not run down to Miami, the tracks run down to Naples. And so, at 12 noon every day, from 1927 up until 1971, the whistle would blow, and the train would begin its northward trek.

But, for now, those days are past. The tracks into Naples are practically non-existent and so are the trains. Instead, you either fly into the airport Naples shares with Ft. Myers or if you take the train, as I do, you come into a more northern city, in my case Lakeland, Winter Haven, or Sebring on Amtrak, rent a car and drive to Naples.

Oh yes, and did I mention, in all the speculation surrounding the building of Florida, all the promotion of the sun, the surf, the sand, and the Mediterranian-style climate, they forgot to mention one thing -- Hurricanes. And that, at times has almost put an end to everything down there.