CSX Downtown Spur, in pictures, through the years

June 25, 2009 (per Flickr) - likely running as Y322 in summer morning light the job crosses N
River Drive heading railroad north. Tom K photo

 Tom Klimoski, a famous model railroader in northeast Georgia and forever-member of ECHOES, was very kind to share pictures of the CSX Downtown Spur in its last heyday before the downturn following the 2008 economic recession took a toll on much of the line's business. He has allowed me permission to share them on this blog and by doing so there are plenty of takeaways from the camera roll.

To add to the latest discussion of the Downtown Spur operations. I had the honor of being able to finally visit Lance Mindheim's layout after quite a few years; he's done so much to the Downtown Spur setup since the May 2019 visit. Probably one of the most comprehensive operation sessions was conducted impromptu as well, where a lot of the recent railfanning experiences were reenacted and a couple blasts from the past were sprinkled in.

But as I would learn, the few throwback switches that were done were merely the tip of the iceberg. When Tom dropped an album of dozens of pictures of Y120 and Y322 between 2008 and 2010, so many thoughts and ideas went through my mind that if my mind were a hard drive it would be fried in terms of processing power.

• "While some of the industries may have closed, they will live on on Lance's layout."

Tom said this as he commented on the video posted of Lance's layout. He couldn't be any more  on-target about this. I already knew the layout to have an incredible degree of accuracy, off of what I've seen in person and in Google Maps. But to see the photos to compare, the level of accuracy goes up to scathing. 

Five customers remain in service on the Downtown Spur. Very sadly, FDOT contractors took away any hope of restored service on the switchback lead to the 12th Ave crossing, eliminating what was once a pretty busy and interesting sub-spur if you will. I keep preaching about most of them; Miami Iron, FP&T, Sungas, Family & Son, and Cliff Berry Inc. Then there are those who have faded away. Miami Produce Center. Pan Am Frozen Foods. Several more spots sprinkled especially at the end of the line. Trujillo & Sons consolidated with the FEC location off of CIS unit 1 so fortunately that chunk of the supply chain still exists to this day, but sadly it's not on the spur. 

What used to occupy the line were a number of warehousing spots - inside buildings whose tenants had markings like Miami Waste Paper, Proveedora Jiron, and A-1 Farmers Choice. It also seemed like the line was replete with some team tracking, in such a classic way that made an incredible amount of sense when understanding the motivation for the HO layout.

The run-around track offered team track transloading. FDOT completely ripped up the asphalt, but I would suppose they still had this in mind when rebuilding the Downtown Spur in 2022, and if CSX is willing to, they would accommodate the service. Tom K photo

Some of this is probably a little impeding to the nearby surroundings which may validate seeing this team tracking go away, such as the following example on the switchback. 

But you see these and immediately, in the most trivial and non-negotiable way, understand the allure and interest of the CSX Downtown Spur. Clearly, something you don't find everywhere... and it is sad to see reefers no longer making it down this way. One would think it's natural to have refrigerated business in this part of Miami.

The BNSF WFE reefers also appear frequently, adding tons more in context to seeing it on the layout.

• Immediate nostalgia kicking in. Lots of familiar CSX units seen running around appear in this album.

2617 is infamously the engine that was stolen for a joyride in Homestead. Florida railfans will never forget the GP39-2s. 6057 and 6091 were frequent visitors to the Miami terminal. I am situated close to the Lehigh Spur and have seen a decent share of jobs circulate these units especially where units were needed on both ends due to the Lehigh being a switchback lead. Some of these units might be modeling interests in the future.

• Glance at SPEX gondolas (now LSEX) as-delivered-ish

This might be a very useful reference, just saying.

• Modeling interests being reconsidered to date back to the early 2000s; the CSX A&E period

Whatever is left over from the past is always of the highest interest for any railfan. A large faction of us arrange trips around shortlines with first generation EMDs and classic GEs and ALCOs. The modern vibe of GEVOs moving the same cookie cutter intermodal and unit trains doesn't hit the same way that the classic time freight of days gone by do.

Model railroading is often reflected by some as a way to relive the old days, and in this case, as my generation comes of age, the longing for days like this turbulent boom in the post-Conrail split era keeps growing. I have two YN2 locomotives in my HO scale collection, and one of them happens to be 4313. How fitting. We have just figured out the perfect layout on which to run it.

There is a continued openness to further dig into this era and collect accordingly. The modern era is cool too, but its novelty has its limitations. But imagine the rail industry evolving in such a way that even the COVID era becomes coveted. Say less.

• What was I doing in 2008?

Getting through middle school. 2008 was one of the first years I started operating with a video camera; and was breaking out in the Adult Fan of LEGO Hobby as a teen. While it would have been nice to venture out with the proper intel (which I had none and really that's a moot point due to my age and resources at the time) I'm extremely grateful that Tom K was able to capture all these scenes. I had known about Lance's layout at the time especially as he was working on East Rail and researching the spur but I had not known enough about present day operations to properly plan an outing to the Downtown Spur. 

Final Thoughts

Now in the early 2000s you had some modern advents mixed in with the classic railroading vibe, which makes it a very palatable era. As I mentioned earlier, it took a major force like the 2008 recession to sweep a wave of change that accelerated things, for better and for worse. While economic recovery funding helped rail projects happen, a lot of single car business faded away in this period, and the Downtown Spur lost half of its business by late 2010.

Thanks to Tom K for letting me share these, indeed with some commentary and reflection. I hope this partly explains my and several railfans' fascination with territory much like the CSX Downtown Spur and East Rail.