Folkston Funnel

Producer: T&W

Location: Folkston

Timeframe: circa 2003

Length: 1 hour 52 minutes

Sources: Scott Teague, Jeff Bulman

A railfan visit to Folkston, Georgia. This is North of Jacksonville. CSX double-track mainline that serves Florida. The busy hotspot hosts as many as 60 trains daily.  The show is filmed around a Railfan platform there. Both the Jessup and Nahunta subdivisions go into Florida. Plus, Amtrak has 8 scheduled moves including the Auto Train. Hence, another nickname is Florida Funnel. Either name, there is a lot of variety.

A single DVD-R. Clear video. Live environmental audio. Good videography.

No chapter menu. Push play. Hidden chapter advance function. On-screen graphics. A map at the beginning defines the CSX routes at Folkston. Jesup sub from Waycross, Georgia and Nahunta sub from Savannah, Georgia. Folkston has the traffic to Jacksonville , Florida. Narrated show.

To the Trains… 👉

Amtrak 91 is Southbound as it sounds the horn for the road crossing. Eventually the constant horns become annoying. Perhaps good for 5 year old children.

Symbol Q-127 is an Intermodal from Chicago to Tampa. Engine 754 (SD70MAC) plus an SD40-2 for power.

Train A-772 is from Waycross to Florida. A pair of GE B30-7 locomotives haul this one. Engine 5672 leads 5575 on mixed freight.

A former Conrail GE hauls Q-652. The 7353( C40-8) leads a CSX SD40 -2 is en route to Waycross with general freight. Looks like the entire train is filmed.

Tropicana Juice Train as K-651 behind AC6000 power. The route is Greenville, NJ to Tampa. Horns, horns, horns! Why not relocate a short distance away from the road crossings.

Auto Train. Symbol PO-52. Looks like rain…

Night photography is supported by lights at the Railfan Park. A Union Pacific freight has a sizeable lash-up of Armour Yellow diesels. Q-555. The seven units are led by an UP SD70M. Maybe the narrator went to bed. Only information at night are the subtitles for the passing traffic. Yawn…

Daylight returns along with the narrator. A loaded Phosphate Train. Southbound K-917 is behind two C40-8 engines. Daylight quickly improves. Day two appears very similar to the first day.

A Coal Train is N-013. A pair of AC44 units led by engine 321 with #99. This move is from West Virginia to Indian Town, Florida.

After waiting for the Coal Train to clear, is Q-602. This long lash-up begins to move out. CSX 7660 and 7650 are at the front of the 8 locomotives. New Orleans to Waycross.

CSX train Q-458 is from Jacksonville on Florida East Coast to Waycross. It waits at the Martin Street crossing. Four trains must clear first Here, the Conductor guards the gates as some idiots have driven around here, only seeing the parked freights. Meanwhile, Q-174 passes by and is led by CSX 654 (AC60-CW). It is a hot Intermodal and routed from Jacksonville, FL. to Boston, Massachusetts. The Q-458 pays off nicely, with a varied 8 unit lash-up hauling mixed freight. It has CSX 492 (AC44) on the point hauling mixed freight.

Folkston Funnel

This show is all at the Folkston railfan spot. Although it is pretty good from a production standpoint. It is a hornfest.

Fast paced as many trains pass at road speeds. Now, some trains stop at this bottleneck. Varied CSX power. An assortment of freights, as the many moves travel between Georgia and Florida.

Nearly two hours long. This show becomes tedious. Trains blow horns, gates drop, they speed past. Rinse and repeat. Nighttime drags along without a narrative. Speaking of constant horn blowing… Great for small children to stay amused.

On the other hand. Well filmed, decent narrative (when present) and plenty of trains. Often includes plenty of the consist on many freights. While not my cup of tea, it is not a bad show. Call it pretty good.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars