| Folkston Georgia |
| A CSX double stack train races southward through Folkston Georgia as seen from the Old Railroad Depot Park one of two locations perfect for trainwatching. |
| FOLKSTON GEORGIA Only 4 miles north of the Florida State Line is the small town of Folkston. Better known by many as the gateway to a local swamp and nature preserve it has been becoming a hit with railfans. So much so that the town has built a platform just for trainwatchers and a park also is set up facing the main line. ABOUT THE AREA This is the north end of the "Florida Funnel" also known as the "Folkston Funnel" depending who you talk to. The line splits just north of town with one heading toward Waycross and the other toward the northeast. HOW TO GET THERE Take US 1 north from Jacksonville off of I-295. Folkston is about 40 minutes north of Jacksonville. Just after crossing the state line in 4 miles you will hit downtown Folkston. Go west on Main Street. To get to the railfan platform take a left on Tower Ave just before the CSX main. The platform will be right there. To view from the park, just cross the tracks and park in one of the many spaces near the old depot. TIPS The best way to do this is use the railfan platform in the moring and the park in the afternoon working with the sun. However each to his or her own. There is a radio scanner at the Folkston Platform it is set on a manual timer. Just set the timer for however many hours you plan to be there and it will run until the timer runs out. Just reset it if it runs out. Lights and fans are available by a switch. A grill is also available. WHAT CAN YOU SEE Mostly CSX GE widecabs but the occasional EMD and run through can be seen. But it appears that the CSX GE widecabs are the rule. Amtrak passes through including all Florida - New York service and Auto Train. SAFETY FIRST This is no joke here, this is a BUSY railroad. Two tracks makes it even more dangerous to cross. PLEASE be sure there is nothing coming before crossing. HOME PAGE |
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