Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Focus Magazine Article on Platform

The current issue of Focus Magazine contains the following article on the proposed train viewing platform:
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PLANT CITY’S “TRAIN VIEWING PLATFORM” ON TRACK
by Jerry Lofstrom

A team of locomotives hauling freight through Plant City breaks the early morning silence like a distant wall of thunderstorms. The roar at first is barely discernible. But slowly the rumble begins to shake the ground; the vibrations gradually funnel into a single, expanding image of an oncoming locomotive.


They stand alone or in groups stirred by speculation of what type of train will soon be rumbling into town. They’re referred to as “train spotters,” railroad buffs who have a passion for watching trains. One grabs a notebook and prepares to log all the vital details such as model and engine number, another readies a video camera that sits atop a 4’ tripod.


Finally, the piercing sound of the locomotive’s blaring horn signals the arrival of a mammoth CSX engine, its headlights slowly comes into focus on the hazy horizon, trailed by a seemingly endless line of rail cars.


On cue, the outcry of a nearby crossing gate interrupts the calm of a sleepy Sunday morning; its slender arm slowly drops toward the ground, cutting off a pickup truck that had hopes of slipping across the tracks.


For train lovers, it’s show time.


For the majority of people who live or work here, it’s just another frustrating day of facing a blocked railroad crossing, traffic delays, and concern that emergency vehicles won’t get through.

For untold numbers of railroad buffs, trains are Plant City's main attraction that brings them to town.


Commissioner Mike Sparkman and local downtown businesspeople are contemplating how these visitors - and their tourist dollars - might be made more welcome.


A train viewing platform geared toward bringing rail enthusiasts to Plant City is chugging along in the approval process. The L-shaped platform, which is proposed to be built on the south side of the railroad tracks adjacent to the downtown historic depot, will allow train fans a safe place to photograph and watch trains coming into Plant City from the north, east, west and south.

City commissioners at a recent commission meeting voted 5-0 to give conceptual approval to the idea.


“We will not be asking for taxpayer funding,” Sparkman told fellow commissioners. “The platform will be paid for through advertising and contributions from the private sector.”


Mayor Rick Lott endorsed the idea, saying, “It would take train traffic that is perceived as a negative and turn it into a positive for downtown.”


And that’s exactly what happened in Folkston, Georgia.


Seven years ago, the townspeople of Folkston decided all those trains running through town might actually be a positive way to bring tourist into their town. The business community aided by the city built a train viewing platform – and its working. Spurred on by word-of-mouth and the Internet, Folkston has become a hotbed for train enthusiasts who stop to eat at restaurants, shop at gift stores, stay at motels and contribute to the economic vitality of their community.


"As much as trains can be a hassle for residents, we do realize that railroads are what made our community," said Marion Smith, president of the Plant City Chamber of Commerce. "It attracts a lot of people to watch, so why not provide these visitors with more to do once they come here?"


But there are those who think a viewing platform is a waste of money to spend on train eccentrics who stand at the edge of steel rails watching trains go by.


But what the critics don’t understand is that train watching is a serious national and international hobby for thousands of people who are no more eccentric than golfers knocking a little white ball in a hole then taking it out again, or anglers dangling a worm in the water.


For organizers and advocates, the call to undertake this enterprising project is simple: “Build it and they will come.”

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Grab a copy of Focus Magazine to see the article and accompanying photographs.

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