Tag Archives: Macon

Rail Plan Bypasses Valdosta?

It would take very little tweaking to make the U.S. DoT’s high speed rail plan run through Valdosta to get from Macon to Jacksonville, instead of bypassing to the east.
high_speed_rail_1.png

gsf1918.jpg Macon-Valdosta-Jacksonville is, after all, the historic route, and the tracks are still there and in use for freight. In the first phase of the DoT’s plan,

“applications will focus on projects that can be completed quickly and yield measurable, near-term job creation and other public benefits”
So who in Valdosta or Lowndes County is talking to DoT about this?

The Royal Palm, Valdosta, and Jacksonville

There used to be a train called the Royal Palm that ran from Detroit and Buffalo via Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Macon to Jacksonville. This schedule is for 1953:

Southernnewroyalpalm1953

Jacksonville Transit Blog brings this up while quoting a Valdosta Daily Times article about Valdosta's new transportation plan. Hm, 5 million people in Atlanta, 3/4 million in Jacksonville, and Valdosta halfway in between….