Train-Spotting, Southern Style

Train-Spotting, Southern Style

Though Folkston is best known as a gateway to the Okefenokee, it also has a growing reputation as a hot spot for train aficionados. As many as 60 trains a day pass through the "Folkston Funnel," a double track that serves as the main artery for traffic in and out of Florida; just to the north, in Waycross, is the largest rail yard in the southeast.

The Funnel -- on Tower Street, just off Main -- is decidedly spectator-friendly: it has a covered track-side viewing platform equipped with ceiling fans, a scanner to monitor radio traffic between trains, bathrooms, picnic tables, a grill, and lights that flood the tracks for nighttime viewing. The Folkston chamber of commerce has even put together a Web page (www.folkston.com/trains/trains.htm) for train watchers. Park yourself on the platform and you're likely to see trains carrying everything from automobiles to grain to orange juice. Several Amtrak passenger trains pass daily as well, including the Autotrain.