Eastern Railroad Discussion > The Juice passes the Junction.

CSX 5328 leads X031 westbound at Shenandoah Junction, WV, with Tropicana empties, followed by single level containers.  Every couple years, the Juice passes the Junction as part of a re-route because of CSX problems.  Today, the Juice is off the "Water Level" A-line because the water in the Carolinas is higher than the A-line.

Other pics from today:
http://members.trainorders.com/ddavies/News/news.htm

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I just read that Florida's orange / citrus crop harvest has declined by a shocking 80% in the past 20 years.  Instaed of 200 million+ boxes being picked, it's down to around 45 million.  Juice and packing house are closing everwhere.  I wonder how long this train will survive??  It's all because of the Asian psyllid bug that attacks citrus trees.  It's having an ENORMOUS economic impact on Florida's agriculture sector.

Not all the Juice train is Florida grown, but it is all Florida processed at Tropicana IIRC

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

coach Wrote:
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> I just read that Florida's orange / citrus crop
> harvest has declined by a shocking 80% in the past
> 20 years.  Instaed of 200 million+ boxes being
> picked, it's down to around 45 million.  Juice
> and packing house are closing everwhere.  I
> wonder how long this train will survive??  It's
> all because of the Asian psyllid bug that attacks
> citrus trees.  It's having an ENORMOUS economic
> impact on Florida's agriculture sector.


 Bugs, and the orange crops aren't the only reason juice is not popular any more....Many of the people arriving in this ocuntry over the past 20 years do not include it in their diet...ditto for milk and the milk industry...

Nice pics!!   I like the first one on your webpage.

The sad thing about the drop in Florida harvest is that Florida oranges are by far the tastiest....I don't know where thev've always gone, but in Virginia you can only buy California oranges, and it's always been that way....well, school kids would come around offering crates of Indian River fruits....and they are delish.,,,but that's been the only way.  

The desire to reduce sugar intake has also hurt OJ. Ounce for ounce, OJ has about the same sugar content as Coca-Cola. The Florida orange harvest peaked in 1997-98 at 244 million boxes (each box, 90 pounds). The 2016-2017 harvest was just 69 million boxes... down 70%. The last forecast I saw for 2017-18 was even lower, 46 million boxes... about what it was during World War II. 

Naturally occurring sugars are not a problem in a well rounded diet. Refined sugar is what's killing us all. You can crucify HFCS too for it's not only bad for you it's not a good tasting sweetner. I would like to see more malt syrup used for sweetening in baked goods. 

From Polk County, Florida, the state's largest citrus producer. C'mon guys - this is a train site, not an agricultural or food site. Yes, the Florida citrus industry is in "the tank" for all the reasons that have been mentioned - and more: like freezes, residential development, hurricanes, etc. One thing after another. The crop will come back this year - but the big 3 citrus processors are still going to produce juice - and that should continue to feed "The Juice". The real threat to "The Juice" is the decline in juice consumption. But - on this site - it would be helpful simply to have information about the train itself and whether or not it is still viable.

The Juice has been an extraordinary story - and it still is - so enjoy it. It is intersting to see it being "made up" at the plant and being put together. But there is nothing like seeing it coming north at speed. Lucius Beebe would have loved it - and "bloviated" over it. 

X031 at Shenandoah Jct. was a nice catch. Congrats on the IOTD, Dave.
-Ted