by Kinzer Hurt/photos by the author
The First Coast Railroad (FCRD) in Fernandina Beach, Fla., was the first short line I ever railfanned, and so it’s fitting that my model of their operations on Amelia Island is the first layout I actually finished. As we all know, model railroads are never truly “completed,” but this small slice of Florida I created in my college apartment is the first one to have all of the scenery, structures, and rolling stock completed to an acceptable degree. Construction took place on and off across three years, from my first semester as a sophomore to just a few months before graduation.
I’m a Florida native, and spent 18 years of my life there before moving away to study landscape architecture. When I was a kid, my grandfather owned a condo on Amelia Island, and my family would vacation there. Located in the far northeast corner of the state, it’s usually less crowded than other Florida beaches. It is home to around 40,000 people, 15 miles of bright sandy beaches, colorful flora and fauna, marshlands, rivers, and two massive pulp and paper mills that keep the First Coast Railroad busy.
This railroad captured my imagination early on as I developed my interest in model railroading. I remember seeing long trains of 50’ boxcars rumbling by the restaurant where we ate dinner, or switching the paper mill as my family went shopping in Fernandina Beach, or meandering through the wide open marshes of the Amelia River as we left the island to go back home. It was the first Genesee & Wyoming operation I ever saw, and I thought the bright orange and yellow were a perfect match for the vibrant Florida atmosphere. I was also fascinated by the diversity that existed in the pool of 50’ boxcars, with lots of fallen flags, patches, graffiti, fading, and unique weathering.
ABOVE: As the sun sets over the Amelia River, FCRD 1602 basks in golden-hour glow.
Amelia Island and the railroad share an interesting history. After being inhabited by Native Americans for more than a thousand years, the island was conquered by a French explorer in the 16th century, who was quickly conquered by Spanish explorers, who in turn were conquered by British forces in the 18th century. As the American Revolutionary War raged on, Spanish troops again took the island as well as the rest of the Florida territory. Under Spanish rule, the town of Fernandina was officially founded, but it wasn’t until the U.S. took control of Florida in the 19th century that the railroad came to the island.
The Florida Railroad opened in 1858 as the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of the state, linking Florida’s First Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. After the Civil War, the railroad went through a series of reorganizations until it was acquired by Seaboard Air Line in 1903. Today, the easternmost 12 miles between Fernandina Beach and Yulee are operated by First Coast Railroad, established in 2005.
First Coast operates frequent trains from the two pulp and paper mills on Amelia Island to the CSX interchange at Yulee, with a few additional customers in between. To reach the WestRock paper mill, the train crew must shove their string of boxcars almost a mile through downtown Fernandina Beach. From the yard, they travel along the Amelia River waterfront, passing through the marina, the main commercial street, and the Port of Fernandina before entering WestRock property. The section from the yard to the port, including the busy Nassau Terminals warehouse, is what I chose to model.
ABOVE: In the late afternoon sun, 1602 shoves a tank car out of the yard, destined for the Rayonier pulp mill on the island.
The Perfect Niche for Shelf Layouts
When I moved into an apartment off-campus, I found myself with some extra open space that would be perfect for a small layout. I designed a portable shelf layout to fit the 2×10’ recess off the dining room.
Shelf layouts are the ultimate option for those looking to practice the hobby in a limited space. Shelf layouts can be small and still have operational value and great modeling opportunities. I was first introduced to the concept by author and custom layout builder Lance Mindheim. I was also fortunate to have visited Tom Johnson’s Cass County Railroad (see October 2022 RMC) and Tom Klimoski’s Georgia Northeastern, both fantastic layouts with relatively small square footage. Paul Cassar’s “HO Scale Shelf Modelers” group on Facebook was a great source of inspiration as well.
This was my first foray into designing a layout for slow-speed switching and detailed modeling instead of long manifest trains sailing through broad sweeps of scenery. While I still love the idea of potentially modeling a longer main line route some day, shelf layouts provide me the opportunity to explore a number of my modeling interests through the construction of smaller layouts, rather than one large layout taking up the same amount of space. As a recent college graduate, I expect it will be quite a few more years until I settle down in a house with enough space to create a permanent layout.
ABOVE: Another aerial view shows just how close this location is to the Atlantic Ocean. On this clear, sunny day, RLIX 437 blocks downtown Fernandina Beach as it switches a long cut of cars in the yard.
Planning and Construction
Benchwork is framed from 1x2s, standing on legs made of 2×4 studs. The fascia is 1/8” hardboard painted satin black. I decided to make the track height 46” which is comfortable to stand at and allows me to easily flip the manual turnouts without worrying about dragging an elbow across the scenery. I can also pull up a chair and get the eye-level view of an HO railfan.
While I planned the spatial organization of the track, roads, and buildings using a program called AnyRail, I wanted to feel the space in real life before committing to putting anything down permanently. I made cardboard mock-ups of all the structures and placed boxcars around the different scenes, looking at the layout from many angles and drawing directly on the foam top. I constantly referenced Google Maps, Street View, and photos I had taken myself of the actual locations I was modeling…
