(Brightline News)_In just a few weeks, Brightline is expecting its next two completed trainsets: BrightGreen and BrightOrange to arrive in Florida. The trainsets are planned to be shipped across the country from California to Florida together. This marks the first time two trainsets will be delivered at once.
“We’re excited to welcome our next two trainsets together,” said Tom Rutkowski, Brightline’s chief mechanical officer. “BrightGreen is currently complete and Siemens is putting the finishing touches on BrightOrange.” Brightline’s first train, BrightBlue, was unveiled in January and BrightPink arrived in March. The trains are housed at Brightline’s railroad operations center, called Workshop b, in West Palm Beach, Florida. All of Brightline’s trains are being built by nearly 1,000 employees at Siemens 60-acre rail manufacturing hub in Sacramento, California. To build the coaches, Siemens opened a new 125,000 square foot expansion of its rail manufacturing hub, including a new state of the art welding site. The trains are 100 percent Buy America compliant, utilizing components from more than 40 suppliers across 20+ states. As an example, the guest seats are being manufactured near Chicago, the vestibule doors in Littleton, Colorado and the large windows in Emporia, Virginia. Each trainset consists of two diesel-electric locomotives, one on each end of four passenger coaches. These locomotives are Tier IV compliant, meaning that they meet the highest emissions standards set by the federal government. The stainless steel passenger coaches are the first to be manufactured by Siemens in the United States. Brightline’s coaches include many innovations and are designed for guest comfort and convenience. These innovations include level boarding, touchless bathrooms, full accessibility, large, comfortable seats, onboard wi-fi, storage for luggage and bicycles and more. Related Story: Brightline Unveiling (Press Release)_New York - A global team of successful real estate development; maritime; marketing; sales and financial services executives announced the launch of ItsAfloat (www.itsAfloat.com) the “popular priced” cruise ship living ownership option, which up to now has remained a virtually untapped market segment in the growing passenger cruise ship industry. “We acquire, convert, market & sell transitioning cruise ships that meet our well researched criteria,” explained ItsAfloat Co-Founder and CEO Shannon Lee. “Our first-to-market approach leverages strategic partnerships and industry alliances, guaranteeing our investors and industry partners a low level of debt and risk, combined with an above industry return.” “We’re excited to offer our future residence owners an all-inclusive luxury ship board experience previously out of their financial reach,” Lee continued. Although not the first to offer live-aboard cruise ship ownership, ItsAfloat’s differentiator is its targeted (and growing) robust market of retiring baby boomers seeking a more affordable cruise ship ownership lifestyle option. According to industry sources, the past 2 years has seen a 50% increase in baby boomers cruising. ItsAfloat will also provide an exciting new option to the growing domestic US and emerging market’s demands for vacation homes. Launch plans call for a late Fall 2017 opening of its Miami-based sales office with sales offices in the UK, Australia and Asia planned to open in 2018. (Press Release)_Join Loggerhead Marinelife Center on Saturday, April 22 (Earth Day) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate our blue planet with earth-friendly activities perfect for all ages.
The event includes the Great American Clean-up from 9-11 a.m., where guests will help clean neighboring natural areas. LMC staff and volunteers will also install educational signage throughout the coastal natural area north of the Center (Juno Dunes Natural Area). The Earth Day Celebration will also offer free Turtle Yard tours, morning Hammock Hikes and a composting presentation, highlighting the science of decomposition and tips on living sustainably and growing a garden. Guests can also enjoy a planting activity, with provided tools and resources to take their very own seedling home – including strawberries, green peppers (a sea turtle favorite!) and green beans (Press Release)_Juno Beach, Florida – Keep America Beautiful, the national nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, recently announced that Loggerhead Marinelife Center will receive a 2017 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) Grant of $20,000 to combat cigarette litter on more than 50 fishing piers. Loggerhead Marinelife Center is one of 37 organizations to receive grant funding for 2017, totaling $297,500 through the 2017 CLPP. The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, now in its 15th year, is the nation’s largest program aimed at reducing cigarette litter. Communities that implemented the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in 2016 realized an average 60 percent reduction in cigarette litter, an eight percent increase over the 2015 results. Loggerhead Marinelife Center will install cigarette ash receptacles on all piers involved in the Center’s Responsible Pier Initiative, which was created in 2013 to educate anglers and other pier-goers about responsible fishing and recycling practices, and how to respond if a sea turtle is accidentally hooked. These piers are located throughout Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Puerto Rico. “We are truly grateful for Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program,” said Tommy Cutt, LMC’s chief conservation officer. “In 2016, our staff and volunteers documented nearly 700 cigarette butts on local beaches – also listed on the Ocean Conservancy’s top five deadliest ocean trash items. This grant will enable us to install these cigarette receptacles and help reduce marine debris.” Keep America Beautiful affiliates, local governments, business improvement districts, downtown associations, parks and recreation areas and other organizations dedicated to ending litter and beautifying communities are receiving grants. Since the establishment of the national initiative, communities in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada have implemented the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program to reduce cigarette litter. “We are increasingly optimistic about ending cigarette butt litter in America,” said Keep America Beautiful COO Becky Lyons. “Keep America Beautiful and our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program partners are dedicated to educating consumers on the hazards of litter and providing the tools to change their behavior. Recent cigarette litter reduction numbers show we are moving in the right direction towards making the littering of cigarette butts – and littering in general – socially unacceptable in our country.” Since its establishment, the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by approximately half based on local measurements taken in the first four to six months after program implementation. Survey results also demonstrate that as communities continue to implement and monitor the program those reductions are sustained or even increased over time. Keep America Beautiful has distributed nearly $3.3 million in grant funding since 2006 to support local implementation of the program in more than 1,700 communities. Grants provided by Keep America Beautiful through the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program fund implementations across the country in a variety of community settings including downtowns, roadways, beaches, parks, marinas, colleges/universities, tourist locations, and at special event locations. Tobacco products, consisting mainly of cigarette butts, are the most littered item in America, representing nearly 38 percent of all items littered, according to "Litter in America," Keep America Beautiful’s landmark study of litter and littering behavior. Research has shown that even self-reported “non-litterers” often don’t consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground to be "littering." Keep America Beautiful has found that cigarette butt litter occurs most often at transition points—areas where a person must stop smoking before proceeding into another area. These include bus stops, entrances to stores and public buildings, and the sidewalk areas outside of bars and restaurants, among others. The "Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention" provides information about starting and maintaining a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in any community, and can be found online at PreventCigaretteLitter.org. View the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program PSA video on Keep America Beautiful’s YouTube channel as well as the Cigarette Litter in America Infographic here. The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is supported by funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company; RAI Services Company; and the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company. The name is straight from Captain Obvious: Sand on the Beach. We discovered this oasis of food and drink on a recent trip up the coast to Melbourne Beach and the Ocean Pines Motel. Located a shell's throw from the beach, with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean, it's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Known for their "Wicked Sauce," a combination of 20 different ingredients that include four kinds of hot peppers, crab meat, shrimp and parmigiana cheese, they offer a wide range of seafood options, salads, sandwiches and entrees. With its colorful beach-theme murals and laid-back beach vibe, it's the place to relax, sip a drink and watch the waves roll in off the Atlantic. Upstairs is another popular hangout -- the Bikini Bar, where Happy Hour starts at 11 am and goes to 7 pm. Now there's a place you can be happy all day. (Brightline Press Release)_ In just a few short months, Brightline’s West Palm Beach train station will be welcoming guests and providing them with express inter-city train service to Fort Lauderdale aboard beautiful new trains custom-built for comfort and convenience. Let’s take a look at the West Palm Beach station’s current state of construction as it is nearing completion.
Around the exterior of the station, dark and light gray pavers are being installed. In addition, landscaping and irrigation is also being put into place around the station. Inside the building on the ground floor, the lobby is shaping up. The tile floor is being installed and the ticketing desks are being outfitted. Solid surfaces will be used on some of the walls in the lobby and concourse. The escalators going up to the concourse level are in and the elevators are also being installed. The escalators and elevators from the Concourse to the Platform level have been installed and finishing work is taking place. In another milestone, Moss Construction, the contractor for Brightline responsible for building the train station, is getting ready to start up the building’s mechanical systems including the chiller, HVAC units and electrical systems, including the generator, in preparation for final testing and inspection. Across from the train station, the parking garage and residential units are well underway. Moss has poured through the eighth level of the parking deck and the 12th level East residential deck. Masonry erection up the East side is ongoing. Within the next two weeks, Moss will start East side site work and building exterior façade finishes including windows, doors, stucco and paint. Stay tuned for more information on Brightline’s residential offerings in West Palm Beach. |
ABOUTExploring what to see and do in North Palm Beach and the South Florida area. Your hosts are Pam and Gerry Barker. GERRY PRONOUNCED GARYArchives
March 2024
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