Florida Midland Railroad (current)

Florida Midland Railroad
Reporting mark FMID
Locale three spurs in Central Florida
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Plymouth, Florida

The Florida Midland Railroad (reporting mark FMID) is one of several short line railroads operated by the Pinsly Railroad Company in Florida (along with the Florida Central Railroad and the Florida Northern Railroad). The Florida Midland Railroad operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines including their former Lake Wales Subdivision (running from West Lake Wales to Frostproof), and their former Bartow Subdivision (from Winter Haven to a point just northwest of Bartow). It also ran a third line from Wildwood to Leesburg that is now mostly abandoned. Florida Midland Railroad began operating the lines in 1987.

Lake Wales Line

Florida Midland Railroad
West Lake Wales to Frostproof
former Seaboard Air Line Railroad
to Bartow
 CSX
Auburndale Subdivision
SV 863.3
 West Lake Wales
US 27
former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
to Haines City
SV 867.4
AVC 843.3
 Lake Wales
former Seaboard Air Line Railroad
to Alcoma
AVC 857.5
 Frostproof
former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
to Everglades City
Note: Not to scale. Line with SV mileposts is the original Seaboard Air Line route.
AVC mileposts are along the former Atlantic Coast Line route.

The line from West Lake Wales to Frostproof, which extends a distance of about 18 miles, branches off of CSX's Auburndale Subdivision in West Lake Wales.[1] It proceeds west to Lake Wales along a former Seaboard Air Line Railroad line. In Lake Wales, it connects to a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad line and continues south to Frostproof.[2] The line notably serves citrus fields and a Lowe's distribution center at the terminus in Frostproof.[3]

History

The first four miles of the line were built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1916, and originally extended from Bartow and continued west to Alcoma. The 14 mile segment of the line from Lake Wales south to Frostproof was built earlier in 1912 by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It is a discontinuous segment of track that was once the Atlantic Coast Line's Haines City branch, which historically extended as far south as Everglades City. The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line merged in 1967 into the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which led to consolidation of the two networks and the abandonment of redundant trackage in the 1970s, reducing the line to its current length.[4] Seaboard Coast Line became CSX in 1980, six years before Florida Midland Railroad began operating over the line.

Winter Haven Line

Florida Midland Railroad
Winter Haven
former South Florida Railroad (ACL)
to Lake Alfred
 CSX
Auburndale Subdivision
AW 842.0
 Winter Haven
AW 844.0
 Eagle Lake
AW 848.0
 Gordonville
former South Florida Railroad (ACL)
to Bartow

The Florida Midland Railroad also operates a separate 6-mile line in Winter Haven.[1] It branches off CSX's Auburndale Subdivision just south of Winter Haven Amtrak station (about 10 miles north of where the West Lake Wales to Frostproof Line branches off the same line). From Winter Haven, it runs southwest to Gordonville (just northeast of Bartow) where it ends. The line notably serves a 24-acre transload facility in Eagle Lake.[2] It also serves Bartow Municipal Airport.

History

The Winter Haven line was originally built in 1884 by the South Florida Railroad (later part of the Plant System and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad). It historically extended from the South Florida Railroad mainline (the current CSX A Line) in Lake Alfred and extended into Bartow.[4] It was abanonded north of Winter Haven to Lake Alfred in the early 1970s and was connected to the current Auburndale Subdivision (a former Seaboard track). The line was severed from Bartow in the 1980s and it now terminates near Gordonville.

former Leesburg Line

The Florida Midland Railroad once operated a third line from Wildwood to Leesburg. Most of the Leesburg line was once the westernmost segment of the Orlando Division of the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (later part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad). The easternmost two miles however were originally part of the Florida Southern Railway (later part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad). In 2000, the company petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the entire Leesburg Branch, which was granted on November 15, 2000.[5] All that remains of the line is a short turning wye in Wildwood.

References

  1. 1 2 Florida Midland Railroad Company–Acquisition and Operation Exemption
  2. 1 2 "Florida Central, Midland, and Northern Railroads". Pinsly Railroad Company. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Bair, Bill. "City Balks at Paying For Railroad Signals". The Ledger. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  5. ↑ Surface Transportation Board Decision Document
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