Plant City, Arcadia, and Gulf Railroad
The Plant City, Arcadia, and Gulf Railroad was a railroad line that once operated from Plant City, Florida, south to Welcome, a distance of 11.4 miles. The line remains in service today and is owned by CSX Transportation, which it operates as their Plant City Subdivision.[1][2]
| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1898–1905 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Seaboard Air Line Railroad Seaboard Coast Line Railroad CSX Transportation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 11.4 miles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
The Plant City, Arcadia, and Gulf Railroad was built 1898 by the Warnell Lumber & Veneer Company. It connected to the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in Plant City, which would become the main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1900.
Seaboard bought the Plant City, Arcadia, and Gulf Railroad in 1905, rebuilt it, and extended it east from Welcome to Bartow and Lake Wales (which is why the junction with the S Line in Plant City is still today known as Lake Wales Junction despite the fact that the track no longer continues there). The line notably served Coronet Industries phosphate processing plant.
The line's role was diminished in 1925 when Seaboard built the Valrico Cutoff which connected the line at Welcome with the Seaboard main line (CSX's S Line) at Valrico. This connection provided a shorter route to Tampa (the Valrico Cutoff and track east of Welcome are now part of the Valrico Subdivision).
Through many mergers, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network became part of CSX in 1980.[3]
See also
References
- http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/PL-Plant_City_Sub CSX Plant City Sub
- CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
- Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.