Brooksville Subdivision

v t e Brooksville Subdivision
Legend
to Waldo (abandoned) CSX S Line (Wildwood Subdivision) SR 690.2 Waldo SR 704.0 Gainesville I-75 Florida Northern Railroad fmr. Seaboard Air Line Railroad to Cedar Key SR 730.1 Archer SR 730.1 Williston SR 737.9 Morriston SR 745.0 Early Bird SR 758.7 Dunnellon Withlacoochee River SR 775.8 Inverness fmr. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to Lakeland SR 788.3 Lake Lindsey SR 789.2 Broco (Lake Stafford) SR 797.8 Brooksville fmr. Florida Southern Railway (ACL) to Pemberton Ferry SR 806.8 Ayers SR 817.0 Fivay SR 823.5 Drexel SR 827.0 Land o' Lakes SR 829.8 Lutz I-275 SR 838.3 Sulphur Springs CSX Clearwater Subdivision
Note: Not to Scale

CSX Transportation's Brooksville Subdivision is a railroad line in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. Today, the line runs from the Clearwater Subdivision in Sulphur Springs, Florida north to a point just north of Brooksville, a distance of 49.1 miles. Historically, the Brooksville Subdivision was owned and operated by CSX predecessor, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Under Seaboard ownership, the Brooksville Subdivision continued north as far as Waldo. ^[1]

Route description

The Brooksville Subdivision begins in Sulpher Springs just 5 miles north of Tampa. It branches off of the Clearwater Subdivision, which continues south to Downtown Tampa and west to Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

From Sulphur Springs, the Brooksville Subdivision runs north paralleling U.S. Route 41, passing through Lutz, Land o' Lakes, and Masaryktown to Brooksville. The Brooksville Subdivision terminates near the Broco Quarry, less than two miles north of Brooksville. ^{[2] [3]}

Historically, the Brooksville Subdivision continued north from Brooksville through Inverness, Dunnellon, and Williston to Archer. In Archer, it turned northeast and passed through Gainesville to its historic northern terminus in Waldo, where it connected to what is now CSX’s S Line. ^[1]

Operation

Currently, the Brooksville Subdivision is only used for local freight trains with various customers along the line. ^[4] It notably serves a Florida Crushed Stone Company facility in Brooksville along with a Cemex facility. ^[5]

History

Brooksville Subdivision
Overview
Owner	Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Termini	Waldo, Florida Sulphur Springs, Florida
Technical
Line length	148.1 mi (238.3 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No
Route map Brooksville Subdivision at its greatest extent (click to enlarge)

Brooksville Subdivision as seen from Broad Street Overpass in Brooksville

Sulphur Springs to Brooksville

See also: Tampa Northern Railroad

The line from Brooksville south to Fivay Junction (near the present-day intersection of US 41 and SR 52) was originally built by the Brooksville and Hudson Railroad in 1902. The Brooksville and Hudson Railroad was a logging railroad owned by the Aripeka Sawmills Inc. ^[6]

In 1907, the Brooksville and Hudson Railroad was bought by the Tampa Northern Railroad. The Tampa Northern then built the track from Tampa to Fivay and rebuilt the Brooksville and Hudson Railroad from there to Brooksville. ^[6] The line was completed in 1908. ^[7] The Tampa Northern Railroad was bought by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1912. ^[7]

Brooksville to Waldo

At its greatest extent, the Brooksville Subdivision extended as far north as Waldo. Track from Waldo to Archer was built in 1861 by the Florida Railroad (later the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad) which also continued from Archer to Cedar Key at the time. In 1890, track was built from Archer south to Early Bird as a branch track. The Seaboard Air Line bought the FC&P network in 1900, with track from Waldo to Cedar Key becoming their Cedar Key Branch. ^[8] In 1911, track was extended south of Early Bird to Inverness. The extension from Early Bird to Inverness ran closely parallel the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's High Springs–Lakeland Line.

In 1925, the Brooksville and Inverness Railway, a Seaboard subsidiary, was built connecting Inverness with the former Tampa Northern Railroad in Brooksville. This would create an additional freight route from northern Florida to the Tampa Bay region as an alternative to the Seaboard main line. ^[9] Around the same time, track from Inverness to Waldo was upgraded with heavier rail, and the Seaboard main line was double-tracked from Waldo north to Baldwin which further increased capacity. ^{[10] [11]} The remaining Cedar Key Branch from Archer to Cedar Key was abandoned in 1932, the full line from Waldo to Sulpher Springs was designated as the Brooksville Subdivision. By 1940, the Seaboard was running a daily through freight train round-trip on the line. ^[12]

Later years

The Seaboard Air Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967 after merging with their former rival, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The line initially remained intact after the merger. ^[13] The Seaboard Coast Line abandoned the Brooksville Subdivision between Waldo and Brooksville in the 1970s (which nearly restored the Tampa Northern Railroad's original terminus ironically) as it was largely redundant as a through route due to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's nearly parallel route as well as its own main line to Tampa. The line now ends near the Broco Quarry just north of Brooksville. Despite the abandonment, the line's SR mileposts numbers remain as they did when the full line was intact. ^[3]

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation.

Historic Seaboard Air Line stations

Former Gainesville depot

Former Williston SAL depot

Waldo to Sulphur Springs

Milepost	City/Location	Station [1] [14]	Connections and notes
SR 690.2	Waldo	Waldo	junction with Main Line
SR 697.2		Fairbanks
SR 701.9		Nedra
SR 704.0	Gainesville	Gainesville	junction with: Gainesville and Gulf Railway (SAL) Atlantic Coast Line Railroad High Springs—Croom Line
SR 710.8		Kanapaha
SR 718.4	Archer	Archer	junction with: Branch to Cedar Key Atlantic Coast Line Railroad DuPont—Lakeland Line
SR 719.7		Eve
SR 726.2		Raleigh
SR 730.1	Williston	Williston
SR 734.5		Montbrook	junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad DuPont—Lakeland Line
SR 737.9	Morriston	Morriston
SR 745.0	Early Bird	Early Bird
SR 749.6		Hoyt
SR 758.7	Dunnellon	Dunnellon	junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Ocala Branch
SR 765.5		Harrison
SR 768.9		Felecia	junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad DuPont—Lakeland Line
SR 774.3		Johnsons
SR 775.8	Inverness	Inverness
SR 782.6		Landrum
SR 788.3	Lake Lindsey	Lake Lindsay
SR 791.7		Lake Stafford
SR 797.8	Brooksville	Brooksville	junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Brooksville Branch
SR 806.6		Ayers
SR 807.3		Masaryktown
SR 817.0		Fivay
SR 823.5		Drexel	junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Trilby—St. Petersburg Line
SR 829.8	Lutz	Lutz
SR 838.3	Sulphur Springs	Sulphur Springs	originally Gulf Coast Junction [15] junction with Tampa Subdivision

See also

• List of CSX Transportation lines
• Main Line (Seaboard Air Line Railroad)
• Clearwater Subdivision

References

1. Seaboard Air Line Railroad South Florida Division Timetable (1951)
2. CSX Brooksville Sub
3. CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
4. Multicolor Films. "Operations and Railfanning Updates on CSX's Brooksville Sub - Fall, 2024". YouTube. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
5. Harmon, Danny (29 January 2019). "Fire Closes the S-Line". YouTube. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
6. "Railroads". History of Pasco County. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
7. Prince, Richard (2000). Seaboard Air Line Railway: Steam Boats, Locomotives and History. Salt Lake City, UT: Wheelwright Lithographing Company. ISBN   0253336953 . Retrieved 24 October 2016.
8. A B C Pathfinder Shipping and Mailing Guide. New England Railway Publishing Company. 1917. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
9. Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-2421-4.
10. Turner, Gregg M. (2005). Florida Railroads in the 1920s. Arcadia Publishing.
11. Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States (184 ed.). United States. Interstate Commerce Commission. 1932. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
12. Seaboard Air Line Railroad South Florida Division Timetable (1940)
13. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Tampa Division Timetable (1968)
14. "Florida Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists (Florida). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
15. "Sulphur Springs Depot". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 4 March 2025.

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