First Coast Railroad

Last updated
First Coast Railroad
First Coast Railroad logo.png
Overview
Headquarters Fernandina, Florida
Reporting mark FCRD
Locale Florida and Georgia, United States
Dates of operation2005present
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Other
Website Official website
Route map

Contents

BSicon exCONTg.svg
former Seaboard Air Line Railroad
to Riceboro
BSicon ENDExa.svg
BSicon BST.svg
S 593.4
Seals
BSicon BST.svg
S 598.9
Kingsland
BSicon ABZgl.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
St. Mary's Railroad
BSicon dWASSERq.svg
BSicon hKRZWae+GRZq.svg
BSicon dWASSERq.svg
Georgia
Florida
BSicon BST.svg
S 605.4
Gross
BSicon exCONTgq.svg
BSicon eABZgr+r.svg
former Gross Cutoff (SAL)
to Callahan
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon ENDEa.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon BST.svg
SMA 47.2
Fernandina Beach
BSicon exCONTgq.svg
BSicon eKRZl.svg
BSicon STRr.svg
fmr. FC&P Southern Division (SAL)
to Callahan
BSicon BST.svg
S 613.5
SMA 35.1
Yulee
BSicon CONTf.svg
CSX

The First Coast Railroad( reporting mark FCRD) is a class III railroad operating in Florida and Georgia, owned by Genesee & Wyoming. The name is derived from its area of operations around the First Coast of Florida.

The FCRD was founded in April 2005 to lease 32 miles of a former Seaboard Air Line Railroad from CSX. It stretches east from Yulee to Fernandina Beach, Florida and north from Yulee to Seals, with a connection at Yulee to CSX.

The north–south line, formerly the Seaboard Air Line main line before it was abandoned by the combined Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in favor of the ex-Atlantic Coast Line Railroad main line to the west, connects to the St. Marys Railroad at Kingsland. The line is abandoned north of Seals. [1]

History

The line from Yulee north into southern Georgia was built in 1894 by the Florida Northern Railroad. It was an extension of the Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad north to Savannah, Georgia to connect with the South Bound Railroad. The line from Yulee to Fernandina Beach was completed in 1861 by the Florida Railroad which connected Fernandina Beach with Cedar Key. The Florida Railroad, Florida Northern Railroad, Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad, and the South Bound Railroad were all eventually absorbed by the Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad by 1893. [2]

In 1900, the Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and the line into Georgia became Seaboard's main line. [3]

Seaboard Air Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad after merging with the Atlantic Coast Line in 1967. The former Seaboard Air Line mainline was designated as the S Line with this specific segment known as the Everett Subdivision. The route to Fernandina Beach was designated the Fernandina Subdivision. The Seaboard Coast Line became the CSX Corporation in the 1980s. With the former Atlantic Coast Line main line (A Line) being used as the through route in the combined network, CSX abandoned the S Line between Riceboro, Georgia (just southwest of Savannah) and Bladen, Georgia in 1986 and redesignated the remaining track as the Kingsland Subdivision (a designation which remains on the CSX line south of Yulee). Track between Bladen and Seals was removed in 1990. [4]

CSX leased the lines north of Yulee to the First Coast Railroad in 2005. [5] The remaining Seaboard track north of Riceboro is operated by the Riceboro Southern Railway, another subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad</span> Historic railroad system

The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jacksonville west through Tallahassee and south to Tampa. Much of the FC&P network is still in service under the ownership of CSX Transportation.

The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway (SA&M) was a historic railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama. SA&M was built in the 1880s running between Montgomery, Alabama and Lyons, Georgia. It would be completed to Savannah, Georgia in 1896 after being renamed the Georgia and Alabama Railway. The line would notably become part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network in 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Central Railway</span>

The Georgia Central Railway operates about 174 miles (280 km) of former Seaboard Coast Line track from Macon, Georgia through Dublin, Georgia and Vidalia, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. It also operates about 20 miles (32 km) of trackage between Savannah and Riceboro, Georgia, switching Interstate Paper LLC. It connects with CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. The Georgia Central Railway is owned by Rail Link, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riceboro Southern Railway</span>

The Riceboro Southern Railway began operations in 2004 operating on about 33 miles of track, some of which is leased from CSX Transportation. The track on which it operates is part of the ex-Seaboard Air Line route from Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida. It runs generally from Ogeechee, Georgia, where the line splits from the CSX Savannah Subdivision, which is the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Savannah-Jacksonville route, and Riceboro. It does not have any of its own locomotives; it uses Georgia Central power.

The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and, where still in use, is operated by CSX Transportation and the First Coast Railroad. The highway corridor of SR 24, US 301, and SR A1A/SR 200 closely parallels the former Florida Railroad.

The Jacksonville & Southwestern Railroad (J&SW) was a railroad that served Florida from 1899 to 1904. It was purchased by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1904. The Atlantic Coast Line would extend the line further west and it would become their Jacksonville—Wilcox Line. Some of the original right-of-way was converted to a recreational path in the rails to trails program in the 1990s.

The Callahan Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad subdivision within the Jacksonville Division on the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The sub extends northward 20 miles from Baldwin, Florida, where the Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision's S Line and Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad meet just north of Baldwin Yard, a classification yard. According to Jacksonville Division Timetable Number 4 published in 2005, the sub runs from milepost SM 0.18 to milepost SM 20.0, where it joins the Nahunta Subdivision, a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, in Callahan, Florida. The line serves as a bypass to Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision is a group of railroad lines owned by CSX Transportation in and around Jacksonville, which was historically a major railroad hub. The Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision includes about 13.0 miles of track.

The Kingsland Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Northeast Florida. The line begins in Jacksonville at a junction with the A Line near Moncrief Yard. From there, it heads east and then turns north near Panama Park. From Panama Park, the Kingsland Subdivision heads north to Yulee on a discontinuous piece of CSX's S Line. In Yulee, the line connects with the First Coast Railroad, which operates north to Seals, Georgia, on tracks that were previously part of the Kingsland Subdivision prior to 2005. The line's namesake is Kingsland, Georgia, which is located north of Yulee on the First Coast Railroad.

The Savannah Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Georgia. Through the middle of Savannah, the Savannah Subdivision splits into an east route and a west route. The East Route runs from Savannah, Georgia, to Ogeechee, Georgia, for a total of 15.6 miles (25.1 km). At its north end it continues south from the Charleston Subdivision and the Columbia Subdivision both of the Florence Division and at its south end it continues south as the Nahunta Subdivision. The West Route is located in Savannah, Georgia, and is 9.7 miles (15.6 km) in length. At its north end it branches off of the Savannah Subdivision East Route and at its south end it comes back into the Savannah Subdivision East Route.

The Wildwood Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. It runs along CSX's S Line from Baldwin south to Zephyrhills via Ocala and Wildwood for a total of 155.7 miles. The S Line is CSX's designation for the line that was the Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line from 1903 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeoman Subdivision</span> CSX railroad line in Florida

The Yeoman Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. It runs along CSX’s S Line from Zephyrhills south to just east of Tampa via Plant City for a total of 31.2 miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston Subdivision</span>

The Charleston Subdivision is a railroad territory owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia. The line from Florence, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, for a total of 195.8 miles. At its north end it continues south from the South End Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the Savannah Subdivision of the Jacksonville Division.

The Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad was a historic railroad in Florida chartered by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. It was built as an extension of Plant's Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad. Together, the two lines ran from Live Oak, Florida to Gainesville via High Springs. The lines were completed in 1884.

The Gross Cutoff was a rail line built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in northern Florida. It ran from the Seaboard Air Line Railroad’s main line at a point known as Gross to Callahan connecting two pre-existing tracks.

The Waycross Short Line was the unofficial name of a railroad line built by Henry B. Plant that ran from Waycross, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida on the St. Johns River. The line through Georgia was chartered by Plant as the Waycross and Florida Railroad and the Florida segment was chartered as the East Florida Railway. The line crossed the Georgia/Florida border just south of Folkston, Georgia at the St. Marys River.

The Folkston Cutoff is a railroad line in southern Georgia. It runs from Jesup southwest to Folkston, a distance of 54 miles. It was built in 1901 by the Plant System to allow trains from the northeast to Florida to bypass their busy terminal in Waycross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Line (Atlantic Coast Line Railroad)</span> Historic railroad in the Southeast

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad’s Main Line was the backbone of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's network in the southeastern United States. The main line ran from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passed through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Florence, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando. With the exception of a short 61-mile segment in Greater Orlando, the entire line is still owned by the Atlantic Coast Line's successor, CSX Transportation, and is still in service as their A Line.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad’s Main Line was the backbone of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's network in the southeastern United States. The main line ran from Richmond, Virginia to Tampa, Florida, a distance of over 800 miles. Along its route it passed through Petersburg, Raleigh, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Ocala, Florida. While some segments of the line have been abandoned as of 2022, most of the line is still in service and is owned by the Seaboard Air Line's successor, CSX Transportation as their S Line.

References

  1. King, Leo (June 2006). "First Coast's First Days". Trains . Vol. 66, no. 6. pp. 34–39. ISSN   0041-0934.
  2. "Peninsular Railroad routes to Tampa Bay". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  3. Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-2421-4.
  4. "The Everett Subdivision". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  5. "First Coast Railroad". First Coast Railroad. Retrieved January 10, 2017.