Gross Cutoff

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Gross Cutoff
Seaboard Air Line Railroad Logo, April 1955.svg
Overview
Other name(s)Gross-Callahan Cutoff, Gross Subdivision
StatusAbandoned
Owner Seaboard Air Line Railroad (1925-1967)
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (1967-1985)
Termini
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Route map
Gross Cutoff

The Gross Cutoff (sometimes referred to as the Gross-Callahan 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. [1]

Contents

Route and history

Gross was the name of a small turpentine village along the Seaboard Air Line main line about 7 miles north of Yulee (near the current interchange between Interstate 95 and US 17). [2]   From Gross, the line proceeded from the Seaboard main line southwest though a forest where it crossed Mills Creek to Callahan where it connected with the Seaboard's line from Fernandina and Yulee to Baldwin (the former Florida Railroad).  The Gross Cutoff was built in 1925 and acted as a bypass for the busy Jacksonville Terminal area, which trains would have to otherwise pass through.  Trains could then continue from Callahan to the Seaboard main line in Baldwin.

The line was busy enough by 1948 that the Seaboard Air Line installed Centralized traffic control along the line with three passing sidings. Its heavy use also cause the Seaboard Air Line to abandon the old Florida Railroad from its connection with the Gross Cutoff in Callahan to Yulee in 1954. [3]

In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line merged with its rival, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the main line of which crossed the former Florida Railroad in Callahan.  The merged company was named the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.  The line was designated as the Gross Subdivision in the Seaboard Coast Line era.  In the merged network, the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad main line was prioritized for through train traffic to and from the north, reducing the importance of the Gross Subdivision.  The line was abandoned in 1985, right around the same time the former Seaboard Air Line main line was abandoned in southwestern Georgia, cutting it off as a through route.

Historic stations

Baldwin to Gross

MilepostCity/LocationStation [4] Connections and notes
SM 34.5 Gross Grossjunction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
SM 28.4Mill's Creek
SM 22.2Nassau
SM 20.0 Callahan Callahanjunction with:
SM 12.3 Crawford Crawfordjunction with Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway (GSF/SOU)
SM 8.8 Ingle Ingle
SM 6.3 Bryceville Bryceville
SM 4.2Fouraker
SM 0.0 Baldwin Baldwinjunction with:

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Coast Railroad</span> Railroad in America

The First Coast Railroad 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 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 Florida Central and Western Railroad was a rail line built in the late 1800s that ran from Jacksonville west across North Central Florida and the part Florida Panhandle through Lake City and Tallahassee before coming to an end at Chattahoochee. The line was later part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network from 1903 to 1967, and was primarily their Tallahassee Subdivision. The full line is still in service today and is now part of the Florida Gulf and Atlantic 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 Tampa Southern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) originally running from Uceta Yard in Tampa south to Palmetto, Bradenton, and Sarasota with a later extension southeast to Fort Ogden in the Peace River valley built shortly after. It was one of many rail lines completed during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Most of the remaining trackage now serves as CSX Transportation's Palmetto Subdivision. Another short portion just east of Sarasota also remains that is now operated by Seminole Gulf Railway.

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.

CSX Transportation's Valrico Subdivision is a railroad line in Central Florida. It serves as CSX's main route through a region of Central Florida known as the Bone Valley, which contains the largest known deposits of phosphate in the United States.

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">Haines City Branch</span> Atlantic Coast Line Railroad branch in Florida

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Haines City Branch was a railroad line running from their main line in Haines City, Florida south through southern Central Florida. The line notably ran through Lake Wales, Avon Park, Sebring, and Immokalee and would stretch as far south as Everglades City upon its completion in 1928. Everglades City would be the southernmost point the entire Atlantic Coast Line Railroad system would ever reach. The Haines City Branch was one of the Atlantic Coast Line's major additions to its Florida network, much of which was previously part of the Plant System.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Perry Cutoff was a historic rail line in northern Florida running from Monticello southeast to Perry. The line provided a shortcut through the Big Bend of Florida for rail traffic running between the Midwest and the Tampa Bay area by providing a more direct route and a bypass for the busy rail hub in Jacksonville. It was completed in 1928 to reduce travel times for its passenger trains to the west coast, or Gulf Coast, of Florida during the Florida land boom of the 1920s.

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 CSX A Line forms the backbone of the historic Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line, the backbone of their network in the southeastern United States. The main line runs from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passes 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 owned by CSX Transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarasota Subdivision</span> Seaboard Air Line Railroad line in Florida

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Sarasota Subdivision was a rail line that ran from the company's main line at Turkey Creek south to Palmetto, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice. The line was built in phases from 1901 to 1911.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's DuPont—Lakeland Line was a historic rail line in southern Georgia and the northern west coast of Florida. On employee timetables, the line was actually divided into the DuPont—High Springs Line and the High Springs—Lakeland Line. The line was primarily used for freight, though some passenger services ran on parts of it in Florida. While parts of the line were built as early as 1863, the full line was not complete until 1913. Parts of the line in Florida are still active today.

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 2023, 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. Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-2421-4.
  2. "The Gross Cutoff". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  3. "Yulee to Callahan, FL". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  4. Seaboard Air Line Railroad Carolina Division Timetable (1957)