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The Tampa Terminal Subdivision is a group of railroad lines owned by CSX Transportation in and around Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Terminal Subdivision covers track around Yeoman and Uceta Yards and is located at the end of two of CSX's U.S. East Coast main lines to Richmond, Virginia, the A Line and the S Line.
The Tampa Terminal Subdivision has three distinct lines running through it. The A and S Lines run east–west through the yards, and the AZA line runs from the yards south.
The A Line is the northern east–west line which runs from Mango though Uceta Yard to Tampa Union Station and is 8.1 miles in length. It notably passes through Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood. The A Line crosses the TECO Line Streetcar track between Ybor City and Tampa Union Station which is CSX's only at-grade crossing with a streetcar track in Florida. [1] All Amtrak trains to Tampa operates on the A Line along with some local freight trains.
The A Line is designated the Lakeland Subdivision east of the Tampa Terminal Subdivision. West of Tampa Union Station, the A Line continues southwest as the Port Tampa Spur. The Port Tampa Spur runs southwest to Port Tampa near MacDill Air Force Base and notably street runs along Polk Street in downtown Tampa before crossing the Hillsborough River.
The A Line's designation stands for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad as it was previously the Atlantic Coast Line mainline.
The S Line is the southern east–west line which runs from control point YN (just east of the Tampa Bypass Canal) through Yeoman Yard to Gary and is 4 miles (6.4 km) in length. The S Line is CSX's main freight route through Peninsular Florida.
The S Line is designated the Yeoman Subdivision east of the Tampa Terminal Subdivision. At the west end of the Tampa Terminal Subdivision, the line splits with its northwest track crossing the A Line and leading to the Clearwater Subdivision while the southwest track leads to the Hooker's Point Lead.
The S Line's designation stands for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad as it was previously the Seaboard Air Line mainline.
The third line runs on the AZA Line from Yeoman Yard south to East Tampa and is 7.3 miles in length. At its south end the AZA line continues south to Bradenton as the Palmetto Subdivision. [2] [3]
Another notable track within the Tampa Terminal Subdivision in the Neve Spur. The Neve Spur runs from a wye on the A Line just west of Uceta Yard and goes northeast a short distance to a point just south of Temple Terrace. The wye at the south end of the Neve Spur is often used for turning locomotives around and is notably where Amtrak's Silver Star is turned around to back into Tampa Union Station twice daily.
The Tampa Terminal Subdivision is centered around Yeoman Yard, CSX's primary classification yard for the Tampa area. Yeoman Yard was built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and is located along the S Line (though it is also accessible from the A line). A track on the south side of Yeoman Yard connects the S Line with the AZA line and allows trains to bypass the yard without entering yard limits. [3]
Uceta Yard, located just north of Yeoman Yard on the A Line, was once the main classification yard for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Though after the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads merged, Yeoman Yard was retained as the main classification yard. Uceta Yard now operates as an intermodal terminal and car storage facility. [4]
Another notable yard is Rockport Yard, located south of Yeoman Yard on a wye off the AZA Line. Rockport Yard serves CSX's Rockport Terminal, a deep-water port used for exporting phosphate. [5] Trains bring phosphate for export mined from the Bone Valley in Central Florida. Rockport became the primary phosphate export facility for the railroad after the closure of Port Boca Grande in 1979. [6]
The A Line was previously the main line of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad with Uceta Yard being their main Tampa yard. The Atlantic Coast Line main line was originally built by the South Florida Railroad, which was part of Henry B. Plant's system of railroads. The line began service in 1884, and was taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line in 1902 after they bought the Plant System.
The Neve Spur was originally part of the Tampa and Thonotosassa Railroad, another Plant System railroad which at one point extended northeast to Zephyrhills and Vitis Junction. [7]
The S Line was previously the main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad with Yeoman Yard being their main Tampa yard. The Seaboard Air Line main line was originally part of the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad and began service in 1890. The Seaboard Air Line acquired the line in 1903. In 1909, the Seaboard Air Line established its own port facility on Seddon Island (known today as Harbour Island). Seddon Island was named after Seaboard's chief engineer W.L. Seddon. The railroad would close and sell the Seddon Island terminal in 1979. [8] Seaboard built Yeoman Yard in the 1950s to mostly replace what is now known as Old Tampa Yard downtown. [9]
The AZA line south to East Tampa was built later in 1924 by the Tampa Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line. [10] The control point "TS" at the north end of the line is a reference to the Tampa Southern.
The Hooker's Point Lead and track leading to the Clearwater Subdivision was originally built by the Tampa Northern Railroad in 1908. The Seaboard Air Line bought the Tampa Northern in 1912.
In 1912, the Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, and the Tampa Northern Railroads jointly built Tampa Union Station to consolidate passenger operations in Tampa at a single location. The Atlantic Coast Line's previous depot (built by the South Florida Railroad) was located on the east side of the intersection of Ashley and Madison Streets. The Seaboard Air Line's depot (built by the FC&P Railroad) was located at the intersection of Franklin and Whiting Streets. [11]
The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line merged in 1967 becoming the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. This brought all tracks in Tampa under a single owner. 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. Prior to the merger, the Seaboard main line (S Line) continued west from Gary giving the Seaboard its own access to Tampa Union Station. The S Line route into Tampa Union Station, which ran beside Adamo Drive, was removed in the 1990s, after Amtrak discontinued service to St. Petersburg in 1984. [12]
The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's main line. The line remains in service today and is now part of the Central Florida Rail Corridor in the Orlando metro area. The rest of the line remains under the ownership of CSX Transportation as part of their A Line.
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.
Uceta Yard is a rail yard in a non-residential section within the city limits of Tampa. The ZIP Code serving the community is 33619.
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 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 Florida Western and Northern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that expanded their network in the 1920s by building a rail line from Coleman, Florida all the way to West Palm Beach via Auburndale and Sebring, a distance of 204 miles. The line would be extended to Miami by the Seaboard-All Florida Railway, another Seaboard Air Line subsidiary, shortly after with the full line from Coleman to Miami becoming the Seaboard Air Line's Miami Subdivision. The line is still in service today from Auburndale to West Palm Beach and is now operated by Seaboard successor CSX Transportation as their Auburndale Subdivision.
The Palmetto Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. It runs from just south of Tampa south to Bradenton.
The Clearwater Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. The line begins just east of downtown Tampa in Gary and heads north through some of Tampa's suburban neighborhoods. In Sulphur Springs, the Clearwater Subdivision turns and runs west through Oldsmar, where it crosses Tampa Bay. It briefly shifts south running through Safety Harbor, and then heads west again to Clearwater. In Clearwater, it turns southeast, running through Largo and Pinellas Park before terminating at Fifth Avenue North in St. Petersburg near Tropicana Field. The distance from Gary to St. Petersburg along the line is 48.6 miles (78.2 km). At the line's north end it continues from the Tampa Terminal Subdivision and at its south end the track comes to an end.
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 Lakeland Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in Florida. It runs along CSX's A Line from just west of Lakeland and heads west through Plant City to the community of Mango in Hillsborough County, just east of Tampa.
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.
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.
The Tampa Northern Railroad was a historic railroad line running from just east of downtown Tampa north to the city of Brooksville in Hernando County. The line continues to operate today and is under the ownership of the CSX Corporation, who operates it as their Brooksville Subdivision north of Sulphur Springs and part of their Clearwater Subdivision south of there.
The Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad (T&G) was a railroad company in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida in the United States. It initially built and operated a line that ran from the Tampa Northern Railroad main line in Lutz west to Tarpon Springs and into Pasco County. Additional track starting from Sulphur Springs running west towards Clearwater and south to St. Petersburg was built shortly after. The railroad was informally known as the "Tug n' Grunt" and the "Pea Vine" due to its frequent twists and turns. While it was the second railroad to serve St. Petersburg and Clearwater after the Orange Belt Railway, it had the advantage of being the first to connect the area directly with Tampa.
The Winston and Bone Valley Railroad was a railroad line running the Bone Valley region of Central Florida. It connected to the South Florida Railroad main line near Lakeland. A vast majority of the line remains in service by CSX Transportation, who operates it today as their Bone Valley Subdivision.
The Tampa and Thonotosassa Railroad was a 13-mile railroad line running from Tampa, Florida northeast to Thonotosassa. The line began operation in 1893 and began at a junction with the South Florida Railroad in Tampa. The line had a station in Thonotosassa. The line was bought out by the Plant System in 1901 which was then sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902.
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.
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 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.
