This is something that's been bugging me for a while. At the end of the Perry Cutoff northeast of Dunnellon, what appears to be a right-of-way continues southeast and southwest to return to both ACL lines south of Dunnellon. This can be seen on aerial photos and even property lines (click the 'map' link). I've never seen any map that shows tracks here. It just occurred to me that this might have been preparation for the Cross-Florida Barge Canal. Is this correct, and hence there were never tracks here?
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ACL bypass of Dunnellon?
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There were plenty of tracks and routes around Dunnellon back in the day. I'm looking at a copy of a map I got out of a library book showing ACL, Seaboard, and FC&G lines all converging at and diverging from Dunnellon. Only thing left now, of course, is the Florida Northern N/S line from Newberry to Red Level (ex-CSX). In short, if it looks like an old RR right-of-way in this area, it probably is.
Ocala Mike (formerly Hillside Mike and Deer Park Mike)
Only problem is it doesn't show up on any older maps.
Can you describe roughly the FC&G alignment near Dunnellon? I haven't been able to determine how it crossed the Withlacoochee and got to the alignment near CR 491 and Twomile Prairie Lake.
Can you describe roughly the FC&G alignment near Dunnellon? I haven't been able to determine how it crossed the Withlacoochee and got to the alignment near CR 491 and Twomile Prairie Lake.
Also, you may find OpenStreetMap interesting; I've added almost all abandoned railroads in Florida. Probably the most sketchy alignment I added was the FC&G near Dunnellon.
Very nice map. To the best of my research there has never been track on the ROW seen in the aerial photo. I would seriously doubt ACL (or SCL for that matter) would have added to the lower end of the Perry Cutoff. The cutoff was one of, if not the last, the piece of mainline railway built in the Sunshine State. It never did live up to expectations. After the friendly connection with the C of G at Albany, GA was lost it became expendable.
NE2, The map I'm looking at (with admittedly not much detail in the Dunnellon area) shows an FC&G line coming in from west of Dunnellon turning roughly southeast at a place called Rockwell Jct., continuing through a place called Bar Mine down to around Hernando. I'll have to go back to the library to get the exact title of the book, and do a little more research.
Ocala Mike (formerly Hillside Mike and Deer Park Mike)
Ah, found a good map of the FC&G: http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/St ... cmd=zoomin