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  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

 #205351  by ACLfan
 
Cowford pretty well summed up what you saw.

The line that generally paralleled I-10 is the CSX's former Seaboard Air Line RR line between Jacksonville and Chattahoochee, FL, where the line connected with the Louisville & Nashville's Flomaton, AL - Pensacola, FL - Chattahoochee, FL line. Today, of course, it's all CSX between Jacksonville, FL and New Orleans, LA (except for the sections that were blown away by Katrina), as the line through parts of Mississippi is not expected to be opened until sometime in March. So, for the time being, Amtrak's "Sunset Limited", which uses the line between New Orleans and Jacksonville for part of its route, has been using New Orleans as its east end terminal, instead of Orlando, FL, until the line is reopened.

The old RR grade near the Nassau County line was the former ACL line that extended southwestward from Jacksonville toward a junction with ACL's "West Coast" main line at Newberry, FL. This line had a major line split off of it at a really tiny place called Burnett's Lake, FL. The ACL's Jacksonville - St. Petersburg section of the "West Coast Champion" deluxe passenger train turned at Burnett's Lake and headed south through Gainesville, Ocala and Leesburg before joining up with the "West Coast" main at Croom, FL, and then 10 miles further south (at Trilby, FL), it junctioned onto the ACL's line to St. Petersburg, FL, passing through the cities of Tarpon Spgs, Dunedin, and Clearwater before finally reaching St. Pete.

Sorry for your missed chances, again!

Take care, and best wishes!

ACLfan