High Springs—Croom Line

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's High Springs—Croom Line was a historic rail line in northern Florida. The line dates back to the late 1800s and was used for both passengers and freight.

High Springs—Croom Line
Overview
Other name(s)Gainesville Subdivision, Ocala Subdivision
StatusSome segments still operating
OwnerAtlantic Coast Line Railroad
Termini
Technical
Line length128 mi (206 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
ElectrificationNo
Route map

Route description

The High Springs—Croom Line began at the Atlantic Coast Line's High Springs Yard, where it also connected with their DuPont—Lakeland Line. From High Springs, the line proceeded southeast to Gainesville and continued south through Ocala and Leesburg before reconnecting with the DuPont—Lakeland Line in Croom (originally known as Pemberton Ferry).[1]

Branches

From Croom, the line continued west another ten miles to Brooksville, which was classified separately on employee timetables as the Brooksville Branch.

The High Springs—Croom Line also connected with the Atlantic Coast Line's Palatka Branch just south of Gainesville at Rochelle. The Palatka Branch ran from Rochelle east to Palatka, where it connected with the Atlantic Coast Line's Main Line. The line's Micanopy Branch ran from the line to the small town of Micanopy and Tacoma. Further south, the High Springs—Croom Line also had a small branches to Citra and Howey-in-the-Hills and it also connected with the Leesburg Branch in Leesburg.

History
See also: Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad and Florida Southern Railway

From High Springs to Gainesville, the line was built by Henry B. Plant in an effort to extend his railroad network further south to Charlotte Harbor. From Gainesville south, the line was built by the Florida Southern Railway. Henry Plant was unaware that the Florida Southern was building north to Gainesville and further north as he was building his line, the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad, south. To prevent having competing lines, Plant made a mutually beneficial deal with the Florida Southern that essentially combined the two lines into one, connecting them in Gainesville. The Florida Southern also The Florida Southern also built the Palatka Branch during their initial construction, as well as the branches to Micanopy and Citra. The Florida Southern Railway would eventually become part of the Plant System. After Plant's death, his network of railroads was sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1902.[2]

Initially, the Atlantic Coast Line used the Palatka Branch to run trains from Jacksonville to the High Springs—Croom Line, which then went south to Ocala and Tampa. This changed in 1905 when the Atlantic Coast Line built a connection with the Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad (J&SW), which the Atlantic Coast line bought a year prior. The Atlantic Coast Line then used the J&SW line, which crossed the High Springs—Croom Line at Burnett's Lake (just north of Gainesville), for trains from Jacksonville since it was more direct and went through more communities.[2][3]

The Atlantic Coast Line would sometimes refer to the High Springs—Croom Line as the "Florida Southern Route" (named after the predecessor that built the line) to differentiate it from their nearly parallel High Springs—Lakeland Line which was called the "West Coast Route" and was primarily a freight route.[3]

In 1948, the Atlantic Coast Line rerouted the line in central Gainesville from Main Street to instead run along 6th Street, where they built a new depot. This rerouted segment used the former right of way of the Gainesville and Gulf Railroad.[4]

For much of its history, the Atlantic Coast Line's West Coast Champion and an additional local passenger train ran the line round-trip daily on its route from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg. Trains continued to come in from Jacksonville via the Jacksonville—Wilcox Line at Burnett's Lake. By the 1950s, a local freight train was running the line from High Springs to Croom six days a week. A mixed train (with both passengers and freight) also ran the line from Burnett's Lake to High Springs six days a week.[1]

In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) after merging with its rival, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (whose main line ran relatively close to the High Springs—Croom Line). In the Seaboard Coast Line era, both the High Springs—Croom Line and the Jacksonville—Wilcox Line were designated as the Ocala Subdivision. A local passenger train would continue to use the line up until 1971 when Amtrak took over the Seaboard Coast Line's passenger operations.[5][6]

By 1982, the Seaboard Coast Line abandoned the line from High Springs to Burnett's Lake, and track south of Micanopy Junction was broken up into segments.[7][8] By 1989, track was abandoned from Gainesville to Rochelle (along with the Palatka Branch east to Hawthorne).[9]

Current conditions

Some segments of the High Springs—Croom Line remain active today and some abandoned segments have since become rail trails.

Deerhaven Subdivision

The short 13-mile segment of the line is still in service from Burnett's Lake south to Gainesville, where it terminates just north of central Gainesville at NE 23rd Avenue.[10] This line is now CSX's Deerhaven Subdivision and it is the only remaining rail line in Gainesville.[11] CSX uses the line for local freight and it is connected to the rest of CSX's network via the Brooker Subdivision at Burnett's Lake.

South of Gainesville

The Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail runs on the former right of way between Gainesville and Rochelle.[12]

The line is still active between Lowell, Ocala, and Candler. This segment is operated by the Florida Northern Railroad, a shortline run by Regional Rail, LLC, which crosses the S Line in Ocala.[13]

A short segment was still active near Leesburg which had been operated by the Florida Midland Railroad since 1987 (this line also used former Seaboard track from Wildwood to Leesburg). This line was abandoned in late 2000.[14]

The Good Neighbor Trail runs on the former right of way between Croom and Brooksville.[15]

Historic stations
High Springs to Brooksville
Milepost[6] City/Location Station[1] Image Connections and notes
ARB 717.1 High Springs High Springs junction with DuPont—Lakeland Line
ARB 724.7 Alachua East Alachua
ARB 726.4 Burnett's Lake junction with:
ARB 729.7 Hague Hague
ARB 736.0 Paradise
ARB 739.0 Teen Jay
ARB 740.1 Gainesville Gainesville original station on Main Street replaced with a new station on 6th Street in 1948.
junction with:
ARB 749.5
AS 737.5[lower-alpha 1]		 Rochelle Rochelle junction with Palatka Branch
AS 743.1 Micanopy Junction junction with Micanopy Branch
AS 745.7 Evinston Evinston
AS 748.6 McIntosh McIntosh
AS 750.2 Orange Lake Orange Lake
AS 751.1 Proctor junction with Citra Branch
ASB 757.2 Citra Citra located on Citra Branch
AS 753.7 Reddick Reddick
AS 756.9 Lowell Lowell
AS 760.0 Martin Martin
AS 763.5 Kendrick Kendrick
AS 768.3 Ocala Ocala Union Station junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
AS 774.9 Welchton
AS 781.2 Candler Candler
AS 785.2 Ocklawaha Ocklawaha
AS 787.7 East Lake
AS 790.2 Weirsdale Weirsdale
AS 793.7 Conant
AS 795.0 Lady Lake Lady Lake
AS 799.1 Fruitland Park Fruitland Park
AS 802.7 Leesburg Leesburg junction with:
AS 808.3 Okahumpka Okahumpka junction with Howey-in-the-Hills Branch
ASF 816.2 Howey-in-the-Hills Howey-in-the-Hills located on Howey-in-the-Hills Branch
AS 816.9 Center Hill Center Hill junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Miami Subdivision
AS 821.5 Webster Webster
AS 826.6 St. Catherine St. Catherine junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
AS 833.1 Pemberton Ferry later renamed Croom
junction with DuPont—Lakeland Line
AS 843.1 Brooksville Brooksville station still standing and is now a museum
junction with Tampa Northern Railroad (SAL)
Palatka Branch
Milepost City/Location Station[1] Image Connections and notes
AS 698.6 Palatka Palatka rebuilt in 1908
junction with:
AS 703.0 Francis
AS 710.5 Hollister Hollister
AS 715.8 Interlachen Interlachen
AS 719.9 Edgar Edgar
AS 728.7 Hawthorne Hawthorne junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
AS 733.3 Grove Park
AS 737.5 Rochelle Rochelle junction with High Springs—Croom Line
Micanopy Branch
Milepost City/Location Station[16] Image Connections and notes
ASA 743.1 Micanopy Junction junction with High Springs—Croom Line
ASA 746.5 Micanopy Micanopy
ASA 751.5 Tacoma

See also

Notes
  1. From Rochelle south, the milepost numbers continue from the Palatka Branch

References
  1. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
  2. Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  3. McFarland, Warren; Murdock, Ken (2017). "Memories of Burnett's Lake – Part 1" (PDF). Lines South. 34 (2). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  4. "Gainesville's Railroads". Explore Historic Alachua County. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  5. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division Timetable (1969)
  6. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)
  7. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1982)
  8. "When Trains First Came to Central Florida". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  9. "Parcel: 19801-300-000". Alachua County Property Appraiser. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  10. "Dupont, GA to Alachua, FL". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  11. CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
  12. Gainesville-Hawthorne State Park Trail
  13. "Florida Central, Midland, and Northern Railroads". Pinsly Railroad Company. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  14. "Surface Transportation Board Decision Document". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  15. Good Neighbor Trail
  16. "Florida Railroad: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
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