Tampa Terminal Subdivision

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.

Tampa Terminal Subdivision
A & S Lines
CSX
A Line (Lakeland Subdivision)
A 873.5
 Mango
I-75.svg I-75
 CSX
S Line (Yeoman Subdivision)
S 839.2
 YN
Tampa Bypass Canal / Palm River
A 877.3
 AY
 Yeoman Yard
 Uceta Yard
 AZA Line (see below)
A 878.8
 South Uceta
fmr. Tampa and Thonotosassa RR (ACL)
to Zephyrhills
 Neve Spur
I-4.svgToll Florida 618.svg I-4 /
SR 618
Selmon Expwy Connector
S 843.2
 Gary
A 880.4
 TN
 CSX
Clearwater Subdivision
 Hooker's Point Lead
Garrison Channel
 TECO Line Streetcar
 Old Tampa Yard
A 881.7
(S 844.9)
 Silver Star (Amtrak train) Tampa Union Station enlarge…
S 846.0
 Seddon Island Terminal
(abandoned)
Hillsborough River
A 890.0
 Port Tampa
AZA Line
A Line (see above)
 S Line (see above)
AZA 879.8
 TS
Palm River
 Rockport Yard
AZA 882.6
 Sutton
AZA 885.0
 East Tampa
 CSX
Palmetto Subdivision
Note: Not to Scale

Lines

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.

A Line
Amtrak's Silver Star leaving Tampa Union Station on the Tampa Terminal Subdivision in 2012.

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.

S Line

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.

AZA Line

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]

Neve Spur

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.

Yards

Yeoman and Uceta yards
Yeoman Yard

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]


Rockport Yard

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]

History
Hillsborough River Drawbridge on the Port Tampa Spur

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.

Tampa Union Station

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]

See also

References
  1. Harmon, Danny. "How To Read CSX Signals Part 6". YouTube. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. CSX Tampa Terminal Sub
  3. CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
  4. Cox, Jim (2011). Rails Across Dixie: A History of Passenger Trains in the American South. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4528-8. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  5. "CSX Acquires Eastern Associated Terminal in Tampa". CSX Corporation. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. "Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railway". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  7. Harmon, Danny. "Update on CSX's Florida S-Line June 2012". YouTube. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  8. "Neighborhoods in Tampa Bay, Florida". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  9. Harmon, Danny. "Water Crossings 1018". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. Turner, Gregg M. (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  11. "First Railroads in Tampa". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  12. Harmon, Danny. "End Of the Line For TN Tower". YouTube. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
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