CSX Tallahassee Subdivision MOW and Unit trains
Gretna, Fl; February 1997. Seminole Coal train was running with a trio of Dash 7s until right
about when I started railfanning. That time was also marked by the arrival
of the Dash 9 AC4400s on CSX property and a little later the SD70MACs.
The latters were almost strictly confined to Maryland coal trains. However,
a few of them trickled down to Florida very slowly. Here, 707 leads the
empty SEMX train back to River Junction.
Tallahassee, Fl; July 1997. . However, the AC4400s were the rule on the Seminole Coal.
Suwannee River Bridge, Fl; February 1998. A through grain train is making a rare appearance on the Tallahassee
sub. Only one regular grain train is on the schedule but stops at the Gold
Kist Live Oak plant.
Tallahassee, Fl; January 1999. During the late 1990s, MOW activity was intense on the subdivision
and brought the track much needed improvemants. It is the turn of the hill
to the Magnolia overpass to get a fresh load of ballast.
Greenville, Fl, February 1999. K877 is a one of the regular phosphate trains on the Tallahassee Sub.
Typical power is a trio of SD40-2
Tallahassee, Fl; February 2002. Under a steady rain, the beast calls it for the day and heads for B
yard on the running track. Just in the late 1990s at that time of the year,
the MOW crews are back on the subdivision. A few minutes later, a late
P002 will get into the station right around this curve.
Madison, Fl; March 2002. A novelty in the region in the early 2000s were the gravel trains.
Panama City got its own train pulled by CSX on the Bayline. A few months
later, CYDZ inaugurates two new facilities in Midway right by the DD box
and in Marianna right by the FL 71 overpass on the east side of town. The
new train is loaded K921 and empty K922. In early 2002, I scout the traffic
patterns. About every 6 days, the loaded train comes down from the Fitzgerald
subdivision. They work the Midway plant, then tie up in Chattahoochee.
Another crew takes it to Marianna then comes back to Chattahoochee. In
the Spring, I miss it a coupleof times. Then one day after work, while
trying to intercept a late P002, I run to Greenville, then Madison. I am
about to head for the next siding in Lee when I hear the horn of a westbound.
I run to the South end of the Madison siding, K921 is going into the hole,
easing up the hill for P002.
Greenville, Fl; April 2002. After the booting of the Seminole Coal train, the only shot at coal
was if the occasional Boykin coal train was rerouted over the Tallahassee
subdivision. In the Spring, Boykin Power Plant on the P&A sub received
several coal trains. Late in the afternoon, I catch one of them lead by
2 brand new Dash 9-44CWAC and a Conrail.
