After catching O842 in Valrico, Ken (kenjr29mfl) and I made our way to Plant City for lunch with a friend at First Choice Barbeque. We were to meet at high noon, but before that could happen there would have to be one more catch. Q740, the famous Tropicana "Juice Train" was coming north on the Yeoman Sub around Valrico while O709 was waiting to come out of the siding at Cherry on the Lakeland sub ffor their northbound run back to Winston. The juice was loose, according to JA, but it wasn't clear who would get the diamond first until Q740 finally cleared Market and were calling Lake Wales Jct. After some impatient waiting we were finally rewarded with a fine catch. My apologies to friend, Steve Kern, for keeping him waiting.
Plant City, Florida
CSX Yeoman Subdivision
Calhoun Street - S 822.64
12:11 PM
Northbound Main Track
CSX Q7401-10 Tropicana "Juice Train"
Bradenton, FL to Jersey City, NJ
CSXT 844 ES44AC
CSXT 886 ES44AC
34 Loads
We made it to First Choice at 12:27 PM. As we were pulling in, Steve was pulling out. Luckily we got his attention just in time for him to turn around and park again. He informed us about his 30 minute rule and I couldn't apologize enough for keeping him waiting. I figured that as a railfan, he would understand. We went inside while outside it was finally beginning to clear up. We each ordered and had a seat at the table near the door. I had the pork sandwich with hand cut fries and a Cherry Coke. We didn't know it at the time, but the southbound Silver Star was experiencing a service disruption. As a result, they bypassed Tampa and would otherwise have been through the area around 12:30 PM or so. It wouldn't have mattered to me though... I was hungry and the a/c inside the restaurant was working really well. After about an hour and a half or so of friendly banter and catching up we migrated over to the depot. There, we would bid farewell to Steve who had to return to Tampa, and where Ken and I would wait out the next catch. Somebody was lined toward Tampa from the Auburndale Sub, but we weren't sure who it was because of the time. A call to a friend revealed that Amtrak P092, the northbound Silver Star, had left Miami two hours early erasing all doubt about who it actually was:
CSX Lakeland Subdivision
Plant City Interlocking - A 861.1
2:29 PM
Southbound Main Track
Amtrak P092-10 Silver Star
Miami, FL to New York, NY
AMTK 185 P42DC
AMTK 138 P42DC
1 Heritage Baggage Car
2 Viewliner Sleepers
1 Diner
1 Cafe/Lounge Car
4 Amfleet Coaches
A quick look at the ATCS board revealed a southbounder fast approaching Plant City on the Yeoman Sub. Listening to my scanner, I could hear JA dispatcher talking to O825 at CF Central, asking if they were in the clear. Before they could answer, somebody began calling NE Plant City. We rushed back over to Calhoun Street:
CSX Yeoman Subdivision
Calhoun Street - S 822.64
2:37 PM
Southbound Main Track
CSX T081-05 Unit Coal
Clay-Corbin, KY to Tampa, FL
Destination: TECO Big Bend Power Plant
CSXT 924 ES44AC
CSXT 912 ES44AC
99 Loads
Following the passing of T081, Plant City would become quiet for the rest of the afternoon. The only thing showing on the board was Q235 who had held out earlier at Carters for P092 to pass them southbound. About this time, they were on Track-2 at Winston, preparing to set out some cars for Q251 to take with them to Palm Center. We made our way east to check out the action as they pulled into Winston Pass with their Cars for Drew Park in Tampa:
Winston, Florida
CSX Lakeland Subdivision
Airport Road - A 854.75
3:02 PM
Soutbound Track-2
CSX Q235- Quality Freight - Automobile
Louisville, KY to Tampa, FL
CSXT 7500 C40-8
CSXT 8130 SD40-2 (nee-SCL 8130)
25 Auto Racks
Soon after, we heard a K-train getting ready to depart Winston. It was K877 with those UP engines we saw earlier. They would have to wait though for the Silver Star to make its 2nd appearance of the day with their outbound run back toward Lakeland and Kissimmee before they got their light to proceed:
CSX Lakeland Subdivision
Gay Road - A 854.47
3:52 PM
Southbound Main Track
Amtrak P092-10 Silver Star
Miami, FL to New York, NY
AMTK 185 P42DC
AMTK 138 P42DC
1 Heritage Baggage Car
2 Viewliner Sleepers
1 Diner
1 Cafe/Lounge Car
4 Amfleet Coaches
Once the Star was officially out of the picture, we were faced with a choice - remain at Gay Road and get the K-train there, dragging by at Restricted speed, or farther up the line where we could get it at track speed. We agreed upon the latter and decided on a spot I've been wanting to go for a while:
Lakeland, Florida
CSX Vitis Subdivision
Bella Vista Street - AR 854.02
4:19 PM
Northbound Main Track
CSX K877-10 Unit Empty Molten Sulfur
Mulberry, FL to New Orleans, LA
UP 9584 CW44-9
UP 3929 SD70M
61 empties
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Central Florida Railfan Series: Lakeland, Winston & Valrico - Wednesday, August 10, 2011by SFLRailFan216 views
Great video, Ted. T081 actually routes via Madisonville (Atkinson). All three of the T08x series trains for Big Bend are routed the same way, but the IDs just depend on where they load.
FloridaTrainKid 2 months ago
Great package, Ted. Fav'd.
brickbuilder711 6 months ago