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
Status	Some segments still operating
Owner	Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Termini	High Springs, Florida Croom, Florida
Technical
Line length	128 mi (206 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No
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

v t e Deerhaven Subdivision
Legend
Milepost fmr. ACL to High Springs fmr. SAL Wannee Subdivision CSX Brooker Subdivision ARB 725.8 Burnett's Lake ARB 729.7 Hague ARB 738.6 Gainesville fmr. SAL Brooksville Subdivision fmr. ACL to Ocala

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 (ACL)
ARB 724.7	Alachua	East Alachua
ARB 726.4		Burnett's Lake		junction with: Jacksonville—Wilcox Line (ACL) Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway (SAL)
ARB 729.7	Hague	Hague
ARB 736.0	Gainesville	Paradise		Annexed by Gainesville
ARB 739.0		Teen Jay		Annexed by Gainesville
ARB 740.1		Gainesville		original station on Main Street replaced with a new station on 6th Street in 1948. junction with: Seaboard Air Line Railroad Brooksville Subdivision Gainesville and Gulf Railroad (SAL)
ARB 749.5 AS 737.5[a]	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: Leesburg Branch Seaboard Air Line Railroad Orlando Subdivision
AS 808.3	Okahumpka	Okahumpka		junction with 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	Croom	Croom		Previously known as Pemberton Ferry 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: Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line Florida East Coast Railway Palatka Branch Georgia Southern and Florida Railway (SOU) Ocklawaha Valley Railroad
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	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

Howey-in-the-Hills Branch

Milepost	City/Location	Station[17]	Image	Connections and notes
AS 808.3	Okahumpka	Okahumpka		junction with High Springs—Croom Line
	Yalaha	Yahala
ASF 816.2	Howey-in-the-Hills	Howey-in-the-Hills		located on Howey-in-the-Hills Branch

See also

• Main Line (Atlantic Coast Line Railroad)
• DuPont—Lakeland Line

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. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
9. "Parcel: 19801-300-000". Alachua County Property Appraiser. Retrieved 2 November 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}
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. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. 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.
17. "Florida Railroad: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists. Retrieved 5 June 2020.