Brooker Subdivision
 CSX
S Line (Wildwood Subdivision)
SN 679.1
 Starke (Wannee Junction)
SN 683.9
 Sampson City
SN 694.0
 Brooker
SN 699.0
 LaCrosse
fmr. Jacksonville & Southwestern RR (ACL)
to Baldwin
fmr. Atlantic, Suwannee River & Gulf Ry. (SAL)
to Wannee
SN 702.3
 Hainesworth
SN 705.3
 Burnett's Lake
 CSX
Deerhaven Subdivision
SN 706.5
 Alachua
SN 714.8
 Haile
SN 718.6
 Newberry
 Florida Northern Railroad
former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
to Wilcox

The Brooker Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. The line runs from the CSX S Line (the Wildwood Subdivision) at Wannee Junction in Starke to Newberry for a total of 39.6 miles. At its north end it continues south from the Wildwood Subdivision and at its south end it junctions at a wye with the Florida Northern Railroad (the former West Coast Subdivision).[1][2]

History

Scale map of Brooker Subdivision with historic rail lines.

The Brooker Subdivision from Starke to Hainesworth (just west of LaCrosse) was originally built from 1863 to 1894 by the Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway, which would eventually run in its entirety from Starke east to Wannee (which is why the junction with the Wildwood Subdivision is still known as Wannee Junction). The Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway was leased by the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in 1899, which would in turn be bought by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad a year later.[3] The Seaboard would designate this line as the Wannee Subdivision.[4]

From Hainesworth to Newberry, the line was originally part of the Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad which was built in 1899. The Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad, which originated in Jacksonville and ran through Baldwin was bought by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1904.[5]

The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads merged in 1967 which brought all of the trackage under a single owner, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which would become CSX Transportation in the 1980s. In the early 1970s, the Wannee Subdivision from Brooker to Hainesworth was abandoned along with much of the original Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway. Trains could still access Gainesville and Newberry via the former Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad from Mattox.[6] When that line was abandoned north of Hainesworth, track from there to Brooker was rebuilt and was designated as the Brooker Subdivision.[7] The former Atlantic Coast Line segments mileposts were also renumbered to match the Seaboard segments (SN prefix), which is unusual for CSX lines.[2] The previous mileposts on this segment had an ASG prefix.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ CSX Brooker Sub (Radio Reference)
  2. 1 2 CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
  3. ↑ Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  4. ↑ Seaboard Air Line Railroad Jacksonville Division Timetable (1949)
  5. ↑ Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Richard E. Prince, published by Richard E. Prince, Green River, Wyoming, 1974 printing; p.107
  6. ↑ Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1982)
  7. ↑ "Stupid CSX Abandonments". Railroad.net. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)
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