Recently I was at Plant City, FL, and noticed the construction being done to reduce the radius of the north leg of the wye. This wye is from the old SAL track to Tampa to the old SAL north-south main.

It would seem a very easy thing to do to connect the Tampa track with the old ACL main in Plant City, as long as they are doing major construction anyway. Also the old SAL main could be connected with the ACL main via a new connection that would allow trains northbound from the Bone Valley to get on the old ACL main heading east.

Anyone know if this idea was considered?

-- Wes Woodruff (wes.woodruff@ftiorlando.com), May 13, 1999

Answers

actually, there would be an operational advantage to this connection. yes, it was considered about 20 years ago at the time of Supt. B.B. Vaughn control of the Tampa Division. The old interlocking tower used to occupy the se quadrant of the diamond and was moved in anticipation of the new connection being built. Don't know why it was not completed, there now is a lot of freight traffic to and from Tampa and that connection would relieve congestion now being experienced around Central Mine, just north of PC. There are at least 3 to 5 trains daily that go into the mine tracks for serving the facility. By diverting the SB traffic at Vitis Jct and then running down the Vitis cutoff and onto the Lakeland Sub, the trains could then take the connection fron the Lakeland Sub. to the Yeoman Sub for proper handling on arrival at Yeoman yard. Now, ant traffic that comes down the "A" line will have to be pulled by the south end of the yard and backed in. Same goes with NB trains leaving toward Winston/Lakeland, and Orlando. If the connection were in use today, the only traffic on the "A" line would br intermodal and Amtrak. What time and money would they save.

-- walt rogers (wjriii@gte.net), March 29, 2001.

There would be no operational advantage to such a connection. Trains bound for Wildwood,Ocala, and Baldwin Yard use the Yeoman and Wildwood Subdivisions (ex-SAL line). Those bound for Orlando, Sanford, and Moncrief Yard use the Lakeland and Sanford Subs (ex-ACL line). Also, such a connection would require a crossing at-grade of the Plant City Subdivision. The only time the connection might be needed is if the Lakeland Sub between Plant City and Tampa were to be blockked for an extended period of time.

The same applies to a connection between the Plant City Sub and the Lakeland Sub. What little traffic moves directly from the Bone Valley to points east on the ex-ACL line is routed through Mulberry to Winston Yard. The vast majority of traffic from the Bone Valley is routed west to the various phosphate terminals on Tampa Bay.

Incidentally, the curve in the north leg of the wye at Plant City is actually being tightened from 100 (573') radius to 120 (478') radius. The turnout to the Plant City Sub immediately south of the crossing will be removed and a new lefthand crossover is being installed north of the crossing. A new track for the Plant City Sub will be built from about Reynolds St. (US 92 East), cross the Lakeland Sub on a new crossing diamond and tie into the existing track about two blocks south. Removing the existing turnout will permit CSX to superelevate the new curve sufficiently to allow 25 mph operation through Plant City on the Yeoman Sub.

-- Gary Bechdol (gbechdol@rwhitehead.com), May 14, 1999.