Florida Midland Railroad summary
The Florida Midland Railroad (FMID) is a short line railroad operating in central Florida. It is one of three of the state’s shortline railroads that is part of Regional Rail, LLC. The railroad operates 28 miles of standard-gauge track on two separate branch lines, one out of Winter Haven and the other out of West Lake Wales.
History
The Florida Midland Railroad was once part of the former Seaboard Coast Line. By the 1980s, the SCL’s successor, CSX Transportation was looking to dispose the lightly used track. Under new ownership by the holding firm Pinsly Railroad Company, the Florida Midland Railroad began operations in 1987 from West Lakes Wales to Frostproof, Winter Haven to Gordonville, and Wildwood to Leesburg. The 12-mile Wildwood to Leesburg line was abounded by Pinsly in three phases between 2001 and 2008. On October 29, 2019, it was announced that an agreement was made for Regional Rail to acquire the Florida Midland.
Operations
The Florida Midland Railroad directly serves a 24-acre transload facility in Eagle Lake on the Winter Haven Subdivision. It’s one of Regional Rail’s premier locations that handles carloads of ethanol, butane, and propane. Customers on the railroad’s West Lake Whale Subdivision is a Lowe’s distribution center at the end of the line, and Florida’s Natural Growers who produces their well-known orange juice. In addition to the transloading business, railcar storage and third-party logistics warehousing is also provided on the FMID.
A total of four first-generation General Motor diesel locomotives serves the FMID which also operates on both the Florida Central Railroad and Florida Northern Railroad. Some were once part of the Pinsly Railroad’s roster pool, and still carries the company’s red and yellow paint scheme. The most notable locomotives being the EMD GP9RMs, rebuilt by the Canadian National Railway in the early 1990s.
The Florida Midland interchanges with CSX’s Auburndale Subdivision at two locations. The Winter Haven Subdivision connects in Winter Haven, while the West Lake Whale Subdivision connects in West Lake Whale.
Read more about the Florida Midland Railroad in Trains’ June 2017 issue.
