A TBOX Arrives!

After a lot of hunting on eBay, I managed to track down a LBF TBOX model that has been discontinued since 2004. These boxcars are a keystone of modern industrial layouts. This will be a nice project to work on with upgrades and weathering. The paint has already been toned down to better reflect the faded yellow color seen in real life, something that desperately needs to be done to my TTZX Red Caboose Center-beams (come on, Intermountain!).

Southside Spur Consists

Here are a few shots of Southside Spur consists that helped me decide on rolling stock to purchase.

RR Donnelly & Sons

The first industry on the Southside Spur is this giant phonebook manufacturer. The closure of this industry in the later years of the Southside Spur basically signed the death certificate for the Southside. Without the large revenue from switching high cube paper boxcars, there just wasn't enough traffic from Cox and Littrell (Bama was long gone since the 90's I think) to warrant a run down from St. Pete yard. There are no photos of this industry in action, but a few shots of the building.

Littrell Building Materials

I don't know much about this little industry other than it received single-car shipments of boxcars full of most likely veneer some type of board for construction. This is the second industry right after RR Donnelly on the Southside Spur. I once had a Canadian Pacific 50' boxcar that matched the one in the prototype photos, but I didn't feel it meshed well colorwise with the rest of my fleet. i have traded that car for an ExactRail EEC 50' Evans 5277 boxcar which should be here any day now. In the meantime, check out a few photos of this industry from Google Maps and TPavluvcik on Flickr.

Bama Freeze on the Southside

Bama Freeze is the second to last industry on the Southside Spur. I have no photos of this industry in action, but my best guess would be this industry received single reefer shipments in ARMN 57' and occasionally 60' reefers as per usual in food industries around the Tampa area. Check out these aerial photos I have from Google Maps.

Cox Lumber: Southside Spur's Largest Shipper

Nearly every train that travelled down the Southside Spur carried centerbeams and boxcars for this industry. Check out a few photos I found on TPavluvcik's photostream on Flickr. These photos helped me select rolling stock I will use on the layout.

A look at the overall layout of Cox Lumber (now Tibbett's Lumber). Note the bike trail that has replaced the rails as of 2005.

Train Showcase

Here's a little video of some of my equipment I currently have. I sold the exactrail gondolas in the video recently for more boxcars for the Southside Spur, as there were no gondolas used on this spur (save for the occasional granite rock delivery during the St. pete Beach jetty reconstruction). the consist is reminiscent of the DeSoto turn on the Seminole Gulf Railway.

Seminole Feed in Ocala

Here's a quick look at a feed mill in Ocala, Florida. I never fail to see a 60' high-cube boxcar in the siding being unloaded. There are also pairs of covered hoppers that come in as well as the maps photos will show. I have video of this location being switching as well by A782, the Wildwood Sub. local. I took the photo of the boxcar, but the other images are from Google Maps. You can see the Florida Northern Railroad's diamond is very close to this industry, as well as the CSX S-Line.

Propane Corridor

Another modelable spot on the SGLR. This short spur parallels Evans Avenue in Fort Myers. It consists of four industries, including, from north to south, Amerigas, Tri-Circle Pavers, Balgas, and another Amerigas. This spur is very active and receives cars nearly every DeSoto turn. The tiny sidings are packed to absolute capacity with tanks and Ortner hoppers. depending on the view you use on Google Maps, whether from north, south, west or east, different cars can be seen.

North-oriented view, as it appears on a map.

Looking west, an ortner appears at Tricircle.

Looking east, two ortner hoppers.

Second Amerigas at the end of the line.

Balgas, second to last industry.

Empty Tri-Circle Pavers. Note the unloading hatch beneath the rails that connects to the conveyor belt.

First industry, first Amerigas. Note how close the switch for Tri-Circle Pavers is to the Amerigas spur.

Fort Myers Industrial Spur (SGLR)

One of the most modelable things in Fort Myers is this short industrial spur right outside the SGLR yard. Unfortunately, this line is now abandoned, as Google Maps clearly shows. A few gondolas were once stored here, but now have been pulled I believe. Curiously, there are numerous track improvements in sporadic spots on the line, perhaps a sign of eventual regrowth once the housing market returns to normal, as most of the industries on the line are building materials distributors. The numerous line improvements include concrete ties, ballast, and brand new switches amongst the rest of the line which is covered in weeds. From left to right, the industries a feed dealer, building materials distributor, another building materials distributor, lumber yard, CertainTeed Building Products, Suncoast Roofing Supply, a small runaround, then a switchback into Huting Building Materials.

The entire line.

Brand new switch from the air.

Brand new switch into the first industry on the line and stored gondolas in the distance.

Looking west near Suncoast Roofing before the switchback at the concrete ties.

Seminole Gulf Railway Explorations

Fort Myers! What a stronghold for shortlines operations. The Seminole Gulf railway, a healthy southwest Florida railroad, utilizes it's fleet of B39-8's to move building products, propane, refrigerated goods, aggregate and scrap metal from their terminus in Fort Myers to the interchange at Arcadia, Florida with CSX. The trains hauled by this line are full classic Florida products, and make a nice looking train, not to mention the awesome blue orange and yellow paint scheme of the locomotives. I'll be posting several of the industries from this line in the next few weeks. There are several modelable opportunities to be found on this line. I'm even drawing a few track plans myself. I hope to find some way to incorporate the entire system into a track plan one day, focusing on the four layout design elements of the Arcadia interchange, fly ash transload facility, Bayshore, and Fort Myers.