Coast Line's Haines City Branch, which historically extended as far south as Everglades City. The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line merged in 1967 into the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which led to consolidation of the two networks and the abandonment of redundant trackage in the 1970s, reducing the line to its current length. Seaboard Coast Line became CSX in 1980, six years before Florida Midland Railroad began operating over the line. Winter Haven Line The Florida Midland Railroad also operates a separate 6-mile line in Winter Haven. It branches off CSX's Auburndale Subdivision just south of Winter Haven Amtrak station (about 10 miles north of where the Lake Wales Line branches off the same line). From Winter Haven, it runs southwest to Gordonville (just northeast of Bartow) where it ends. The line notably serves a 24-acre transload facility in Eagle Lake, as well as Bartow Municipal Airport. The Florida Midland Railroad has trackage rights on the Auburndale Subdivision to Winter Haven siding to facilitate the interchange between the two companies. History The Winter Haven line was originally built in 1884 by the South Florida Railroad (later part of the Plant System and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad). It historically extended from the South Florida Railroad mainline (the current CSX A Line) in Lake Alfred and extended into Bartow. It was abandoned north of Winter Haven to Lake Alfred in the early 1970s and was connected to the current Auburndale Subdivision (a former Seaboard track). The line was severed from Bartow in the 1980s and it now terminates near Gordonville. Former Leesburg Line The Florida Midland Railroad once operated a third line from Wildwood to Leesburg. Most of the Leesburg line was once the westernmost segment of the Orlando Division of the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (later part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad). The easternmost two miles however were originally part of the Florida Southern Railway (later part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad). In 2000, the company petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the entire Leesburg Branch, which was granted on November 15, 2000. All that remains of the line is a short turning wye in Wildwood. References External links Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. Florida railroads Spin-offs of CSX Transportation