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CSX Crossroads Redux


I am grateful to Josh at Empirical Polk for his embellishment of my post on the CSX main lines that cross only in Polk County. I think Josh is entirely correct that the crossing I first cited is not the big crossing. Instead, and I’m waiting on CSX to confirm this, I think it actually happens dead in the heart of Lakeland, just off Lake Wire, not half-a-mile from where I work in downtown.

This map shows that spot.

But, as you can see, there’s not a classic crossing. Rather, the more western S-line and more eastern A-line run together on a single east-west line that runs through downtown Lakeland over to Winter Haven.

With that in mind, consider this: CSX is planning to run virtually all its freight traffic in Florida on the S-line into the huge new integrated logistics center. It’s freeing up the A-line for a potential communter rail system. There’s only one route those trains on the S-line can take if they’re heade for the big new center, if I’m reading the map correctly. That route runs smack through downtown Lakeland.

 



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Jennifer Leigh:

Jennifer Leigh, a reporter in Polk County, joined News Channel 8 in March 1993. She is a fifth-generation Floridian, who was born in Miami and grew up in Polk County. Email


Joe Martin:

Joe Martin is a photojournalist for NewsChannel 8. He recently moved here from Harrisburg, Penn. Martin, 26, has also worked in television in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. and Las Vegas. "I got into this business because I love meeting new people, and telling their stories," Martin says. Email


Ted Hoffman:

Ted Hoffman, an award-winning newspaper writer, editor, critic and columnist for 30 years on both coasts, but not at the same time, lives in Lakeland with his wife and son. An anthologized fiction writer and former stand-up comedian, he spends his free time knitting toupees for bald eagles. Email


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