The Florida Northern Railroad

The Florida Northern Railroad (FNOR), based in Plymouth, Florida, is a division of the Pinsly Railroad Company and has been in operation since 1988 when it took over ex-CSX trackage in the Sunshine State. The railroad currently operates over 20 miles of track of unconnected branch lines, and serves over 20 customers in central Florida. The FNOR has two sister roads which also operate in Florida, the Florida Central and Florida Midland.

Between the three railroads they operate well over 100 miles of ex-CSX trackage and serve some 100+ customers along their particular areas of operation. Traffic includes everything from food and chemicals to lumber and fly ash.

The Pinsly Railroad Company, based out of Massachusetts, itself has been in the railroading business for nearly 70 years focusing on short line operations, which continues even today.

The Florida Northern Railroad operates over ex-SCL trackage and to give a brief history of the railroad it was a short-lived conglomerate formed by the marriage of two of the Southeast’s largest and most profitable railroads, the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line. Mergers, if planned and implemented correctly can save a railroad millions of dollars in the long term and this was the very reason behind the Seaboard Air Line and ACL discussing the option seriously, as early as the late 1950s.

While the two companies were fierce competitors, similar to the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central who would also merge during the same period, the difference between the PRR/NYC and SAL/ACL partnerships was that the ACL and SAL spent many years planning their new system in an effort to ensure the marriage would go smoothly. As an independent carrier the Seaboard Coast Line would last a mere five years before joining under the banner of the Family Lines System, which would eventually disappear into the Seaboard System in 1982 (just ten more years later).

After the merger in 1967 to form the Seaboard Coast Line the new railroad affiliated itself under the marketing name of the Family Lines System, which included a number of railroads, most notably the Louisville & Nashville and Clinchfield railroads. This arrangement lasted until 1982 upon which these railroads were formally merged as the Seaboard System and became part of CSX Transportation a few years later.

This arrangement lasted until 1982 upon which these railroads were formally merged as the Seaboard System that became part of CSX Transportation a few years later.

Currently the Florida Northern Railroad has a locomotive fleet consisting entirely of EMDs (of note, the locomotives operate among all three railroads and are lettered for their respective railroad). The below roster is courtesy of The Diesel Shop:

#47-50, #53, #56 - EMD CF7

#55, #57 - EMD GP7u

#63-65 - EMD CF7

For more reading on shortlines like the Florida Northern Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book.