Eastern Railroad Discussion > Crawford, FL railfanning

Just thought I'd share some railfanning info on a community in northeastern Florida named Crawford. This is just a basic guide and I'm NOT claiming all the info is 100% accurate, for railroads are ever changing. Crawford is a very small spot on the map, but it is large on mainline railroad action. It is the only spot in the entire Sunshine State where two Class 1 railroad mainlines cross each other on a diamond. (The NS main does cross CSX several times in Jacksonville, however those are on CSX spurs, branches, and other secondary lines.) Crawford is located on HWY 301, 5 miles south of Callahan and 17 miles north of Baldwin. It's also about 25 miles northwest of downtown Jacksonville.

The railroads: The CSX ,ex-SAL, Callahan Sub runs in a northeast/southwest direction through the area. It is a single track CTC line with a siding just south of the diamond. CSX is in the process of double tracking most of this line as a result of the Orlando Sunrail deal. CSX runs about 20 trains a day through Crawford. These include:
Q208 New Orleans-Waycross autos
Q223 Waycross-New Orleans autos
Q601 Waycross-New Orleans
Q602 New Orleans-Waycross
Q605 Waycross-New Orleans
Q606 New Orleans-Waycross
Q609 Waycross-New Orleans
These trains traverse to/from the Tallahasse Sub which goes due west from Baldwin. Most other freights continue south from Crawford through Baldwin and onto the Wildwood Sub to points in central and south Florida. These include autorack trains:
Q214 Tampa-Waycross
Q251 Waycross-Palm Center(Jupiter) turn.
Q235 Louisville-Taft
Q237 Louisville-Tampa
Q258 Taft-Waycross
Manifest trains include:
Q441 Waycross-Tampa
Q452 Miami-Waycross
Q453 Waycross-Miami
Q603 Waycross-Winston
Q604 Winston-Waycross
Q652 Tampa-Waycross
Half a dozen or so unit trains pass through Crawford. These include N, U, T, and E-series coal trains that run to power plants in Hague(Gainesville), Crystal River, Apollo Beach, Lakeland, and Indiantown, FL. K-series rock, ethanol, sulfer, and phosphate trains run to various locations throughout Florida. Infrequent G-series grain trains to Lacoochee, DeFuniak Springs, and Live Oak, FL can also be seen. CSX trains are spread evenly throughout the day and night. Q trains run on a more predictable pattern, but the unit trains can run anytime.

The Norfolk Southern (GS&F), ex-SOU, Valdosta District runs east/west through the area. It is a single track ABS line with a siding just east of the diamond. NS runs about 12 trains a day through Crawford. Intermodal trains are the vast majority of the traffic. These include:
209 Atlanta-Jacksonville (daily)
210 Jacksonville-Atlanta (daily)
229 Cincinnati-Jacksonville (WE-SU)
230 Jacksonville-Atlanta (daily)
282 Jacksonville-Chicago (daily)
285 Kansas City/Atlanta-Jacksonville (daily. This train originates in KC as an autorack train. It sets out Atlanta-bound autoracks and picks up Florida-bound intermodal. Thus it arrives in Jacksonville as an autorack/intermodal train.)
295 Chicago-Jacksonville (daily ex. WE)
296 Jacksonville- Atlanta (WE-TH only)
Most intermodal traffic is to/from the FEC in Jacksonville. NS also runs a daily pair of Triple Crown roadrailer trains:
246 Jacksonville-Atlanta (daily)
251 Sandusky, OH-Jacksonville (daily)
Autorack trains include:
27W Jacksonville-Princeton, IN (TH-SU)
281 Atlanta-Jacksonville (SU).
Manifest trains include:
321 Macon-Jacksonville (daily)
330 Jacksonville-Macon (daily)
NS often runs multiple sections of intermodal and manifest trains. NS usually runs 229, 209, and 330 in the morning, 295, 296, and 27W throughout the afternoon, and 210, 282, and 321 in the evening. The rest are usually overnight.

To sum things up, Crawford sees about 30-35 trains a day, about half of those in daylight. It is a place to see relatively high-speed CSX and Norfolk Southern mainline action. DISCLAIMER! Crawford is in the middle of the woods on the edge of nowhere. There's NO WIFI, limited phone service, and no amenities in the immediate area. Callahan, the closest town 5 miles north, has food, restrooms, and gas services available. Let somebody know where you are, just in case. I've never had a problem with safety at this location, but stay alert. Also, the area around the diamond is railroad property, so fan at your own risk.
If the action slows down, the Folkston train-watching platform is 27 miles north of Crawford. It sees 50+ CSX freights on average plus 6 Amtrak. Callahan will see the same trains as Folkston, however there's no platform. Baldwin will see all of the CSX freights through Crawford, plus a few more. Q179/Q180, a pair of Jacksonville- New Orleans intermodals, run from the intermodal ramp in west Jacksonville and head due west to the Tallahassee Sub. Jacksonville- Tampa intermodal Q045 runs from Jax ramp and then turns south on the Wildwood Sub. This is also the same routing for the Tropicana trains Q740/Q741. Baldwin yard is seen along Highway 301, but is used now for storage. Happy railfanning!

Andrew



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/12 18:02 by florida581.

Thanks Andrew for a great report, Ed