Eastern Railroad Discussion > Bay Line Railroad

A week ago, I was down in Florida enjoying the warm weather and had one morning free, so I journeyed down to Panama City to check out the Bay Line Railroad's yard. I didn't know anything about the railroad except that it was the only one in the area, so I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Unfortunately, I only had the morning free so the sun angles were not ideal, but it was well worth the trip out. 

1. The Bay Line Engine shops with plenty of power both inside and out. 

2. GP-18 and GP 35 or 40. Neither of which were actually Bay Line locos, but still cool to see. 

3. A few SD40's lined up alongside the engine shops with a nice looking fueling rack in the background. 

More to come...

---

---

---

4. On the other side of the shops back a little ways, was a sort of "dead line" consisting of an old wrecked SW switcher and this high nose GP9 in Bay Line livery. 

5. The other side of the GP18 from photo 2. 

6. A GP39-2 was working while I was around, so I grabbed a few shots of it with some of the Florida trees in the frame. Notice the small fuel tank it has on it.

still more...

---

---

---

7. Of interest, but out of good viewing range, was a Wiregrass Central engine and a Utah Railway hood on a centerflat. 

8. Another shot of the GP39. The small fuel tank is very apparent in this photo. 

9. After getting all the shots I could at the yard, I decided to head back. On my way back, the road crosses one of the Bay Line's line into the port in Panama City, and there was a train moving! So I had to give chase. Up front, pulling a good sized string of hoppers and boxcars was a GP38(?) in the Bay Line livery. 

---

---

---

10. Another shot of Bay Line #3018

11. Final shot of #3018 as it stopped to do some switching. 

By this time, it was time for me to head back, but overall, I got more than I had expected to find! Not a bad day for going out on a limb for a couple hours to see what's in the area!

---

---

I forgot about the wrecked SW that was on the "dead line"! It looks like it's in some pretty ugly shape and looks like it is being cannibalized. 

I don't know how big the Bay Line Roster is, or how much traffic they handle, but it seemed to be a decent sized operation. The main line was continuous welded rail and they had a big string of pipe loads and what looked like woodchip cars. Whatever the cars are in the second picture. 

If anyone has any info they'd like to share, I'd be interested in hearing it! Thanks for looking!

---

---

512 ex-C&O, 1703 ex-N&W. The wrecked SW1504 is ex-Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México and has been sitting in the deadline for at least 5 years.

3017,3018,and 3019 are ex GT(nee Detroit Toledo & Ironton) GP-40's

Thank you for the coverage of the Bay Line.
John

Thanks for posting the photos and making the drive over to PCB. I remember the chop nosed RS1 locos back in the early '70s during my preteen years working those same tracks when my family took a Florida vacation on the panhandle Gulf Coast instead of our usual Daytona Beach trip.

Nice to see that there are still units in the original Bay Line paint however it looks like the shortline version of the "Orange Borg" is making big inroads. Great to see these smaller roads running but sad to see another layer of homogenization in the railroad scene.

Jay