W001 has been touring Florida most of January. Today they are setting off from South Clearwater to Saint Petersburg and back to Tampa. They are on the switch to the siding where local L791 is waiting for them to clear before heading north to Tampa. The one time a year there is a meet in South Clearwater. I have stories from every crossing in Pinellas County from my youth and there would often be meets here between the local and the 175 job to/from Tampa. In my Pinellas days up to 1983, this spot was a junction with the remnants of the ACL and SAL mainlines, both leading to/from St. Pete. This was a result of the elimination of the dual mainlines thru downtown Clearwater after the SCL merger. During the Orange Belt days, you could take a train from Sanford to Saint Petersburg. The network of rails was quite a crosspatch. From here on down, it is the old ACL. The former Tarpon Springs branch, part of the old Orange Belt, and the ex-SAL route to the west here at South Clearwater last saw service in 1987, parts of which now belong to the Pinellas Trail. Historians may recall the swan song for the Tarpon Springs line involved a series of CSX-sanctioned passenger trains with the F-Units. To see any kind of passenger car in Clearwater in 2025, brilliant. Is this the part I mention the CSX OCS was due to run here two Februarys ago....but it was canceled? Yeah.
