Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

I'm just curious in which crossing in Tampa is the busiest crossing.
I mean, the hotel i live in is right next to a crossing, but gets only 2 trains a week as it services a bottling plant, what is the most busiest crossing in the Tampa area?

NathanFromEngland wrote:I'm just curious in which crossing in Tampa is the busiest crossing.
I mean, the hotel i live in is right next to a crossing, but gets only 2 trains a week as it services a bottling plant, what is the most busiest crossing in the Tampa area?

Zach is better qualified to answer this than I am... but you will find the most activity to the east and southeast of downtown where the CSX railyards are. I've circled them on the map. I have seen train activity in both locations, but I'm not sure about how safe those areas are if you plan to camp out somewhere all day.

Since we are on the west coast right next to water... a lot of activity stops and starts here. To my knowledge, you don't see trains coming through town on a regular basis like what Brick sees on the NS line in Huntsville.

I've asked you countless times if you want to meet up when you're down here, and you still haven't answered my question. I can take literally take you around the area in my own car, share a meal or two, and show you the best spots to get crossing pictures and also even catch a train.

Anyways, I will say that Tampa itself is not a hot railfan spot. You will see minimal activity in the city itself, but the activity increases to the east and south of both Yeoman and Uceta yards (circled by cabman up above). Plant City is a great spot to catch a train, as both the CSX A and S lines intersect just to the east of downtown - the A line continues eastward and the S line goes northward.

The CSX Brooksville subdivision is a fairly dead line past Busch Boulevard; a majority of its traffic comes from the south off from Port Tampa Bay and then heads westward towards the Clearwater subdivision (where cabman lives).

Amtrak sends trains inbound and outbound along the A line from just west of Ybor City. The line continues past Union Station into downtown, and eventually towards Port Tampa; the stretch between Downtown Tampa (where you can see each downtown crossing here on the site) heads into south Tampa and sees minimal activity.

Next is the Neve Wye spur. This is a line that branches off of the A line and heads north initially then turns to the northeast. DO NOT railfan here. Not only is there minimal traffic (you'll see a lot of switching on this line), but it also through one of the more sketchy neighborhoods in Tampa.

ZachL wrote:I've asked you countless times if you want to meet up when you're down here, and you still haven't answered my question. I can take literally take you around the area in my own car, share a meal or two, and show you the best spots to get crossing pictures and also even catch a train.

Anyways, I will say that Tampa itself is not a hot railfan spot. You will see minimal activity in the city itself, but the activity increases to the east and south of both Yeoman and Uceta yards (circled by cabman up above). Plant City is a great spot to catch a train, as both the CSX A and S lines intersect just to the east of downtown - the A line continues eastward and the S line goes northward.

The CSX Brooksville subdivision is a fairly dead line past Busch Boulevard; a majority of its traffic comes from the south off from Port Tampa Bay and then heads westward towards the Clearwater subdivision (where cabman lives).

Amtrak sends trains inbound and outbound along the A line from just west of Ybor City. The line continues past Union Station into downtown, and eventually towards Port Tampa; the stretch between Downtown Tampa (where you can see each downtown crossing here on the site) heads into south Tampa and sees minimal activity.

Next is the Neve Wye spur. This is a line that branches off of the A line and heads north initially then turns to the northeast. DO NOT railfan here. Not only is there minimal traffic (you'll see a lot of switching on this line), but it also through one of the more sketchy neighborhoods in Tampa.

The fact of meeting up together is determined, Tampa is basically my last week in the U.S next year, and the possibilities of us seeing each other can be slim... Some of the days are probably gonna be spent at Busch Gardens, and some are the odd kick back and relax days. I have around 8 months to do research and understand the schedule on the FRA, as it'll be different from last year, as i'm not staying at Universal this time but at SeaWorld for 2 weeks, maybe some days might be spent in Downtown Orlando. If i can get a good schedule one day with no issues, i'll try to inform you.