Port Manatee Railroad
| Port Manatee Terminal Railroad Manatee County Port Authority Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 NRE 2GS14B locomotive 1001 performing shunting duties on the Port Manatee Railroad, May 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet | 2 NRE 2GS14B locomotives (since 2014[update]) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reporting mark | PMR MAUP MCPA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Palmetto, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates of operation | January 3, 1972–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track length | 7 mi (11 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Port Manatee Railroad (reporting mark PMR), formerly known as the Port Manatee Terminal Railroad (reporting mark MAUP) and the Manatee County Port Authority Railroad (reporting mark MCPA), is a 7-mile (11 km) shortline railroad, which connects Port Manatee with the CSX Transportation mainline (originally owned by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad) in Palmetto, Florida, United States. The railroad initially began service in 1970, and officially began its services on January 3, 1972. The railroad was operated by the Manatee County Port Authority until 2021, when Regional Rail took over operations of the railroad.
Operations
[edit]The 7-mile (11 km) railroad connects Port Manatee with the CSX Transportation mainline in Palmetto, Florida.[1][2] The CSX interchange track is east of Port Manatee. The CSX Interchange Yard consists of four tracks which run parallel to the CSX mainline. The track continues west of the CSX mainline, and runs parallel with North Dock Street to the terminals at Berths 6 and 7 of Port Manatee.[2]
The PMR has only three employees: a yard master, an assistant yard master, and an engineer.[2] The railroad has two hopper car dumpers, which can unload ten sixty-short-ton (54 t) hopper cars an hour; two loading chutes, which can load ten hopper cars an hour; and a boxcar loader which can load six boxcars per hour.[3] In addition, the PMR has nine railroad crossings, nineteen railroad switches, and a capacity for three hundred freight cars.[1][2]
History
[edit]The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) and Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) proposed a forty-four-mile (71 km) railroad line in August 1965, where the western terminus would be at Port Manatee, which was yet to be constructed.[4]: 44–45 In a report dated September 9, 1966, the ACL and SCL planned to send phosphorite and superphosphate trains of about 150 freight cars directly to Port Manatee; switching and classification was to only occur at Port Manatee.[4]: 66–68
The PMR was given permission to operate by the Interstate Commerce Commission on October 21, 1969.[5] The railroad began service in 1970, operated by the Manatee County Port Authority (MCPA).[1][6] Joel Wilcox, the port director of the MCPA, received a letter from the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (reporting mark SCL), dated May 22, 1970, proposing to construct an interchange track between the Tampa Southern Railroad and the MCPA. Wilcox recommended approval and requested the railroad to immediately begin construction of the turnout.[7] In June 1970, Wilcox stated that the SCL was proceeding with the construction of the interchange track.[8] A one-mile extension was made to the railroad in 1971.[9]
The Railroad Retirement Board determined that the MCPA was a rail carrier under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, with an effective date of January 1, 1972;[10] the railroad officially began its operations on January 3.[5] The railroad's track mileage with the SCL fluctuated throughout the 1970s and 1980s; the MCPA owned and operated four miles (6.4 km) of track from 1972 to 1979,[11][3] six miles (9.7 km) in 1982,[12] and two miles (3.2 km) in 1984.[13] On October 1, 1989, the name of the railroad was changed from the Manatee County Port Authority Railroad to the Port Manatee Railroad.[10] In the 1990s, the railroad continued operating six miles (9.7 km) of track, connecting to CSX.[14][15][16] The railroad had operated as a Class II railroad throughout the 1970s and 1980s,[11][3][13] and has operated as a Class III railroad since the 1990s.[14][17][16]
The railroad has been used to transport lumber, linerboard, fertilizer, and phosphorite.[6][4] During the 2012–2013 North American drought, the PMR had transported imports of corn to feed livestock in the Midwest.[6] In 2014, the Barnum & Bailey "Red Unit" circus train, consisting of sixty-one cars, was stored on the Port Manatee Railroad from November to Christmas Eve. Barnum & Bailey signed a lease with the Manatee County Port Authority to keep the train at Port Manatee for ten years; the lease automatically renewed until 2024.[18]
In 2020, the United States Department of Transportation launched a project for the PMR in two phases to replace and upgrade track with heavier rails.[19] On December 1, 2021, Regional Rail took over operations of the railroad.[17][1][20] Port Manatee reached an agreement with Regional Rail to operate the railroad until 2036, with an extension up to 2051.[20] Since then,[update] the PMR is one of several railroads operated by Regional Rail. In 2024, the PMR would temporarily move its freight cars from the berths "to higher ground" in preparation for Hurricane Milton.[21]
Locomotives
[edit]The PMR had owned several locomotives. ALCO S-2 locomoitve No. 1004 began service in 1970, and remained on the railroad until it was sold in June 1994.[22] ALCO S-4 locomotive No. 230 was sold from the SCL to the PMR, and had begun service in August 1976. EMD GP8 locomotives 7972 and 7974 were converted from EMD GP7 locomotives in August and July 1969 respectively.[22] EMD GP9R locomotive 7063 was sold to the PMR in 2007, and was sold again in August 2011.[22][23][24] It is unclear which locomotives were in service; throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the railroad had been described as having two switcher locomotives.[15][16][14][12] In 2012, the PMR would receive a federal grant of US$2,500,000 ($3,505,943 in 2025) to purchase new locomotives.[25][24] In 2014, the PMR sold locomotive 7063 and purchased two NRE 2GS14B locomotives.[6][23] The NRE 2GS14B locomotives were more energy-efficient than their previous locomotives.[23]
| Model | Road No. | Builder | Build date | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRE 2GS14B | 1001 | NRE | 2014 | Operational |
| NRE 2GS14B | 1011 | NRE | 2014 | Operational |
| EMD GP9RM | 7063 | EMD | 1958 | Sold |
| EMD GP8 | 7972 | EMD | 1953 | Sold |
| EMD GP8 | 7974 | EMD | 1953 | Sold |
| ALCO S-4 | 230 | ALCO | 1954 | Sold |
| ALCO S-2 | 1004 | ALCO | 1943 | Sold |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "Regional Rail to operate Port Manatee Railroad". Trains. Palmetto, Florida. November 8, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Port Manatee Site Utilization & Network Analysis Study (PDF). Florida Department of Transportation (Report). District I. April 2019. p. 43. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "The Port of Port Manatee, Florida". The Ports of Tampa and Port Manatee, Florida. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Report). Port Series No. 17. United States Government Printing Office. 1979. p. 76–77, 80. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Hollander, Richard; Wells, David; Beverly, Phil; Osborn, Prime; Dell, Ralph; Howe, James; Zoll, Erle (November 24, 1969) [September 9, 1966–November 5, 1969]. "Report and Order recommended by hearing examiner of the Interstate Commerce Commission and Exhibits thereto". Tampa Phosphate Railroad v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Supreme Court of the United States (Report). pp. 41–146. No. 877. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- 1 2 Bartholow, Steven (June 20, 1989). Employer Status Determination. Railroad Retirement Board (Report). Palmetto, Florida. L-1989-74. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Buqueras, Carlos (August 8, 2020). "Port Manatee's railroad keeps tradition of connectivity on track". The Bradenton Herald. Archived from the original on July 22, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ McGlure, Dan; Fortson, Lawrence; Dierks, Kenneth; Hutches, Robert; Cox, Bruce; Hampton, Richard; Wilcox, Joel; Hayes, Herbert (September 3, 1970) [May 28, 1970]. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad—Interchange facility approved; amend plans and specifications. Port Authority. p. 170–171.
- ↑ McGlure, Dan; Fortson, Lawrence; Dierks, Kenneth; Hutches, Robert; Cox, Bruce; Hampton, Richard; Wilcox, Joel; Hayes, Herbert (September 3, 1970) [June 11, 1970]. Progress Report. Port Authority. p. 173–174.
- ↑ "Port Manatee Lets 2 Contracts; Expects Reefer Warehouse Soon" (PDF). Florida Journal of Commerce. Bradenton, Florida. October 1971. p. 24. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- 1 2 Hillyard, Stephanie (October 9, 2024). "Port Manatee Railroad (Port Manatee)". Employer Status Determination (PDF) (Report). B.A. No 2562. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- 1 2 Interstate Commerce Commission (September 5, 1974). "Section 1: Railroads, Their Lessors, and Proprietary Companies—Section D:Table Showing Mileage and Intercorporate Relation of Switching and Terminal Companies". Eighty Sixth Annual Report on Transport Statistics in the United States for the Year Ended December 31, 1972 (Report). United States Government Printing Office. p. 320. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Study of the Outer Continental Shelf Impacts on Port Manatee's Public Facilities/Services and Environmental/Recreational Resources for the Manatee County Port Authority—Manatee County, Florida. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Report). Gee & Jenson Engineers, Architects, Planners, Inc.; Rogers, Golden and Halpern, Inc. December 1982. p. 3-6. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- 1 2 "The Port of Port Manatee, Florida". The Ports of Tampa and Port Manatee, Florida. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Report). Port Series No. 17. United States Government Printing Office. 1984. p. 84. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Port and Harbor Facilities: Rail Lines". The Ports of Tampa and Port Manatee, Florida. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Report). Port Series No. 17. United States Government Printing Office. 1996. p. 82. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 American Association of Port Authorities; Foreign Commerce Club of New York; International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (1983). "Port Manatee". WWS/World Ports. Vol. 46–47. p. 70. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "19. Manatee Harbor, FL". Annual Report Fiscal Year 1994 of the Secretary of the Army on Civil Works Activities. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Report). Vol. II. Department of the Army, Office of the Assistant Secretary. 1994 [October 1, 1993–September 30, 1994]. p. 9-8. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 Port Manatee Railroad LLC—Operation Exemption—Manatee County Port Authority (PDF). Surface Transportation Board (Report). Federal Register. November 12, 2021 [November 5, 2021]. p. 62861. FD 36552. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ Pollick, Michael (August 24, 2014). "Circus train to spend winter layover at Port Manatee". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Florida – Port Manatee Railroad – Track Rehabilitation Project Phase 1 Up to $301,067; Florida – Port Manatee Railroad – Track Rehabilitation Project Phase 2 Up to $606,720". FRA's FY19 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program Projects (PDF). United States Department of Transportation (Report). p. 4. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- 1 2 "Port Manatee railroad to be operated by Regional Rail". Port Technology. November 7, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ Gunnoe, Chase (October 9, 2024). "CSX, short lines wind down operations at Hurricane Milton approaches landfall". Trains. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Ardinger, Ken; Fotaug, Eric; Keller, Randy; Lewis, Robert; Nichols, Donald (September 11, 2021). "Port Manatee RR—Manatee County Port Authority". Florida Short Lines and Industrial Railroads. Don's Depot (Roster). Don Ross Group. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Ports: Some stronger monthly volumes, a few cleaner locomotives". Progressive Railroading. April 21, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- 1 2 "Big efficiency for little track at Port Manatee". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 28, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Florida port lands federal grant to purchase two locomotives; Gulf & Ohio Railways markets two repowered locomotives". Progressive Railroading. September 24, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ Komanesky, John; Keller, Randy (July 1, 2020) [December 4, 2014]. "Present & Past Locomotives". Port Manatee Railroad. The Diesel Shop (Motive power roster). Retrieved February 20, 2026.
