Florida Midland

Company History: The FMID was launched in 1987 by the Pinsley shortline group (now part of the Regional Rail group) to take over operation of a trio of Florida branches from CSX. The first is an 18 mile line from a connection with CSX at West Lake Wales on a former Seaboard Air Line route to Lake Wales, then onto a former Atlantic Coast Line route south to Frostproof. Customers include citrus growers and a Lowes distribution hub.

The second line runs from Winter Haven (about ten miles down the CSX mainline from West Lake Wales) southwest to Eagle Lake and Gordonville, a distance of 8 miles. FMID serves a large transload facility at Eagle Lake as well as Bartow Municipal Airport. This was a former Atlantic Coast Line route.

The third segment was a former Seaboard Air Line route from Wildwood to Leesburg but this was abandoned in 2000. Two miles of track on the Wildwood end remains in place but is no longer served.

Successor/Parent History: Regional Rail, LLC is a company operating short-line railroads in Delaware, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. It operates 6 railroads: East Penn Railroad, Florida Central Railroad, Florida Midland Railroad, Florida Northern Railroad, Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, and Tyburn Railroad, as well as the Conshohocken Recycling & Rail Transfer. It is based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.