Route and operations
Starting out on Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) south of Tampa, Florida, the original used former Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) tracks. It crossed over to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) in Richmond, Virginia at pier 5 of the James River Bridge. At Potomac Yard, in Alexandria, Virginia, Penn Central Transportation (PC) took over and operated under the overhead wire with electric locomotives most of the way to Kearny, New Jersey.
There have been more than a few changes over the years. Tropicana became the world's leading producer of branded fruit juices. In 1976, Conrail (CR) took over from Penn Central, with electrification discontinued in 1981. SCL became part of CSX Corporation (CSX) in 1980, merging into Seaboard System Railroad (SBD) and then into CSX Transportation, which also included RF&P by 1991. In 1997, a second Juice Train began serving Cincinnati, Ohio. When CSX acquired part of Conrail in 1999, an all-CSX train began traveling to a larger facility in Jersey City, New Jersey on the National Docks Secondary.
Rolling stock also changed, including orange, white, and blue cars, some of which featured innovative refrigeration. Designated "TPIX" they are custom-built to Tropicana's specification.[5] The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) carries Tropicana cars from a second processing facility in Fort Pierce, Florida. A reliable and economically viable transport mode, the Juice Trains are also a powerful advertising platform, running ten trips each week to Jersey City and Cincinnati. Additional shipments in specially equipped refrigerated cars currently travel 3000 mi by rail to California. Tropicana had its own GE 70-ton switcher locomotive, No. 98, to switch cars at the New Jersey destination.[6][7]
In 2017, CSX abolished separate Juice Trains between Philadelphia and Tampa, Florida. Tropicana products are carried on other CSX trains to and from Florida. A separate train for Tropicana operates over the short distance north of Philadelphia.[8]
