Does anyone know when the railroad grade crossing was removed on US-27/FL-25 south of Lake Okeechobee?
Maps seem to indicate that a rail spur crossed US-27 at grade about 8 miles south of Lake Okeechobee. (Not to be confused with another, existing, grade crossing on 27 just south of the lake). This was in the "middle of nowhere" section between the lake and the eastern terminus of Alligator Alley, and is just north of the only curve -- from due south to southeast -- in the otherwise straight-as-an-arrow route.
The crossing's location may be found at co-ordinates 26.566099,-80.710365 . The track seems to still exist about a mile to the west of there. To the east, it looks like the track continued due east until it made a (still visible) curve northward until it ended at what's now Duda Airstrip. Google Maps seems to indicate a trace of former bridge abutment over the adjacent canal.
I suspect the crossing was removed before (or because of?) US-27's widening to 4 lanes in what I think was the mid-to-late 1980s. It's not a bad route to take as an alternative to I-95 or Florida's Turnpike. But be forewarned, there are no services whatsoever AFAIK for some 40 miles on that stretch.
The crossing was already abandoned and the track cut back to Okeelanta (its current end) when CSX sold the line to South Central Florida Railroad (now SCF Express, owned by U.S. Sugar) in 1994: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1994-10-05/html/94-24621.htm
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built the line in the late 1940s (though it's not clear if this included the US 27 crossing): http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22extension+from+okeelanta%22
I can't find when the crossing was abandoned.