Trilby had 433 residents at the 2020 Census, but its spot on the map matters more than its size. The community sits where US 98 and US 301 split, the junction that links Brooksville, Ridge Manor and Dade City, so 2 US highways run along its eastern edge. RDI Power repairs light, medium and heavy duty diesels for Trilby owners in our Brooksville bays, and our mobile technicians go to the trucks that should not travel.
Trilby’s railroad years and its old Brooksville ties
Trilby began as Macon, a junction where the South Florida Railroad met the Florida Railway and Navigation line. The state gazetteer for 1886 to 1887 listed 2 steam sawmills there along with shipments of oranges and vegetables, and an 1886 directory placed the settlement 14 miles southeast of Brooksville, then the county seat. Railroad magnate Henry Plant renamed it after George du Maurier’s novel Trilby, since Macon, Georgia already had the name, and the post office switched to Trilby in 1901. The town incorporated twice, from 1901 to 1909 and from 1913 to 1935, and in 1913 its residents petitioned the legislature to be annexed to Hernando County.
When the railroad industry moved on, Trilby became a residential community for Dade City and the wider Tampa Bay region. Freight still rolls past, though: CSX’s Wildwood Subdivision, part of the S Line, runs through the old Owensboro junction just south of town. The Withlacoochee State Trail ends nearby at US 98 and US 301, making Trilby the trail’s southernmost community.
From Trilby to Donto Way, and the US 301 work zone
The usual trip to our shop heads north on US-98 to SR-50 at Ridge Manor, then west on Cortez Boulevard into Brooksville. From the middle of Trilby that is about 19 road miles, a little under half an hour when traffic is light.
The local roads around it are changing for a while. County Road 575, the Trilby Road that runs through the center of town and east to Trilacoochee and Lacoochee, is caught up in FDOT’s US 301 widening: CR 575 is closed east of US 301, and a Trilby Road closure west of US 301 is planned to last until about spring or summer 2027. Old Trilby Road, a former alignment of the state highway that became US 301, is part of the same picture. If a detour adds miles to a trip with a sick truck, that is a good reason to call before you leave.
A Trilby diesel on the bench
Whatever runs out of Trilby, our bays take it: 3/4-ton and 1-ton pickups, chassis cabs with service bodies, box trucks, Class 8 tractors, buses and diesel pushers. The engine list covers the Power Stroke 6.0, 6.4, 6.7 and 7.3, every generation of Duramax, Cummins from the Ram pickup up to heavy-duty tractor engines, Detroit and Volvo. RDI Power is Caterpillar certified, so older Cat engines get a technician who knows them.
Most diesel complaints trace back to a short list of systems. Fuel injection is one, and we are a Bosch dealer that also works with Alliant Power fuel injection. Turbochargers, cooling systems, glow plugs, the DPF, regen and EGR side of the exhaust, and the electrical faults that light up a dash fill out the rest. Our diesel service and repair page goes through each one.
How we work through a Trilby repair
The first conversation is about the symptom: when it started, whether it happens hot or cold, loaded or empty. Then the truck gets connected to dealer-level software, Ford IDS for Fords and WiTECH for Ram and other Stellantis trucks, and the suspect system gets tested directly before any part is ordered. You receive a digital vehicle inspection with photos and the technician’s notes, so you can see the worn part or the leak for yourself before approving the work. The repair goes after the root cause, and RDI Power warranties the labor for 3 years or 36,000 miles.
A 19-mile drive is nothing for a healthy truck, but it is a long way for one that is overheating, derating or will not start. In those cases a mobile technician can diagnose it where it sits; our page on mobile diesel repair in Trilby covers the roads and landmarks that help us find you. Lacoochee, which shares the Greater Trilby Community Association with Trilby and Trilacoochee, gets its own write-up on our Lacoochee diesel repair page.
Call (352) 433-3800 with the make, the engine and what the truck is doing. We will help you decide whether to drive it up, tow it or have a technician come to it.