 Interactive map of Florida Southern Railway lines (red). The South Florida Railroad's Pemberton Ferry Branch (blue) connected the two segments. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Florida |
| Dates of operation | 1881–1903 |
| Successor | Atlantic Coast Line Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | originally3 ft (914 mm) gauge |
TheFlorida Southern Railway was a railway that operated in Florida in the late 1800s. It was one of Florida's three notable narrow gauge railways when it was built along with theSouth Florida Railway and theOrange Belt Railway. The Florida Southern was originally chartered to run fromLake City south through central Florida toCharlotte Harbor.[1] However, with the influence ofHenry B. Plant, it operated with two discontinuous segments that would be part of thePlant System, which would later become part of theAtlantic Coast Line Railway.[2]
The Florida Southern Railway was first chartered as theGainesville, Ocala, and Charlotte Harbor Railroad in 1879, with a planned route fromLake City toCharlotte Harbor with a branch toPalatka to connect withsteamboats on theSt. Johns River. The name was then changed to the Florida Southern Railway in 1881.[1]
The first segment of the line opened on August 21, 1881, fromGainesville toRochelle along with the branch from Rochelle to Palatka. In Palatka, a roundhouse with a turntable was built as well as a wharf in theSt. Johns River.[2]
The main line was then extended fromRochelle toOcala by the end of 1881. A branch toMicanopy was also included. By 1883, the southern end of the main line reached Leesburg, and construction began at the northern end to extended the line from Gainesville toHague.[1]
In 1883,Henry B. Plant was in the midst of building his own system of railroads south fromDu Pont, Georgia toLive Oak, Florida and south to Charlotte Harbor with plans to build in a similar path. Construction was underway on theLive Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad when he learned of the Florida Southern's plans. Plant then sought to buy the Florida Southern but was unsuccessful. Despite this, he did manage to make a mutually beneficial agreement with the Florida Southern to avoid having two competing lines. In the agreement, Plant would not build theLive Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad, past Gainesville. He bought the Florida Southern's unfinished line and charter north of Gainesville and completed it as part of his line.[3]
The Florida Southern would then operate the combined network from Gainesville south toPemberton Ferry where it would connect with a branch of theSouth Florida Railroad, another railroad Plant was involved with. The South Florida Railroad's Pemberton Ferry branch would then operate from Pemberton Ferry south toLakeland, where it would cross and briefly join the South Florida Railroad's main line, and then turn south toBartow. In Bartow, the Florida Southern would resume and finish the route south to Charlotte Harbor.[2] This would also benefit the South Florida Railroad since it did not yet have any rail connection with the rest of the Plant System.
The Florida Southern Railway reachedLeesburg by 1883, where it connected with theSt. Johns and Lake Eustis Railway, which extended east towardsTavares,Altoona, andAstor. The Florida Southern later leased this branch line.[1]
The Florida Southern Railway reached Pemberton Ferry (known today as Croom) by 1884 and would be extended west from there toBrooksville in January 1885.[2]
Construction began on the southern segment of the line, known as the Charlotte Harbor Division, in September 1885 from Bartow along thePeace River (where large deposits of valuablephosphate was discovered in 1881) toArcadia and Charlotte Harbor. The Charlotte Harbor Division was initially intended to terminate on the north side of Charlotte Harbor at a location known as Hickory Bluff (just southeast ofPort Charlotte). However, just across the harbor from Hickory Bluff was a small town being planned by a man named Isaac Trabue.[4] Trabue owned waterfront property and successfully convinced the Florida Southern to instead run the railroad to his planned town, which would becomePunta Gorda. Trabue offered half of his land holdings to the Florida Southern in exchange for the railroad coming to his town.[5] Surveying work to determine the route for the Charlotte Harbor Division was accomplished by local civil engineerAlbert W. Gilchrist, who would later serve as Florida's 20th governor. The Charlotte Harbor Division was completed with its first train toPunta Gorda (initially known as Trabue) on July 24, 1886.[5] Plant would go on to open a hotel in Punta Gorda in 1896.[6] This hotel, the Hotel Punta Gorda, would later be owned byBarron Collier (the namesake of nearbyCollier County).[7]
The Florida Southern Railway went into receivership in 1890, though the Charlotte Harbor Division was operated independently through the receivership. It came out of receivership in 1892 and was reorganized as the Florida Southern Railroad. The Charlotte Harbor Division was converted to standard gauge in 1892.[1]
The Florida Southern was fully absorbed into the Plant System in 1896, which was then sold to theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The Atlantic Coast Line continued to operate the Florida Southern lines and also rebuilt many of the original wooden stations along the lines with brick stations up until the 1920s.[8][9]
The Atlantic Coast Line became theSeaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967 after merging with their former rival, theSeaboard Air Line Railroad. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with theChessie System, creating theCSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged intoCSX Transportation.
The Florida Southern's northern lines began along Main Street inGainesville, where it continued south from Henry Plant'sLive Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad. The line headed southeast from Gainesville to Rochelle, where it split with the Palatka Branch heading east toPalatka viaHawthorne andInterlachen. The main line continued south from Rochelle toOcala. A short branch just south of Rochelle also split from the main line to the small town ofMicanopy. From Ocala, the main line continued south-southeast toLeesburg before turning southwest toCenter Hill,Pemberton Ferry, andBrooksville. The line connected with theSouth Florida Railroad's Pemberton Ferry Branch at Pemberton Ferry, which connected the line with the Florida Southern's Charlotte Harbor Division.
The Florida Southern's northern segment would play an important role in the Atlantic Coast Line's network after it was acquired in 1902. The main route would become part of the Atlantic Coast Line'sHigh Springs—Croom Line with track from Croom (the later name of Pemberton Ferry) to Brooksville becoming their Brooksville Branch.[1] The Atlantic Coast Line'sWest Coast Champion used the line for much of its history on its run from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg.[10]
By 1982, track south ofMicanopy Junction was broken up into segments.[11] These abandonments were mostly due to the line's proximity to CSX'sS Line (the former Seaboard Air Line main line).[3] By 1989, track was abandoned from Gainesville to Rochelle (along with the Palatka Branch to Hawthorne).[12]
The Palatka Branch ran from Rochelle east toPalatka viaHawthorne,Edgar, andInterlachen. By 1982, the former Florida Southern's track from Palatka to Edgar was abandoned.[11] By 1989, track was abandoned from Rochelle to Hawthorne.[12]
The Charlotte Harbor Division began at the south end of the South Florida Railroad's Pemberton Ferry Branch inBartow. From Bartow, it continued south roughly paralleling thePeace River throughFort Meade,Wauchula, andArcadia before coming to an end at Punta Gorda alongCharlotte Harbor. The line originally ran though Punta Gorda and terminated on the west side of town. At the terminus, a 4,200-foot dock known as Long Dock was built in Charlotte Harbor which would allow for connections to steamships. The Long Dock extended into Charlotte Harbor near present-day Jamaica Way in Punta Gorda Isles.[13][14] A passenger depot was also built in the middle of town within theturning wye.[15]
After a disagreement between Henry Plant and Punta Gorda founder Isaac Trabue, tracks to the Long Dock were removed. By 1897, Plant built a new dock at the end of King Street. A new passenger depot was also built along King Street across from Plant’s Hotel Punta Gorda.[14][15]
One of the Atlantic Coast Line's first orders of business regarding the Plant System after acquiring it was extending the Florida Southern's Charlotte Harbor Division south toFort Myers. Despite owning a hotel there, Plant had been reluctant to have the line continue to Fort Myers (which had already been established as a city when the line was built unlike Punta Gorda) under his ownership as Charlotte Harbor was his ultimate goal.[6] However, the Atlantic Coast Line saw greater opportunity. The Atlantic Coast Line would complete the extension to Fort Myers in 1904, and would designate the line as theLakeland—Fort Myers Line.[10] The company further extended the line to Naples and Collier City (onMarco Island) during theFlorida land boom of the 1920s.[5][2] The Atlantic Coast Line'sGulf Coast Special andWest Coast Champion were notable passenger services to operate on the line from Bartow to Naples.[16]
In 1984, the line was abandoned Between Bowling Green and Arcadia.[9] Remaining track south of Arcadia is still connected to CSX's network via the formerCharlotte Harbor and Northern Railway.[5]
Some segments of the Florida Southern today remain active today and some abandoned segments have since becomerail trails.
TheGainesville-Hawthorne State Trail runs on the Florida Southern's former right of way between those two locations. FromHawthorne east toEdgar, the line is still in service and is now CSX's Edgar Spur (which now connects to CSX'sS Line).
Another active segment remains in Northern Florida betweenLowell,Ocala, andCandler. This segment is operated by theFlorida Northern Railroad, a shortline run byRegional Rail, LLC, which crosses the S Line in Ocala.[17]
A short segment was still active near Leesburg which had been operated by theFlorida Midland Railroad since 1987 (this line also used former Seaboard track from Wildwood to Leesburg). This line was abandoned in late 2000.[18]
TheGood Neighbor Trail runs on the former right of way between Croom and Brooksville.
Two segments of the Charlotte Harbor Division are also still in service. Trackage fromHomeland (just south of Bartow) toBowling Green is now the southernmost segment of CSX'sValrico Subdivision, which continues to carry phosphate traffic. From Arcadia south to Punta Gorda, the line is operated bySeminole Gulf Railway (who also operates the extension toFort Myers). Some of the original right of way through downtownPunta Gorda west ofUS 41 is now thePunta Gorda Linear Park.
Much ofU.S. Route 17 was built alongside the Charlotte Harbor Division and the highway has largely been widened into the abandoned right of way between Bowling Green and Arcadia.[19]
