Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad

Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
1882 map
Locale Florida
Dates of operation 1837–1900
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge 5 ft (1,524 mm) originally, converted to
4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) in 1886[1]

The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jacksonville west through Tallahassee and south to Tampa.

History

1893 map (also showing the Richmond and Danville Railroad)

The Tallahassee Rail Road was first organized in 1832 as the Leon Railway, changing its name in 1834. It opened in 1837, connecting Tallahassee, Florida to the Gulf of Mexico port of St. Marks, Florida. This was the second steam railroad in Florida, opening just a year after the Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad.

The Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad was chartered January 24, 1851, to build west from Jacksonville, Florida, and construction began in 1857. The Pensacola and Georgia Railroad was chartered in January 1853,[2] to be built east from Pensacola, Florida, but started at Tallahassee. The two lines met at Lake City, Florida in 1860, and the latter also built from Tallahassee west to four miles (6 km) short of Quincy, Florida, stopping in 1863 in the middle of the American Civil War.

In 1855 the Pensacola and Georgia bought the Tallahassee. In 1869 the two merged to form the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad, which obtained trackage rights over the Florida Central Railroad, the 1868 reorganization of the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf. The railroad eventually was built west to Chattahoochee, Florida, a major junction with the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad continuing west and the Chattahoochee and East Pass Railroad running northeast. In 1882, Sir Edward Reed purchased the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile, absorbing the Florida Central and reorganizing the two as the Florida Central and Western Railroad.

The Florida Railroad was incorporated January 8, 1853, to build a line across the state, from Fernandina, Florida (north of Jacksonville, Florida) southwest to Cedar Key, Florida. The first train ran in 1861, but the line failed and the company was reorganized in 1866. In 1872 it was reorganized again as the Atlantic, Gulf and West India Transit Company. In 1881, Sir Edward Reed purchased the railroad and reorganized it as the Florida Transit Company, which in 1883 was reorganized again as the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad. The Florida Transit and Peninsular operated two subsidiaries, the Peninsula Railroad and Tropical Florida Railroad, organized to build lines respectively from the Florida Transit at Waldo, Florida to Ocala, Florida and beyond to Tampa, Florida.[3]

In 1884-85, Reed merged the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad with the Florida Central and Western Railroad, Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad, and Leesburg and Indian River Railroad as the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, which instantly became the largest railroad system in Florida.[4] The new company was placed in receivership in October 1885,[5] sold at foreclosure and reorganized as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad Company in 1886.[6]

On May 1, 1889, the company was reorganized again, as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railway, and on January 16, 1893, the final reorganization produced the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad, along with a merger of the Florida Northern Railroad (a line north of Jacksonville). The Seaboard Air Line Railway leased the FC&P on July 1, 1900, and the latter was merged into the former on August 15, 1903. The FC&P tracks from Charleston, South Carolina to Tampa, Florida via Jacksonville would become part of Seaboard's main line.[7]

Routes

FC&P Railway (Southern/Tampa Divisions)
First Coast Railroad
Callahan/Wildwood/Yeoman/Tampa Terminal Subdivisions (CSX)
SMA 47.2
 Fernandina Beach
SMA 35.1
 Yulee
← First Coast Railroad to Seals, Georgia
CSX Kingsland Subdivision →
 former Gross-Callahan cutoff (SAL)
 CSX
A Line (Nahunta Subdivision)
SM 20.0
 Callahan
 Norfolk Southern Railway
Valdosta District
SM 12.3
 Crawford
Callahan Subdivision
Wildwood Subdivision
 CSX
← Tallahassee Subdivision
Wildwood Subdivision →
S 653.0
 Baldwin
I-10
S 678.4
 Starke
 CSX
Brooker Subdivision
S 690.0
 Waldo
former FC&P Southern Division
to Cedar Key
S 703.3
 Hawthorne
 to Edgar
S 712.3
 Lochloosa
S 719.8
 Sparr
 to Silver Springs (abandoned)
S 735.3
 Ocala
 Florida Northern Railroad
S 752.0
 Summerfield
S 756.8
 Oxford
S 761.5
 Wildwood
former FC&P Orlando Division
(Leesburg and Indian River Railroad)
Florida's Turnpike
S 766.1
 Coleman
former Florida Western and Northern Railroad (SAL)
to West Palm Beach
S 775.1
 Bushnell
former Orange Belt Railway (ACL)
← to St. Petersburg · to Sanford →
S 791.2
 Lacoochee
former South Florida Railroad (ACL)
to Inverness
AR 830.2
 Dade City
AR 836.7
 Vitis
former Tampa and Thonotosassa Railroad (ACL)
to Tampa
ARF 840.7
S 808.0
 Zephyrhills
Wildwood Subdivision
Yeoman Subdivision
 CSX
Vitis Subdivision
I-4
S 822.8
 Sandler Junction
S 823.1
 Plant City
 CSX
A Line (Lakeland Subdivision)
S 823.2
 Lake Wales Junction
 CSX
Plant City Subdivision
former Florida West Shore Railway (SAL)
to Sarasota
 CSX
Valrico Subdivision
S 832.5
 Valrico
I-75
Yeoman Subdivision
Tampa Terminal Subdivision
S 839.2
 YN
 Yeoman Yard
S 840.9
 Yeoman
 CSX
Palmetto Subdivision
I-4 / SR 618 (Selmon Expressway Connector)
S 843.2
 Gary
 CSX
Clearwater Subdivision
 to Downtown Tampa (abandoned)

Main Lines (Southern and Western Divisions)

By the time the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad reached its greatest extent in 1893, it essentially had two main lines. One of the main lines (the Western Division) extended from Jacksonville to Tallahassee and Chattahoochee, where it connected to the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad (a subsidiary of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad). The other main line (the Southern Division) extended from Fernandina Beach to Cedar Key. The two main lines intersected at Baldwin Junction just west of Jacksonville. The Western Division also included the original line from Tallahassee to St. Marks. The routes would continue operation after Seaboard acquired the lines in 1900, though Seaboard designated the route to Tampa as the main line south of Waldo instead of the route to Cedar Key.

Seaboard abandoned the former Southern Division from Archer to Cedar Key in 1932.[8] The line from Archer to Waldo would be removed in the late 1980s. Today, State Road 24 runs along much of the former right of way of the route between Waldo and Cedar Key.

FC&P Railway (Northern/Western Divisions)
First Coast Railroad
Kingsland/Jacksonville Terminal/Tallahassee Subdivisions (CSX)
 to Savannah (abandoned)
S 593.4
 Seals
S 598.9
 Kingsland
 St. Mary's Railroad
Georgia
Florida
St. Mary's River
 ← to Callahan (abandoned) · to Fernandina Beach →
First Coast Railroad
Kingsland Subdivision (CSX)
S 613.5
 Yulee
S 625.4
 Eastport
S 626.0
 Busch
Trout River
S 630.2
ASJ 644.8
 Panama Park
ASJ 644.6
 Main Street
Kingsland Subdivision
Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision
 CSX
A Line
SP 638.0
 Jacksonville
SP 653.0
 Baldwin
 CSX
← Callahan Subdivision
Wildwood Subdivision →
Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision
Tallahassee Subdivision
I-10
 Norfolk Southern Railway
Navair District
SP 694.3
 Lake City
I-75
SP 715.3
 Live Oak
I-10
Lake Lafayette
SP 799.3
 Tallahassee
former St. Mark's branch
(Tallahassee Railroad)
 CSX
Bainbridge Subdivision
Ochlockonee River
SP 811.4
 Midway
I-10
SP 828.7
 Gretna
 AN Railway
SP 842.5
00K 811.5
 Chattahoochee
 CSX
P&A Subdivision

Tampa Division

The Tampa Division ran from the Fernandina-Cedar Key line at Waldo south to Tampa. This had been chartered as the Peninsula Railroad north of and the Tropical Florida Railroad south of Ocala. After the Seaboard acquisition, this route became the southernmost segment of their main line.

Northern Division

The Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad was organized in 1874 and opened in 1881, connecting Jacksonville north to the Southern Division at Yulee. It was consolidated into the Florida Railway and Navigation Company in 1885.

The South Bound Railroad was organized in 1887 and completed in 1891, connecting Columbia, South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia. The FC&P leased it in 1893. In 1892 the Florida Northern Railroad was chartered by the FC&P to continue the Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad north into Georgia, where the FC&P would continue the line to Savannah. This opened in 1894, forming a continuous line from Jacksonville to Columbia. In 1899 and 1900, the South Bound Railroad was extended north to Camden, South Carolina to meet the Seaboard Air Line Railway's Chesterfield and Kershaw Railroad.

At some point, a cutoff was built from the Northern Division near the Florida/Georgia state line southwest to the Southern Division at Callahan.

Orlando Division

The Leesburg and Indian River Railroad was incorporated in 1884 and merged into the Florida Railway and Navigation Company in 1885. It built a line from the Tampa Division at Wildwood east to Tavares, with plans to continue east to Titusville. That extension was not built, but pieces were built by other companies.

The Tavares, Orlando and Atlantic Railroad was incorporated in 1883, and built an extension of line from Tavares to Orlando. The FC&P leased it in 1891.

The Orlando and Winter Park Railway was incorporated in 1886 and extended the line from Orlando to Winter Park. The Osceola and Lake Jesup Railway, incorporated 1888, continued the line past Oviedo to Lake Charm. In 1891 the two companies merged into the East Florida and Atlantic Railroad, which was leased by the FC&P in 1892.

The line west of Orlando remained intact under Seaboard and its successors until the 1970s when tracks were removed between Leesburg and Tavares.[9] Since 1986, the remaining line from Tavares to Orlando has been operated by the Florida Central Railroad, a short line run by the Pinsly Railroad Company.[10] The Florida Midland Railroad, another Pinsly-operated short line, operated the segment from Wildwood to Leesburg from 1987 until 2005, when most of that end of the line was abandoned. All that remains on the Wildwood end is a short wye.

Other Branches

Monticello

The Monticello Branch ran from the Western Division at Drifton north to Monticello.

Amelia Beach

The Fernandina and Amelia Beach Railway was organized in 1883 to run from Fernandina at the end of the Southern Division south to Amelia Beach. The FC&P leased it in 1891, and it was abandoned around 1900.

Wannee
Early Bird

The branch to Early Bird was built in 1890 and branched off the Southern Division in Archer. After Seaboard took over the FC&P, they would extend the branch south to Inverness and Brooksville to connect with the Tampa Northern Railroad.[11] Portions of this branch would be removed in the late 1960s.[12]

Silver Springs

The short Silver Springs branch from Ocala east to Silver Springs was built along with the Tampa Division. The Seaboard Air Line would later lease this branch to the Ocala Northern Railroad in 1909. The Ocala Northern would extend the line Palatka by 1912. The Ocala Northern was reorganized as the Ocklawaha Valley Railroad in 1915, but the line would be abandoned by 1922.[13]

Lake Weir

The Lake Weir Branch ran from Summerfield east to South Lake Weir, and was built along with the Tampa Division.

Sumterville

The short Sumterville branch from Sumterville Junction to Sumterville was built with the Tampa Division.

Whitehall

Current operations

Much of the former FC&P network remains in service today. CSX Transportation (Seaboard's corporate successor) continues to operate the lines from Jacksonville to Chatahoochee and from Callahan to Tampa.

The route that became the Seaboard main line through Jacksonville to Tampa via Baldwin Junction is now CSX's S Line, which is further divided into the Yeoman Subdivision from Tampa to Zephyrhills, and the Wildwood Subdivision from Lacoochee to Baldwin Junction. While mostly intact, a short 16-mile segment of the S Line has been abandoned between Lacoochee and Zephyrhills, where the Wildwood Subdivision now briefly detours along a former Atlantic Coast Line route (using former South Florida Railroad and Tampa and Thonotosassa Railroad trackage). Despite not being part of the original line, this former Atlantic Coast Line segment is considered to be an unofficial part of the S Line since it carries all S Line traffic (Though, this segment still retains its ACL milepost numbering with AR and ARF prefixes).[14][15][16]

The S Line is today CSX's main freight route through Florida. It gained this distinction in 2011 after a segment of the A Line (the former Atlantic Coast Line main line) through Orlando was sold to the state for the Sunrail commuter rail system.[17] CSX has double tracked some of the line to increase capacity since then. The S Line is exclusively used for freight. Passenger service over the line was diminished in the late 1980s when CSX abandoned parts of Seaboard's branch at Wildwood to Miami (the Florida Western and Northern Railroad). Amtrak's Silver Star to Miami used this route up until then, which was subsequently shifted to the A Line.[18] Passenger service was discontinued completely in 2004 when Amtrak truncated the Palmetto to Savannah, Georgia.[19]

The FC&P's former Western Division west of Baldwin Junction is now CSX's Tallahassee Subdivision. Trackage north of Baldwin Junction is now the Callahan Subdivision.[16]

The former Northern Division is now CSX's Kingsland Subdivision north of Jacksonville to Yulee, though trackage near downtown Jacksonville is abandoned with the former right of way now the S-Line Urban Greenway. The First Coast Railroad operates remaining FC&P trackage north of Yulee, including the northern segment of the former Northern Division (S Line) to Seals, Georgia, and the northern segment of the former Southern Division to Fernandina Beach. CSX leased the lines to the First Coast Railroad in 2005.[20] CSX abandoned the S Line north of Seals to Riceboro, Georgia (southwest of Savannah, Georgia) in the late 1980s.[21]

From Riceboro to the Ogeechee River, the line is now the Riceboro Southern Railway. CSX still operates the line from Savannah to Columbia, South Carolina as their Savannah Subdivision (West Route) and the Columbia Subdivision.

References

  1. ↑ "The Days They Changed the Gauge". Southern Railfan.
  2. ↑ Turner 2003, p. 61.
  3. ↑ Tucker. 50
  4. ↑ Turner 2003, p. 52.
  5. ↑ "Affairs of the railways; a receiver for Florida lines" (PDF). New York Times. October 30, 1885. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  6. ↑ Tucker. 53
  7. ↑ "Peninsular Railroad routes to Tampa Bay". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ Roberts, Bruce. "Florida's Forgotten Railroad". The Florida Railroad Company - Fernandina & Cedar Key. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Wildwood to Tavares". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Florida Central, Midland, and Northern Railroads". Pinsly Railroad Company. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  12. ↑ "Peninsular Railroad Routes to Tampa Bay". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  13. ↑ Florida Railroad Commission Records, 1924 yearbook, railroad comments.
  14. ↑ "Tampa Bay Lines in CSX Era". Tampa Bay Trains. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  15. ↑ Harmon, Danny. "Railfanning With Danny - Dade City May 3, 2012". YouTube. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  16. 1 2 "CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable" (PDF). Multimodalways.
  17. ↑ Thompson, Bill (July 27, 2011). "Approval of SunRail means more freight trains for Ocala". Ocala Star Banner. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  18. ↑ Spear, Kevin (March 20, 1988). "Long-distance Trains Leaving Lake County Behind". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  19. ↑ Stinson, Lashonda (October 14, 2004). "Amtrak to Cut Service to Several Small Fla. Towns". Lakeland Ledger.
  20. ↑ "First Coast Railroad". First Coast Railroad. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  21. ↑ "The Everett Subdivision". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  • Turner, Gregg M. (2008). A Journey into Florida Railroad History. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3233-7.
  • Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2421-2.
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