Florida West Shore Railway

Florida West Shore Railway
Former bridge over Little Manatee River near Willow
Locale Sarasota, Florida
Dates of operation 1901–1909
Successor Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Florida West Shore Railway was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that expanded their rail system south to Sarasota in the early 1900s. It was one of the first major expansions of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in Florida, who had just expanded into Florida by acquiring the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in 1901.

History

The Florida West Shore Railway was initially organized by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company in 1901 before being renamed the Florida West Shore Railway upon its completion in 1903.[1] In 1901, construction commenced with the line branching off the Seaboard main line near Turkey Creek. It proceeded south through Durant, Willow, and Palmetto. It crossed the Manatee River via a long swing bridge into Bradenton, where it continued south to downtown Sarasota. Some of the line ran along the former right of way of the Arcadia, Gulf Coast and Lakeland Railroad, an earlier unsuccessful railroad between Bradenton and Sarasota.

The Seaboard Air Line operated the line's first train to Sarasota on March 23, 1903. By 1905, the line was extended east from downtown into Fruitville. In 1909, Seaboard fully acquired the line and extended it to Venice in 1911.[2]

The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line rail networks are today part of CSX Transportation. The Florida West Shore line has been largely broken up into segments by CSX in favor of the former Tampa Southern/Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route to the west which is a more direct route to Tampa. Despite existing now only in segments, the line's milepost numbers have remained consistent since the Seaboard Air Line era. The milepost numbers have an SW prefix.

Current conditions

The segment from Turkey Creek to Durant was removed in the 1940s though trains could still reach the line in Durant via Seaboard's Valrico Cutoff which was built in 1925.

From Durant to Willow, the line was abandoned in 1986 though the bridge over the Little Manatee River still stands with the tracks removed.[3]

From Willow to Palmetto, the line is still in service as the Parrish Spur of CSX's Palmetto Subdivision. The right of way of this segment is largely owned by Florida Power and Light, and the Florida Railroad Museum operates excursion trains on this segment from Parrish to Willow.

The line is abandoned from Palmetto to Bradenton and the former swing bridge over the Manatee River has also been removed. The former swing bridge was located just east of the Desoto Bridge.

From Bradenton to Sarasota, the line is still in service. CSX operates it as part of their Palmetto Subdivision as far south as Oneco, and Seminole Gulf Railway operates the rest of it south to just north of downtown Sarasota. Trackage through downtown Sarasota was removed in the late 1960s.

References

  1. ↑ "Tampa Bay Trains - Florida West Shore Railway". tampabaytrains.com. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
  3. ↑ "The Sarasota Subdivision". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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