Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad

Savannah, Florida & Western Railway 1890 ad

By 1884 the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad linked to these tracks, providing service through Alachua to Waycross, Georgia. The two lines merged in 1902, becoming the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

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1879 Guide

1884 Ad

Boulogne Florida, Jacksonville to Waycross rail

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 Florida Railroad Company

The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and, where still in use, is operated by CSX Transportation and the First Coast Railroad. The highway corridor of SR 24, US 301, and SR A1A closely parallels the former Florida Railroad.

1884 Drawing

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 Atlantic & Gulf Rail Road

Chartered in 1856, the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad traversed southern Georgia from Screven to Thomasville. At Screven, it connected with the Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad which provided a connection to Savannah. Henry Bradley Plant bought the A&G in 1879 at a foreclosure sale and renamed it the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railway. At the time it consisted of a 237-mile main line from Savannah to Bainbridge with branches adding up to a total of 350 miles of track.

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Florida Southern Railroad

The Florida Southern was the largest of the big three narrow gauge (36 inch gauge) systems in Florida, with many more miles of track and more equipment than either the South Florida Railroad or the Orange Belt Railway.  It was built and motivated by compromise and gentlemen agreements as it snaked its way south from Palatka towards Charlotte Harbor beating its longer lived competitor, the Florida Central & Peninsular Railway  to large amounts of land grants.  

Hubbard L. Hart (May 4, 1827 - December 12, 1895) was an American entrepreneur who ran the most prominent steamboat line in Florida. He was a Colonel in the CSA. He augmented his business with hotels, orange groves and lumber mills, and is noted for helping the state develop as a tourist destination. Ocklawaha River Steamers ran to and from Silver Springs. He re-married Cecilia Thompson 1884, listed above.

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 Hawkinsville Florida Southern Railroad Company (Georgia)

The Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway (H&FS) was founded in 1896 and by 1901 was operating 43 miles (69 km) of track from Hawkinsville to Worth, Georgia, USA, where it connected with the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad In 1907, a portion of the H&FS was leased to the Gulf Line Railway However, in 1913, the H&FS took over operations and fully absorbed the Gulf Line resulting in a line from Hawkinsville to Camilla, Georgia. In 1922, the H&FS went bankrupt.

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Florida, Central & Peninsular Railroad  

Florida, Central & 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. 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. 

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The Plant System

The Plant System named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system was the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, running across southern Georgia. The Plant Investment Company was formed in 1882 to lease and buy other railroads and expand the system. Henry Bradley Plant bought the A&G in 1879 at a foreclosure sale and renamed it the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railway. At the time it consisted of a 237-mile main line from Savannah to Bainbridge with branches adding up to a total of 350 miles of track.

The Plant System - Train at Belleview Hotel in Belleair, near Clearwater

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Florida East Coast Railway ~ Flagler System

The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) was developed by Henry Morrison Flagler, an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and John D. Rockefeller's partner in Standard Oil. Formed at Cleveland, Ohio as Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler in 1867,  In 1912 Henry Flagler arrived aboard the first train into Key West, marking the completion of the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway's Over-Sea Railroad to Key West.

Florida East Coast Railway_Ormond Beach

1913 The Keys

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St. Augustine & Halifax Railways 

Mr. Flagler purchased the St. A. & H. R. on December 31, 1885, a descriptive booklet shown here. However, in October of 1892, the name, in order to reflect the extensions south along the east coast of Florida, was changed to the J. St. A. & I. R. Railway. A passenger timetable of the re-named company is also shown in this image. The Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad served the north eastern portion of the state and was the first railroad in what would eventually become the Florida East Coast Railway Company. In addition to improving the railroad, Flagler built schools, a hospital and churches in St. Augustine, systematically revitalizing the largely abandoned historic city.

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Jacksonville, St Augustine & Halifax Railway

The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway Company was incorporated under the general incorporation laws of Florida, approved February 28, 1881. The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway merged with the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad on October 31, 1892. On September 13, 1895 the latter was renamed as the Florida East Coast Railway which still exists.



1889

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 Jacksonville St-Augustine Indian River Railway 

In 1888 these lines, plus another between Jacksonville and St. Augustine were standard gauged and began combined operation. In 1892 they were reorganized as the Jacksonville, Saint Augustine & Indian River Railway, which in turn was merged among other lines into the Florida East Coast RR in 1896.

1892 Catalog Cover

 Florida Beauties of the East Coast, 1892, title page.

Depot at San Mateo

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St. Augustine & Palatka Railway

Flagler soon purchased three more railroads: the St. John's Railway, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway, and the St. Johns and Halifax Railroad so that he could provide extended rail service on standard gauge tracks. With the addition of these three railroads, by spring 1889 Flagler's system offered service from Jacksonville to Daytona. Continuing to develop hotel facilities to entice northern tourists to visit Florida, Flagler bought and expanded the Hotel Ormond, located along the railroad's route north of Daytona. 

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St. Johns & Halifax Railway



^{The St. Johns and Halifax Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad incorporated on December 12, 1881 under the general incorporation laws of Florida. Its plan was to build a railroad from Rollestown in Putnam County on the St. Johns River, to a point on the Halifax River in Volusia County at or near New Britain (known as Ormond Beach today). The distance of the line was 51.99 miles, but 1.4 miles of the line was eventually abandoned. Florida state law chapter 3650, approved February 12, 1885, assigned it land grants. On October 1, 1888, the property of the St. Johns and Halifax Railway was conveyed to the St. Johns & Halifax River Railway, which was incorporated a few days later on October 11, 1888. At some point after this and before 1893, the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line was converted to 4 ft 81⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge.}

^{On January 1, 1893, the line was acquired by the Florida East Coast Railway.}

St. Johns & Halifax Railway - Daytona 1892

 St. Johns & Halifax Railway - Jacksonville Ferry

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Southern Railway Company

 Southern Railway Company was a US class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.The Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway in 1990 and absorbed the Norfolk and Western Railway into its system in 1997. The railroad then acquired more than half of Conrail in 1999.



1862

1932

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 Atlantic Coast Line ~ ACL

ACL merged with Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1967, nearly a decade after merger talks were announced, to form the Seaboard Coast Line.

1910

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Freight Depot in Live Oak Florida.  The depot was built in 1909

1887 pamphlet for the Atlantic Coast Line. 

ACL

1908