The Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railroad Company was a railroad that ran westward from

Starke, Florida Starke is a city in and the county seat of Bradford County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,796 at the 2020 census. The origin of the city's name is disputed. Starke may have been named in honor of local landowner George W. Cole's ...

, eventually terminating at Wannee, Florida, on the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

. It was later absorbed by the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

becoming their Wannee Subdivision.

Construction

The Starke to Wannee rail line was initiated in 1891 with the incorporation of the Starke and Sampson City Railway Company. The company failed after grading the right-of-way from Starke to Sampson City, and in 1892 transferred the right-of-way to the Ambler Lumber Co. The Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railroad (ASR&G) was incorporated under the general incorporation laws of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1893. Shortly after incorporation, the company purchased the graded right-of-way between Starke and Sampson City from the Ambler Lumber Company and contracted with the Atlantic Lumber Company (successor to the Ambler Lumber Company) to lay the track. The track from Starke reached Sampson City in August, 1863, and

LaCrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

in March, 1894. After a pause, The track reached Alachua in July, 1896, and Buda, between

High Springs High Springs is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in Alachua County and seventh-largest in North Central Florida. The population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. History The present-day area of High S ...

and

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Newb ...

, in July, 1897. The

Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad 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 Jacks ...

(FC&PR) leased the ASR&G in 1899, and contracted with the Atlantic Lumber Company to extend the line to Wannee, a distance of . With completion of the Wannee extension in 1902 the line was long. The completed line was

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

and single-track. The ASR&GR under FC&PR control operated the line from Starke to Buda, and the Atlantic Lumber Company operated the line from Buda to Wannee. Operation of both the FC&PR and the ASR&GR was taken over by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in July, 1900, and both were formally adsorbed by the SAL in June, 1903. From its founding until its absorption by the SAL, the ASR&GR had served primarily to feed timber and lumber to the FC&PR.

Later history

The Seaboard Air Line removed the track between Wannee and

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

in the 1930s. Much of the line west of Brooker was abandoned after the Seaboard Air Line merged with its competitor, the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

, in 1967. The track from Buda to Bell would remain as a spur of the West Coast Subdivision (an ex-ACL line) until the 1980s.Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)
/ref> The Seaboard Coast Line became

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in the 1980s. In the 1990s, CSX rebuilt a short segment of the Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway to Hainesworth to reconnect with the remains of the former Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad, which had just been severed from its system. This segment is now

Brooker Subdivision The Brooker Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. The line runs from the CSX S Line (the Wildwood Subdivision) at Wannee Junction in Starke, Florida, Starke to Newberry, Florida, Newberry for a total of 39.6 miles. ...

and is still in service. The line's connection with the CSX S Line is still known as Wannee Junction.CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
/ref>

Historic stations

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic Suwannee River Gulf Railway Defunct Florida railroads Predecessors of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1893 Railway companies disestablished in 1909 1893 establishments in Florida American companies established in 1893