The Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad was a historic railroad in

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 ...

chartered by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. It was built as an extension of Plant's Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad. Together, the two lines ran from

Live Oak, Florida Live Oak is a city in northern Florida and it is the county seat of Suwannee County, Florida, Suwannee County, Florida, United States. The city is the county seat of Suwannee County and is located east of Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee. As of 2 ...

to Gainesville via High Springs. The lines were completed in 1884.

History

The Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad was chartered to run from Live Oak to Rowlands Bluff (known today as Branford) on the Suwannee River, which was complete in the early 1880s. It was chartered an extension of the Florida Division of Plant's Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad, which originated in Lawton, Georgia (now known as DuPont) and was the first railroad to cross the Florida/Georgia Border. Plant had acquired his lines in Georgia from the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad in 1879. Upon completion of the Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad, Plant quickly chartered the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad to continue the line south through peninsular Florida to Charlotte Harbor. However, during construction, Plant learned that a competing line, the

Florida Southern Railway The Florida Southern Railway (later known as the Florida Southern Railroad) was a railroad that operated in Florida in the late 1800s. It was one of Florida's three notable narrow gauge railway when it was built along with the South Florida Rail ...

, had similar plans. The Florida Southern's plans included a line from Lake City to Charlotte Harbor in a similar path with a branch to Palatka. The Florida Southern had completed track from Gainesville to Palatka and construction was underway between Gainesville and

Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

to connect to Lake City when Plant learned of their plans. To avoid competition, Plant made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Florida Southern. Despite this, he managed to make a deal with the Florida Southern. In the agreement, the two lines would combine into one. The Florida Southern would operate south of Gainesville and the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad would exist north of there and the two firms would share trackage rights. Plant would take over and finish the Florida Southern's line north of Gainesville and would provide financial assistance to the Florida Southern to continue south. Litigation from Lake City quickly ensued as they were now being bypassed under this new plan. This lead Plant to build a branch from just northwest of Fort White to Lake City. In 1893, a branch was built from High Springs south through

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 ...

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

Later years

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 ...

was acquired by 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 1902. The Atlantic Coast Line designated the line as their DuPont—High Springs Line north of High Springs, and the High Springs—Croom Line south of there to Gainesville (which also included the former Florida Southern). The Atlantic Coast Line would extend the branch to Archer south to

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town (e.g. the local fo ...

in 1913 to connect with the former Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad, which would create a more direct route down the west coast and to Lakeland instead of the former Florida Southern line. This line would ultimately become the Atlantic Coast Line's High Springs—Lakeland Line.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> The High Springs—Lakeland Line became a major freight route for the Atlantic Coast Line, with High Springs being a major freight yard. By 1949, that segment was carrying at least three round-trip freight trains daily. In 1948, the Atlantic Coast Line rerouted the line in central Gainesville from Main Street to instead run along 6th Street, where they built a new depot. This rerouted segment used the former right of way of the Gainesville and Gulf Railroad. The Atlantic Coast Line would then become the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate li ...

in 1967. In the Seaboard Coast Line-era, the line from Branford to High Springs (along with track north to DuPont) was designated as the DuPont Subdivision. The branch to Archer and its extension would be the West Coast Subdivision. Track from Burnett's Lake (near Alachua) to Gainesville was the Ocala and Gainesville Subdivisions.Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Savannah and Waycross Division Timetable (1982)
/ref> In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated unde ...

, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation.

Current conditions

Much of the main line of the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad was abandoned by CSX in the late 1980s though track remains from Burnett's Lake to just north of Gainesville today. This line is now CSX's Deerhaven Subdivision. The short line Florida Northern Railroad took over the West Coast Subdivision in 1988. Track from High Springs to Newberry was removed in 2014, but the line is still active from Newberry south to Dunnellon. The Suwannee River Greenway runs on some of the former right of way in Branford.

References

{{reflist Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Defunct Florida railroads