The South Florida Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

from

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...

, to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, becoming part of 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 ...

in 1893 and 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. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's main line. The line remains in service today and is now part of the Central Florida Rail Corridor in the Orlando metro area. The rest of the line remains under the ownership of CSX Transportation as part of their A Line.

History

The Lake Monroe and Orlando Railroad was organized in 1875 with a charter to build from the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

port of Sanford south to

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. The South Florida Railroad was incorporated on October 16, 1878, but was unable to obtain a charter until December 9, 1879, when it took over the charter of the Lake Monroe and Orlando, which was in danger of losing its

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s. The South Florida first ran on November 11, 1880, running the short distance between Sanford and Orlando. However the company had plans to continue to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, reaching it at

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

On May 4, 1883,

Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...

and his

(headed by the

Savannah, Florida and Western Railway 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 R ...

) bought 3/5 of the stock of the South Florida after an unsuccessful attempt to buy 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 ...

. Plant had made an agreement with the Florida Southern not to build the SF&W south of Gainesville or Palatka, the northern ends of the Florida Southern, but the existing South Florida was immune from this. Plant then made agreements with all the railroads building towards Tampa except for the

Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad 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 Transpor ...

. Specifically, the Florida Southern would not build any lines south of Pemberton's Ferry and Brooksville or north of Bartow, and the South Florida would build its Pemberton Ferry Branch between the two and assign

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

to the Florida Southern. The agreement with the

Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway The Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway was a railroad and steamboat network in Florida, USA at the end of the 19th century. Most of its lines became part of the Plant System in 1899 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The line r ...

specified that that company would only build north of Sanford; in both cases the South Florida would give up their rights to the territories given to the other companies. The JT&KW had already done some grading at Bartow and

, and sold them to the South Florida. SunRail Church Street

Thus two railroads remained in a race towards Tampa - the South Florida and the

. The South Florida managed to get there first, and obtained the best ports (now known as

Port Tampa Port Tampa is a neighborhood in the southwestern most portion within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, on the western end of the Interbay Peninsula where the main port used to be. Within this neighborhood is Picnic Island Park as well as West Sh ...

). The South Florida's original passenger depot in Tampa was located on the east side of the intersection of Ashley and Madison Streets. The Tampa end opened on December 10, 1883, and on January 25, 1884 service began over the full line, built to

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

. On February 20, 1886 the

opened to Sanford, and the South Florida was converted to standard gauge on September 22. In 1893 the

(

) directly acquired the South Florida. Henry Plant died in 1899, which led his heirs to sell the Plant System to the

in 1902. The Atlantic Coast Line would then designate the South Florida Railroad main line (along with the main line of the

and other railroads to the north) as their nearly 900-mile main line from

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

to Tampa. In 1967 the Atlantic Coast Line merged with 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 ...

(who operated the former

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 ...

, the South Florida's former competitor), becoming 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 lin ...

. Seaboard Coast Line eventually became

CSX 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, and the South Florida/Atlantic Coast Line main line now operates as part of one of its two main lines in the area, known as the "A" Line. In 2011, CSX sold the line from Poinciana north (as well as part of the former

) to the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

. This state-owned segment is known as the Central Florida Rail Corridor, which includes most of the track that the

SunRail SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 16 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orland ...

commuter rail service operates on. SunRail began operation on May 1, 2014, from Sand Lake Road north to DeBary and extended service south to Poinciana on July 30, 2018. SunRail also revived passenger service to the South Florida Railroad's historic

Church Street Station Church Street Station, also called the Old Orlando Railroad Depot, is a historic train station and commercial development in Orlando, Florida. The historic depot and surrounding buildings house a retail and entertainment center. The complex also ...

in Downtown Orlando.

Lines

Main Line

When completed in 1884, the South Florida Railroad's main line ran from Sanford southwest through Orlando and Lakeland to Tampa, terminating at Port Tampa. The main line today runs south of and roughly parallel to

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...

. Some of the towns along the line were named for railroad officials.

Plant City Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite many thinking it was named for flora ...

was named for Henry Plant, and

Haines City Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 13,174 at the 2000 census and 20,535 at the 2010 census. It is the third most populous city in Polk County. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan S ...

was named for Colonel

Henry Haines Henry Stevens Haines (November 21, 1836 – November 3, 1923), was an accomplished engineer, a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and an important developer of railroads in the South. He played an essential role in the developme ...

, who organized the construction of the line and was considered to be Plant's most trusted employee. The main line remains in service and is today the southernmost segment of CSX's A Line * CSX (Poinciana to Port Tampa) ** Carters Subdivision (Poinciana to South Lakeland) **

Lakeland Subdivision The Lakeland Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in Florida. It runs along CSX's A Line from just west of Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland and heads west through Plant City, Florida, Plant City to the community of Mango, Florida, Mango in H ...

(South Lakeland to

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

) ** Tampa Terminal Subdivision (Mango to Port Tampa)

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

continues to operate passenger service on the line and uses it to reach

Tampa Union Station Tampa Union Station (TUS) is a historic train station in Tampa, Florida. It was designed by Joseph F. Leitner and was opened on May 15, 1912, by the Tampa Union Station Company. Its original purpose was to combine passenger operations for the Atl ...

. Amtrak's Miami-bound trains also travel the line to Auburndale and turn south on to the

Auburndale Subdivision Auburndale may refer to: * Auburndale, Alberta * Auburndale, Nova Scotia * Auburndale, Florida * Auburndale, Louisville, Kentucky, a neighborhood * Auburndale, Massachusetts **Auburndale station (MBTA) * Auburndale, Wisconsin * Auburndale (town), W ...

. Prior to the sale of the north end of the line to FDOT, the line was part of CSX's

Sanford Subdivision The Sanford Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. The line runs along CSX's A Line from St. Johns (near Jacksonville) south through Palatka to DeLand. At its north end it continues south from the Jacksonville ...

from Auburndale north. Since the sale, CSX only operates local freight on the Central Florida Rail Corridor. Freight service on the CFRC is based out of Taft Yard in Pine Castle, which CSX still owns. All of CSX's through freight traffic to northern Florida now uses the adjacent

S Line S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

. The Florida Central Railroad, which connects to the Central Florida Rail Corridor in Downtown Orlando, also has freight trackage rights from its connection south to Taft Yard.

Pemberton Ferry Branch

Part of the agreement worked out by Henry Plant between the South Florida and the

specified that the South Florida would build the north-south Pemberton Ferry Branch. This branch began at a junction with the Florida Southern at Pemberton Ferry (known today as Croom), running south-southeast across the mainline at Lakeland to Bartow. South of Bartow, the Florida Southern continued to Punta Gorda, using trackage rights over the branch. The branch was completed in September 1884. Once the

Bone Valley The Bone Valley is a region of central Florida, encompassing portions of present-day Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Polk counties, in which phosphate is mined for use in the production of agricultural fertilizer. Florida currently contains t ...

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

district was discovered near Lakeland, pressure increased to

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 ...

the line, and that was done on August 7, 1891. After the Plant System bought the South Florida, an extension was built north from Pemberton Ferry to

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, where the Plant System's Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad continued north, which was completed in 1891. In the Atlantic Coast Line era, the north leg of the Pemberton Ferry Branch would serve as the southernmost segment of their R Line, which ran from DuPont, Georgia to Lakeland via

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 ...

.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> By the 1920s, the line was busy enough that the Atlantic Coast Line expanded the line north of Vitis Junction to double track to increase capacity. The line is also notable for being the location of the Great Train Wreck of 1956 in Pineola (just north of Pemberton Ferry), which was head-on collision between two

freight trains on October 18, 1956, killing five crewmen. A signpost at the site of the crash on the

Withlacoochee State Trail Withlacoochee State Trail is a long paved, multi-use, non-motorized rail trail in Florida located in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. It follows along the Withlacoochee River and passes through the Withlacoochee State Forest. It is the ...

memorializes the event. The branch's north leg is still in service from Lakeland to Owensboro (just southwest of Lacoochee) and the south leg is still in service from the main line to Eaton Park. The abandoned segment north of Owensboro is now part of the

(which also continues up the abandoned extension to Inverness). The south leg is now an industrial spur. The

Fort Fraser Trail The Fort Fraser Trail is a paved multi-use path that runs from Bartow to Lakeland. It runs along a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad line that once ran from Lakeland to Naples. The southern terminus of the trail can be accessed from North W ...

today runs along the abandoned right-of way from Eaton Park south to Bartow. The branch is operated by CSX in the following segments: *

Wildwood Subdivision The Wildwood Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. It runs along CSX's S Line from Baldwin south to Zephyrhills via Ocala and Wildwood for a total of 155.7 miles. The S Line is CSX's designation for the line t ...

(Owensboro to Vitis Junction) *

Vitis Subdivision CSX Transportation's Vitis Subdivision is a railroad line running along CSX's AR Line in Central Florida from Richland to Lakeland for a total of 19.7 miles. The Vitis Subdivision serves as a connection between CSX's two main lines in Florida, t ...

(Vitis Junction to Lakeland) * CH Spur (Lakeland to Eaton Park)

Bartow Branch

The charter specified that the railroad must pass through Bartow; thus the Bartow Branch was built from the mainline at

Lake Alfred Lake Alfred is a city in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was approximately 5,015 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland–Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven Lakeland-Winter H ...

(Bartow Junction) southwest to Bartow. It opened in 1884 and was standard gauged on September 23, 1886. In the Atlantic Coast Line era, many of their passenger trains to

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

would run on the Bartow Branch. Part of the Bartow branch remains today from Winter Haven south to Gordonville (just northeast of Bartow). This segment is operated by the Florida Midland Railroad. The abandoned segment between Lake Alfred and Winter Haven is now the route of the

Chain of Lakes Trail The Chain of Lakes Trail is a paved multi-use path that runs from Lake Alfred, Florida, Lake Alfred to Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven in Florida, past many of the lakes that compose the Winter Haven Chain of Lakes (Winter Haven), Chain of L ...

Other Branches

;Lake Charm The Sanford and Indian River Railroad was chartered in 1881 to run from Sanford southeast to

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

and

Lake Charm Lake Charm is a small town situated on the Murray Valley Highway, just west of a lake of the same name. Located in the northwest of Victoria, Australia, within the Shire of Gannawarra. Lake Charm is 19 km from Kerang, Victoria, Kerang. At th ...

. The South Florida leased it in 1883, and it was standard gauged on September 21, 1886. Today, the route is still in service as CSX's Aloma Spur from Sanford to

Winter Springs Winter Springs is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. The population was 38,342 at the 2020 census. According to the 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 37,312. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanfo ...

. The

Cross Seminole Trail The Cross Seminole Trail is a pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian trail in Seminole County, Florida just north of Orlando. The first segment opened in 2002. The current route begins at the intersection of Aloma and Howell Branch where it meets the ...

runs along the former right of way from Winter Springs to Oviedo. ;Apopka The Apopka Branch was part of the original charter, running from

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

on the mainline west to the Withlacoochee River via

Apopka Apopka is a city in Orange County, Florida. The city's population was 55,000 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ''Apopka'' comes from Seminole word ''Ahapopka'' for "Potato eating ...

. The line was never opened by the South Florida, instead partially opening as the Apopka and Atlantic Railroad. It was never a success. ;Narcoossee The St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railway was incorporated in 1888 to connect

Kissimmee Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

to St. Cloud and Narcoossee. It was immediately operated by the South Florida, and was merged into it in 1893. Neptune Road runs along some of the former right of way.

Historic stations

References

External links

Tap Lines - The South Florida RailroadList of coordinates
of the Sanford and Indian River Railroad {{DEFAULTSORT:South Florida Railroad Defunct Florida railroads Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1879 Railway companies disestablished in 1893 Narrow gauge railroads in Florida 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Standard gauge railways in the United States American companies established in 1879 1879 establishments in Florida 1893 disestablishments in Florida 1893 mergers and acquisitions American companies disestablished in 1893