The Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad was a railroad running in northern

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

. Despite its name, it never directly served Silver Springs but instead ran from

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making it the 43rd-most popul ...

west to Dunnellon and to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Homosassa Homosassa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Citrus County, Florida, Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,299 at the 2020 census, down from 2,578 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Homosassa Springs, Florida Citr ...

. It also had a track that served

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

from Dunnellon.

History

The Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad was assigned

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 on March 12, 1879, by the state legislature of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. This was accomplished by Florida State Law Chapter 3170. The line was complete between Ocala and Dunellon in 1887 and used to transport

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. 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 orthop ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. It connected with the

Florida Southern Railway The Florida Southern Railway was a railway that operated in Florida in the late 1800s. It was one of Florida's three notable narrow gauge railways when it was built along with the South Florida Railway and the Orange Belt Railway. The Florida ...

in Ocala. One of the early organizers of the railroad was John F. Dunn, for whom Dunnellon is partially named for. The line was extended southwest to Crystal River and Homosassa by 1888. Track was then built from Dunnellon (at a point near Citrus Springs) south to Hernando and Inverness in 1891, which connected with the newly built northern extension of the

South Florida Railroad The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's ma ...

's Pemberton Ferry Branch, which continued south to Lakeland. In 1893, track was built from Juliette (near

Rainbow Springs Rainbow Springs, formerly known as Blue Spring, is a first-magnitude artesian spring formation in Marion County, Florida, United States, several miles north of the city of Dunnellon, Florida, Dunnellon. Rainbow Springs is the focal point of ...

) north to

Morriston Morriston (; ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in the Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to ...

. By 1901, the Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad owned four locomotives. That year, the line became 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 ...

, which also operated the South Florida Railroad and the

. The Plant System had been owned by Florida railroad tycoon

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 ...

prior to his death in 1899. The Plant System was acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf network would later be incorporated into the Atlantic Coast Line's

DuPont—Lakeland Line The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's DuPont—Lakeland Line (R Line) was a historic rail line in southern Georgia (U.S. State), Georgia and the northern west coast of Florida. On employee timetables, the line was actually divided into the DuPont ...

.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> Track between Homosassa and Crystal River was abandoned in 1941. The Atlantic Coast Line became 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 ...

in 1967 after merging with their rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

, which then became

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

in 1986. Track was removed between Crystal River and Red Level by 1982.Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)
/ref>Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1982)
/ref> CSX abandoned the line from Dunnellon to Inverness (along with track from Inverness to Owensboro) in 1987.

Current conditions

All former track of the Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad has been operated by the Florida Northern Railroad since 1988. This includes the now discontinuous segments in Ocala (which is now a short industrial spur) and track from Dunnellon to the

Crystal River Energy Complex The Crystal River Energy Complex consists of seven power-generating plants on a site near the mouth of the Crystal River in Citrus County, Florida. Crystal River 1, 2, 4, and 5 are fossil fuel power plants. Crystal River 3 was previously t ...

in Red Level. State Road 40 runs close to the former right of way between Ocala and Dunnellon. The line from Dunnellon south to Inverness is now part of the Withlacoochee State Trail, the longest

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

in Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Springs Ocala Gulf Railroad Defunct Florida railroads Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1875 Railway companies disestablished in 1901 1879 establishments in Florida 1901 disestablishments in Florida History of Marion County, Florida