I think that rebuilding the Railroad would be a boon to Floridas Economy. The highway was rebuilt in the 1980s, and it now runs alongside some of the railway ruins,which Florida has converted into fishing piers and walking paths called the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail. The Florida Legislature creates the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District to complete a highway from Lower Matecumbe Key to Big Pine Key thus eliminating the necessity for ferries. "The Overseas Highway is a 127.5-mile (205.2 km) highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys. It is always fun to daydream over what could have been with the Key West Extension. Grading gangs, bridge crews, and bully-boys were comprised primarily of galvanized Yanks from the South. the former rail bridges no longer carry vehicle traffic. Bless Flagler he put that through.". Eight of the 10 dignitaries on the Key Largo to Key West Dec. 17, 1906, inspection trip are pictured. Between 1863 and 1886, the San Carlos Institute was established and Cubans began migrating to the United States through Key West, which continued to be a wealthy and prosperous city. The Havana Special on Long Key Bridge (seven mile), photo Monroe County Library. You can help Keys Treasures keep these pages providing your favorite information. But none can match the legendary Key West Extension. You may want to try Googling his name. With the FEC already in bankruptcy the railroad was unable to afford repairs to the route. He wanted his railroad to go another 100 miles or so south - to Key West. Flagler had some success in the grain business. A few weeks ago, this website got hacked. Most restaurants include Key lime pie on their menus, each with its own particular twist on the classic dessert. This proved financially prosperous for the farmers, and allowed them to flourish. The Union Pacific was to commence working its way west from Omaha, Nebraska. [2] Wesley S. Griswold, A Work of Giants: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1962), 163. All were ambitious businessmen with no prior experience. Unauthorized use and/or duplication1 of this material without following the Creative Commons license listed below is strictly prohibited. President Johnson was suspicious of the railroad men and held up the work until he could get one of his men to qualify the validity of the change. ?Dark olive Green and black roof like regulars Pullmans or a lighter green ?and the lettering on the cars will help as well gone able to do a reproduction more prototypical !? In 1998 a gentleman by the name ofAndre Kristopans put together a web page highlighting virtually every unit out-shopped by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Overall the project had cost $49 million. It ran southeasterly from South Jacksonville and reached St. Augustine. The Long Key Viaduct was an arch concrete viaduct structure, and the Bahia Honda Bridge featured thirteen through-truss spans. The facilities at Key West were the largest and obviously the most important south of Miami, sitting on 140 acres of land, most of which was reclaimed from the sea. As sailing vessels were able to travel further and further without the need to refuel, the resort town lost its status as a maritime resupply hub. Under the direction of Flagler and his team, a series of bridges and viaducts took shape that ultimately stretched more than 100 miles out into open water. There was no fresh water on any of the islands that made up the Florida Keys; this meant all water had to come from the mainland. At one time or another the company employed more than 4,000 men. And, neither did the hope that Key West would become an important refueling stop for ships. A gentleman by the name of Seth Bramson is the official historian for the Florida East Coast Ry. However, Don Strack rescued the data and transferred it over to his UtahRails.net site (another fine resource). Please email me; you will get credit for anything you contribute. The dual-power FL9 was built exclusively for the New Haven in the late 1950s to operate both electrically and with a standard diesel prime mover. The government then converted the abandoned ROW and bridges into US 1, extending this highway all the way to Key West. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Desktop Layout - A High End Corporate Gift. Indigenous Florida Keys cuisine incorporates diverse and delicious influences with an abundant array of fish and seafood harvested from local waters. In 1967 the ACL merged into the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, eventually becoming part of CSX. Key West, FL. Frail and almost blind, he stood with tears streaming down his face. "They were so happy to see a train going to come through, they could hardly believe it. The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail is now a multi-use trail with a rich history. During construction it survived three hurricanes costing scores of workers their lives. A popular pastime for many is studying and/or exploring abandoned rights-of-way. Three hurricanes threatened to derail the project, but Flagler pressed on. Be sure to take in the incredible sunsets while treating yourself to island . Then, in 1935, the great Labor Day Hurricane tore through the middle section of the line and completely destroyed it for miles. A hurricane with gusts up to 110 miles per hour, inflicts major structural damage to the Seven Mile Bridge and the tracks from the mainland to Knights Key Station, causing a further delay in completing the Overseas Extension. Stunning waterfront venues with the famed Florida Keys sunset as a backdrop, gorgeous garden and historic sites, professional wedding planners and vendors, and the areas famed easygoing lifestyle all combine to make the Keys a favored wedding location for countless couples. There, smashing to the ground was not a corpse but bottles of rum! The railroad remained in operation until the Labor Day hurricane in 1935. May: A dynamite explosion kills seven workers and seriously injures seven others at the west end of Cudjoe Key. That on the 27th of June, 1881, the Tampa, Peace Creek & St. John's River Railroad Company, by a resolution of its board of directors, changed its corporate name to Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway Company, and on the 23d of August, 1881, filed a plat of its route with the trustees of the internal improvement fund; and, on the 1st of September, 1881, the trustees passed a resolution reserving from sale for the benefit of the company the even-numbered sections of land for six miles on each side of its line; and, again, on the 21st of September, 1881, acting under the provisions of the act of the legislature of March 12, 1879, 'to amend section 26 of the act 'to provide a general law for the incorporation of railroads and canals,' and to grant aid to railroads and canals incorporated under said act,' they passed a resolution to reserve from sale, to further aid in the construction of the road, a quantity of land in the even-numbered sections within twenty miles of said road sufficient to supply the deficiency existing in the even-numbered sections within six miles of the road. Amtrak also uses the line for all of its Florida service including the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and the Auto Train. The Orange Ridge, DeLand and Atlantic Railroad Company was a 3-foot gauge 6-mile (9.7km) line built in 1885, connecting DeLand with DeLand Landing on the St. Johns River. After struggling for two decades,one of the railroad A train that was in Key West at the time the storm hit tried to leave the next day only to reach the end of the seven mile bridge before it was forced to turn back to Key West. This train would handle most of the mail and express business for the intermittent station stops along the way. All written content, photos, and videos copyright American-Rails.com (unless otherwise noted). At this point, Miami is a small community of approximately 300 people. Most came by way of ship; the rest would be hauled by trains as the rails proceeded south. * Removed and replaced with solid fill in 1916. A subtropical paradise closer to Cuba than to Miami, Key West is much more than just stunning beaches. Train crossing Steel Bridge over Sea near Knights Key, Florida, 1910 or after, historic postcard, Courtesy Monroe County Public Library. The Tampa, Peace Creek and St. Johns River Railroad was incorporated in 1879, William Van Fleet as president and received a charter to build a railroad from Jacksonville to Tampa. In 1883, after the death of his first wife, Flagler married again and honeymooned in St. Augustine, Fla. The F.E.C. However, once completed it was hailed at the time as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". After leasing the TitusvilleEnterprise line of the Atlantic Coast, St. Johns and Indian River Railroad, the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway began operating steamboats from its dock in Titusville down the Indian River to Jupiter. A complete history of the Baltimore & Ohio's diesel locomotive roster. Produce originating in Cuba would be loaded onto these yellow reefers and then in turn would be switched onto the car ferries. This commemorative plaque with silver and gold medallions, made by Tiffany & Co., was presented to Henry Flagler at the opening celebration of the Over-Sea Railroad by the people of Key West, in gratitude for connecting their city to the continental United States. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. In 1861, President Lincoln and Congress agreed to finance a transcontinental railroad via government bonds despite the recently commenced Civil War. 1883: General John B. Gordon secures a franchise to build a railroad from Georgia to Key West, but he abandons work before ever reaching the Florida coast. The city declares bankruptcy and requests the state take over its responsibilities. Part 2 addressed the forces that gave rise to the need for a Trans-Siberian Railway. Though as of 2011, the Florida Department of Transportation owns a short segment of the line south of Deland to Sanford and operates the SunRail commuter rail service over that segment. The brilliantly engineered railway, commonly referred to by contemporaries as "the Eighth Wonder of the World," was the brainchild of one of America's lesser-known robber barons, Henry Flagler. The first three years of construction for the Union Pacific produced few results. However, Don Strack rescued the data and transferred it over to his, If you are researching anything EMD related please visit, If you are researching active or abandoned corridors you might want to check out the, New York Central Railroad: Rosters, Map, History, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Diesel Roster, All-Time. Some laughed, some scoffed, and most agreed that it could not . right-of-way and remaining bridges to the state of Florida for $640,000. 1885: An article in Railway World states that Flagler has purchased the lower half of Key Largo and parts of other islands. Get the first three chapters of Level Up Your Law Practice so you can have a successful and sustainable law practice that meets your needs through self-assessment, having a vision for yourself and your practice, and client relationships that are built on trust. The inaugural train from Miami pulled into the Key West terminal Jan. 22, 1912, carrying Flagler in his luxurious private car. Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) abandoned railroad in the US, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad was completed by 1912 and was considered a miracle of modern engineering. These groups are usually populated by enthusiastic historians of the specific line that their society focuses on, and they are often eager to share their knowledge so that the enthusiasm continues. Glenville Dodge oversaw construction of the Union Pacific, while John and Francis Casement managed the laborers. May 20, 1913: Henry Flagler dies at his home Whitehall in Palm Beach at the age of 83 and is buried in St. Augustine at Memorial Presbyterian Church and Columbarium. The Sanford and Lake Eustis Railway was organized in 1886 and merged into the JT&KW on May 1, 1890. Key West Coordinates: 243318N 814655W Key West ( Spanish: Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Part 3 picked up discussing the laborers who build Russias transcontinental railway. Prior to the sale of the southern portion of the line to FDOT, CSX's Sanford Subdivision continued south to Sanford and then along on the former South Florida Railroad as far as Auburndale. August: A Havana newspaper reports service between Havana and New York City: Leave Havana, 10:30 A.M. The Key West Extension became known as The Railroad that Died At Sea. The road, that follows a trail originally blazed in 1912 by Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad, stretches from Miami to Key West . It could be the Disney Worldof Miami. On board was Henry Flagler, the mastermind of the Florida East Coast Railroad system himself. At the turn of the 20th key west was just an island about 90 miles off the coast of Florida and somewhat isolated from the mainland. Operations (1912-1935) First Florida East Coast Railway train arriving in Key West During its years of operation, freight traffic volume on the single-track overseas extension was disappointing, as the anticipated growth in Panama Canal cargo shipping through Key West failed to materialize. However, the Union Pacific had much ground to make up, considering those first five lost years. The line was abandoned by 1896 after the completion of the parallel Florida East Coast Railway. Lumber was hauled down from Southern Georgia and Northern Florida, and steel from Pittsburgh. The burgeoning population of California was growing impatient at having to wait months for mail and provisions. It was completed in 1912. Arrive Jacksonville 1:55 P.M. Over the next three-and-a-half years, beginning in 1866, the Union Pacific was able to lay more than eight hundred miles of track in order to meet the Central Pacific at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869. This certainly has to rank towards the top of a list of most interesting abandoned railroads in the US. In 1861, President Lincoln and Congress agreed to finance a transcontinental railroad via government bonds despite the recently commenced Civil War. "The successful completion of the Key West Extension added to Flagler's legacy to the point that today the name Henry M. Flagler is the single greatest name in the history of Florida. The cost to rebuild the line was too great, and Florida East Coast sold it to the government. Henry Flagler: The Railroad Visionary Who Changed the Keys Forever. Send me an email and I'll get back to you. However, the legacy of the railroad lives on in the overseas highway, even though new bridges have replaced the old railroad bridges. In addition, diesel would soon replace coal as the world's primary source of fuel. There are many long abandoned but famous rail lines in the sunshine state. The Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway operated the Enterprise to Titusville line as its Indian River Branch.[1]. Completed in 1912, the Overseas Railroad was heavily damaged and partially . The line remains in service today with a vast majority of it now being CSX Transportation's Sanford Subdivision. April 15: At 4:00a.m., the boiler of the George W. Allen dredger explodes killing two F.E.C. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Also at this facility, at the 2000 ft pier, passenger trains could unload their passengers directly to ships heading for Cuba. The answer came when one of the caskets fell off its baggage cart and broke open. [2], The majority of the foremen and workmen who worked for the Casement brothers were Civil War veterans. Due to the high cost of building and maintaining the railroad, the company chose to sell the railroad to the state of Florida and Monroe County for $640,000. However, many of the bridges still remain in place, and a portion of the 7-Mile Bridge is still used to provide access to Pigeon Key (see picture below).

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