Florida Southern Railroad
| Locale | Florida |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1881–1903 |
| Successor | Atlantic Coast Line Railroad |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge |
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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 Railroad and the Orange Belt Railway. The Florida Southern was originally chartered to run from Lake City south through central Florida to Charlotte Harbor. However, with the influence of Henry B. Plant, it operated with two discontinuous segments that would make up the Plant System, which would later become part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
The Florida Southern Railway was first chartered as the Gainesville, Ocala, and Charlotte Harbor Railroad in 1879, with a planned route from Lake City to Charlotte Harbor with a branch to Palatka. The name was then changed to the Florida Southern Railway in 1881.
The first segment of the line opened on on August 21, 1881 from Gainesville to Palatka. In Palatka, a roundhouse with a turntable was built as well as a wharf in the St. Johns River.
The line was extended from Rochelle just south of Gainesville to Ocala by the end of 1881. Track from Gainesville to Ocala would be the main line and the track from Rochelle to Palatka would be the Palatka Branch.
By 1983, the southern end of the main line reached Leesburg, and the northern end was extended from Gainesville to Hague.
In 1983, Henry B. Plant was in the midst of building his own system of railroads in a similar path. When he learned of the Florida Southern's plans, he invested in the Florida Southern and made an agreement with them to avoid having two competing lines. In the agreement, Plant would not build his railroad, the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad, past Gainesville. He bought their unfinished line and charter north of Gainesville and would connect his line from the north to the Florida Southern.
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Wikipedia