Florida West Shore Railway

Florida West Shore Railway

Former bridge over Little Manatee River near Willow
Locale	Sarasota, Florida
Dates of operation	1901–1909
Successor	Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Florida West Shore Railway was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that expanded their rail system south to Sarasota in the early 1900s. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad had just expanded to Tampa by acquiring the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in 1901, which became Seaboard's main line.

The Florida West Shore Railway was initially organized by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company in 1901 before being renamed the Florida West Shore Railway upon its completion in 1903. In 1901, construction commenced with the line branching off the Seaboard main line near Turkey Creek. It proceeded south through Durant, Willow, and Palmetto. It crossed the Manatee River via a long swing bridge into Bradenton, where it continued south to downtown Sarasota. Some of the line ran along the former right of way of the Arcadia, Gulf Coast and Lakeland Railroad, an earlier unsuccessful railroad between Bradenton and Sarasota.

The Seaboard Air Line operated the line's first train to Sarasota on March 23, 1903. By 1905, the line was extended east from downtown into Fruitville. In 1909, Seaboard fully acquired the line and extended it to Venice in 1911.

The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line rail networks are today part of CSX Transportation. The Florida West Shore line has been largely broken up into segments by CSX in favor of the former Tampa Southern/Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route to the west which is a more direct route to Tampa. Despite existing now only in segments, the line's milepost numbers have remained consistent since the Seaboard Air Line era. The milepost numbers have an SW prefix.