 Original Route (click to enlarge) | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Central Florida |
| Successor | Plant System Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Seaboard Coast Line Railroad |
The Florida Midland Railway Company was incorporated under the general incorporation laws of Florida, and surveyed a line from Lake Jessup, in Orange County, to Leesburg, in Lake County.
The company was reincorporated on February 10, 1885; only 10 miles (16 km) had been graded. The new owners were E. W. Henck, S. M. Breuster, Carl Cushing, A. Menser and C. E. Munson of Florida, and Edward Page, Charles W. Morris and Cyrus Carpenter of Boston, Massachusetts.
The line was extended
... beginning at a point on the Indian River and running through the counties of Brevard and Orange to Leesburg, in Sumter county, or to Eustis, in Orange county, or to points or a point of connection with railroads or a railroad running from these places, or from either of them, and from a point on the line of said road, in Orange county, to a point on the Gulf of Mexico, running through the counties of Orange, Sumter, Polk, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee and Monroe, or such of them as may be necessary to reach the terminal point, which shall be selected on the Gulf of Mexico.
— Florida state law chapter 3652, approved February 10, 1885, source unknown
Land grants were promised, as long as part of the railroad was completed within a year.
Florida state law chapter 3795, approved June 2, 1887, expanded the area from which land grants could be chosen, and extended the deadline to June 1, 1888.
The line actually built was rather different, running from Clifton on Lake Jesup west to Apopka, but then turning south to Kissimmee.
The railroad's track was 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge while it was independent, but when it was taken over by the Plant System in the late 1890s, all track north of the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge section of the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad (also taken over by the Plant System) was abandoned and the remaining trackage from Clarcona to Kissimmee was converted to 3 ft narrow gauge. The two narrow gauge lines were run in conjunction with one another, allowing the usage of the same narrow gauge equipment on both lines. [1] The Plant System became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad system in 1902.
From Clifton to Apopka, the railroad has been abandoned for over 100 years. Virtually no trace of this section remains, but parts of the right-of-way were used to construct SR 434.
From Apopka to Clarcona, the right-of-way is used for the West Orange Trail.
From Clarcona to Ocoee, the right-of-way is currently owned by CSX Transportation and run by the Florida Central Railroad.
From Ocoee to Kissimmee, the railroad is abandoned, and some elements remain.
These are listed from north to south.
| Milepost [2] | City/Location | Station | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton | junction with Sanford and Indian River Railroad (ACL) | ||
| Longwood | Longwood | junction with South Florida Railroad (ACL) | |
| Palm Springs | junction with Orange Belt Railway (ACL) | ||
| Altamonte Springs | Altamonte | ||
| Lake Brantley | |||
| Fitzville | |||
| Apopka | East Apopka | junction with Apopka and Clay Spring Railway | |
| AVB 841.1 | Apopka | junction with Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad Orlando Division (SAL) | |
| AVB 837.5 | Clarcona | junction with Orange Belt Railway (ACL) | |
| Villa Nova | |||
| AVB 832.6 | Ocoee | Ocoee | junction with Tavares & Gulf Railroad (SAL) |
| Minorville | |||
| AVB 829.1 | Gotha | ||
| AVB 825.7 | Windermere | Windermere | |
| AVB 822.0 | Doctor Phillips | previously known as Harperville | |
| AVB 818.5 | Vineland | previously known as Orange Center, also Englewood | |
| Molanes | |||
| AVB 812.3 | Shingle Creek | ||
| AVB 808.0 | Kissimmee | Kissimmee | junction with South Florida Railroad (ACL) |
Ocoee is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. According to the 2019 US Census population estimate, the city had a population of 48,263. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
The Florida Central Railroad Company is one of several short line railroads run by Regional Rail, LLC. It runs from downtown Orlando northwest to Apopka and Tavares with a branch from Toronto to Ocoee and Winter Garden and branches from Tavares to Umatilla and Sorrento. The Florida Central connects with the Central Florida Rail Corridor in downtown Orlando, Florida and has trackage rights on the CFRC from there south to Taft Yard where they interchange with CSX Transportation. The railroad is based out of the Plymouth freight station.
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 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.
The Tavares, Orlando and Atlantic Railroad Company was incorporated by Florida state law chapter 3499, approved March 5, 1883, as owned by Alexander St. Clair-Abrams of New Orleans, W. R. Anno, Nat Poyntz and J. L. Bryan of Orange County, Florida; L. H. Davis of New Jersey; John P. Morton of Kentucky; and Charles Jay of Vermont.
The West Orange Trail is a 22-mile (35 km) long multi-use rail trail owned by Orange County Parks and Recreation in Orange County, Florida, in the United States. The paved trail passes through downtown Oakland, Winter Garden, and Apopka with most of its length built on old railroad alignments. To the west of the West Orange Trail is the South Lake-Lake Minneola Scenic Trail in Lake County which was connected to the trail in 2007.
The Orlando metropolitan area, commonly referred to as Greater Orlando, Metro Orlando, Central Florida as well as for U.S. Census purposes as the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. Its principal cities are Orlando, Kissimmee and Sanford. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines it as consisting of the counties of Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole.
Apopka-Vineland Road is the name of several roads in Orange County, Florida, roughly forming a line from Apopka south to Vineland. As of now, there is one gap, from Old Winter Garden Road to State Road 50, which contains a residential neighborhood and State Road 408, the tolled East-West Expressway.
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 Railway, running across southern Georgia. The Plant Investment Company was formed in 1882 to lease and buy other railroads and expand the system. Other major lines incorporated into the system include the Savannah and Charleston Railroad and the Brunswick and Western Railroad.
State Road 44 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from Crystal River on the Gulf of Mexico east to New Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Inverness, Wildwood, Leesburg and DeLand.
State Road 426 is a major road in Orange and Seminole counties, entirely north of Orlando. Its length is closely similar to SR 438. East of here, the road continues as County Road 426 as a direct route to Mims and Scottsmoor, the census-designated places of Brevard County, terminating at SR 46.
U.S. Route 441 (US 441) in Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs 433 miles (697 km) from Miami in South Florida northwest to Tennessee in the Rocky Top area.
The Inland Lakes Railway, later known as Florida Rail Adventures, was a tourist railroad located in the northwestern portion of Central Florida. The railway operated several excursion trains ranging from a five course dinner train to sightseeing excursions throughout Lake and Orange Counties. The company operated through a lease agreement with the Florida Central Railroad, the owner of the tracks. Trains operated between the towns of Mount Dora, Tavares, Eustis, Lake Jem, and Orlando.
The Florida Southern Railway 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 be part of the Plant System, which would later become part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
The Orange Belt Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad established in 1885 by Russian exile Peter Demens in Florida. It was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States at the time of its completion in 1888, with a mainline 152 miles (245 km) in length between Sanford and St. Petersburg. It carried citrus, vegetables, and passengers; and it interchanged with two standard gauge lines: the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway at Lake Monroe, and the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad at Lacoochee.
The Sanford and Lake Eustis Railway was a historic railroad that ran from Sanford, Florida west to the town of Tavares on Lake Eustis, a distance of 28 miles. The line served as a branch of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway, a Plant System railroad, that later became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
The St. Johns and Lake Eustis Railway was a historic railroad in northern Central Florida. It ran from Astor on the St. Johns River south to Fort Mason and along Lake Eustis to Tavares and Lane Park. It also had track from Fort Mason to Leesburg, where it connected to the Florida Southern Railway.
The Tavares and Gulf Railroad (T&G) was a historic railroad in Central Florida that operated for many years as a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. It existed from 1886 to 1969.