The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad went bankrupt on January 1, 1877, and Henry Plant bought it on November 4, 1879, reorganizing it as the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway on December 9.
The Waycross and Florida Railroad and East Florida Railway were chartered in February 1880, forming the Georgia and Florida parts of the "Waycross Short Line". That line, running from the main line at Waycross southeast to Jacksonville, Florida, opened in April 1881.
On May 30, 1887, Florida state law chapter 3794 was approved, authorizing the SF&W to build lines from Tallahassee and Monticello north to the Georgia state line, connecting to branches from Thomasville, Georgia. The Tallahassee Branch was never built, but the Monticello Branch opened in 1888.
In 1890, the 3ftnarrow gaugeFlorida Southern Railway went into receivership and remained so for two years. During this time, its Charlotte Harbor branch operated independently and converted this portion of the line to 4ft8+1⁄2in. In 1892, Plant bought the Florida Southern Railway under foreclosure and reorganized it as the Florida Southern Railroad. At this time, the Florida Southern system stretched from the south end of the Plant System at Gainesville south via Ocala, using trackage rights over the South Florida Railroad's Pemberton Ferry Branch, to Punta Gorda. The Florida Southern Railroad was integrated with the rest of the Plant System in 1896 and was converted to 4ft8+1⁄2in that same year.[3]
In 1895, Plant bought the 3ftnarrow gaugeSanford and St. Petersburg Railroad (previously the Orange Belt Railway) in 1895, which stretched across the state from Sanford to St. Petersburg. The most profitable section of this line was immediately converted to 4ft8+1⁄2in, leaving the remaining section from Trilby to Sanford in its original gauge. The 4ft8+1⁄2inFlorida Midland Railway in the Orlando area was acquired in 1896, its line north of the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad was abandoned, and its remaining track from Sanford to Kissimmee was converted to 3ftnarrow gauge. By keeping these two connecting lines the same narrow gauge, they were able to work in conjunction with one another, utilizing the same narrow gauge equipment from both the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad and the recently converted Florida Southern Railroad.[4]
The Plant System built the nearly straight 54mi (87km)Folkston Cutoff in southeast Georgia in 1901.[5] This ran from the old Waycross and Florida Railroad at Folkston north via Nahunta to Jesup on the SF&W mainline, allowing trains to bypass Waycross and save 19mi (31km) over the old route.
In 1901, the following companies were also merged into the SF&W:
Alabama Midland Railway
Brunswick and Western Railroad
Charleston and Savannah Railway
In 1902 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad acquired the entire Plant System, connecting at Charleston, SC. The components were soon merged into the ACL. The system has since become part of CSX after several mergers.
Associated with the railroad were the Plant Steamship Line and Canada Atlantic and Plant Steamship Co., Ltd., both with Henry B. Plant as chief officer.[12] The Tampa based steamships served Cuba by way of Key West, Mobile, Alabama, and two local routes. The Canada Atlantic and Plant Steamship Co., Ltd., with no direct company terminal as at Tampa, served Boston and Canadian points at Halifax, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island. Advertising touted "Plant Steamship Line — Ships ply between the ports of 3 great nations: United States (Port Tampa, Key West, Mobile, Boston), England (Dominion of Canada), Spain (Cuba)."[13]
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The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway (SA&M) was a historic railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama. SA&M was built in the 1880s running between Montgomery, Alabama and Lyons, Georgia. It would be completed to Savannah, Georgia in 1896 after being renamed the Georgia and Alabama Railway. The line would notably become part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network in 1900.
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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.
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The Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad was a historic railroad in Florida chartered by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. It was built as an extension of Plant's Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad. Together, the two lines ran from Live Oak, Florida to Gainesville via High Springs. The lines were completed in 1884.
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 Waycross Short Line was the unofficial name of a railroad line built by Henry B. Plant that ran from Waycross, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida on the St. Johns River. The line through Georgia was chartered by Plant as the Waycross and Florida Railroad and the Florida segment was chartered as the East Florida Railway. The line crossed the Georgia/Florida border just south of Folkston, Georgia at the St. Marys River.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad’s Main Line was the backbone of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's network in the southeastern United States. The main line ran from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passed through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Florence, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando. With the exception of a short 61-mile segment in Greater Orlando, the entire line is still owned by the Atlantic Coast Line's successor, CSX Transportation, and is still in service as their A Line.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Waycross—Montgomery Line was one of the company's secondary main lines running from Waycross, Georgia west to Montgomery, Alabama, a distance of over 300 miles. It was built in the late 1800s by the Atlantic Coast Line's predecessor companies. The line is still in service today and is now the Thomasville Subdivision and Dothan Subdivision of CSX Transportation, the Atlantic Coast Line's successor company through various mergers.
Atlantic and Gulf Railroad (1879), Guide to southern Georgia and Florida: containing a brief description of points of interest to the tourist, invalid, or immigrant, and how to reach them (5thed.), Savannah, Ga, OCLC1805741, OL6952927M
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