At Waldo, Florida the Seaboard branched off to Gainesville at one time. Was this branch eventually connected with the old Tampa Northern at Sulphur Springs? I have an old Seaboard system map, but can't tell if these are the sames routes. Thanks for your help.

Danny Harmon, Tampa

-- Danny Harmon (HDTampa@aol.com), June 13, 1998

Answers

I was just looking at the collection of railroad clippings at the Matheson Historical center in Gainesville and happened upon the newspaper article from November 1968 announcing that the SCL was petioning the ICC to abandon the track from Waldo to Gainesville, Gainesville to Archer, and Archer to Williston -- so I suppose it was taken up by 1970 or so. The article includes a description of the daily run from Waldo to Williston, including a picture of a GP7/9? #993 making a run. This line ran right by my elementary school in Gainesville and we always waved to the conductor in the caboose and put pennies on the track.

The line from Gainesville out to the G'ville airport and the other direction out toward I-75 lasted a while longer -- at least until 1977 or there abouts. SCL #98 was the Gainesville switcher around that time. That old SAL line is long gone now.

Was in Gainesville the other day and they were just patching the grade crossings where they had ripped up the old ACL through downtown. The ACL line now stops at the Koppers creosote plant in Northern G'ville.

-- Neal Horner (nhorner@ibm.net), August 11, 1998.

The line from Waldo to Gainesville was the line that went from the Floridaeast coast to the West coast at Cedar Key,,,,A very early Florida line indeed...At Archer the line branched off and went to Early Bird near Dunnellon...The line was soon extended from Dunnellon south through Inverness and Brooksville to the Tampa Northern at Brooksville...

-- Steve Manuel (wwjb@innet.com), June 13, 1998.