Ok, what the heck exactly does the Seminole Gulf Railway serve near Venice? I knew the bridge just before venice was condemned which did in the city as far as rail service; however I was driving through on the road just north of the city between the two bridges and saw the line intact and still looking decent enough- what industry is there that gets the shipments, and how frequent?

Related question: in sarasota there were those two lines, one ACL one SAL- one used to run parallel to 301, the other west of that, then they intersected, and one went south to Venice while the other actually continued east, crossed over where I-75 now is, and continued for quite a ways east. When were each segment of these lines taken up, what lines belonged to who, when was the second bridge on the manatee river ripped up (this had to be a while back, probably right about the merger time if I had to guess), and where did that east-running line go and when was it taken out? Thanks for the help here-

-- justin (scheidt@pbworld.com), April 19, 2002

Answers

That east running line out of Sarasota ran all the way to Arcadia where it joined the present day CSX. It primarily served the cattle industry and was torn up a long time ago. The right of way is still visible in many places..esp. through Myakka State Park where its preserved as a trail and a right of way for a power line..Some old cattle dipping stations can still be seen along the right of Way.

-- Karl Loeper (Kloeper1@tampabay.rr.com), July 10, 2002.