Florida

Name: Florida Railroads
Brand: Seth H. Bramson
SKU: 9781467103640
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Florida history trumps the simple narrative of a beach read. St. Augustine’s story doesn’t begin with sixteenth-century Spaniards and Miami history didn’t begin unfolding with Henry Flagler and his railroad. Natives began arriving in the Sunshine State during the last ice age, millennia before snowbirds began migrating down to Mount Dora. From the legend of Hogzilla to the first slice of key lime pie, from Pensacola down to Key West, our catalogue of Florida history books teems with fascinating tales and innovative characters who saw swamp and envisioned paradise. [View all Florida books]

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Florida East Coast Railway

Florida Railroads

Railroading in Pinellas County

Florida East Coast Railway

Railroad Depots of Central Florida

Florida Railroads in the 1920's

Railroads of Southwest Florida

Florida Railroads

9781467103640

$24.99

The history of Florida railroads began as early as 1834, when the Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad incorporated. On April 14, 1836, the St. Joseph-Lake Wimico line was the first to be put into service, with trains operating between the boomtown of St. Joseph and the Apalachicola River. Although the Florida railroad "boom" began with Henry Flagler and Henry Bradley Plant, the expansion continued into the 1920s when the president of Seaboard Railway, S. Davies Warfield, extended his lines to Miami and Naples. With the passage of time, numerous railroads were bought, merged, or abandoned. Today, 12 full-service railroads are still operating as well as several port railroads.

Railroading in Pinellas County

9780738585505

$24.99

Pinellas County's railroad heritage began in 1888 and lasted almost a century. Today few people who walk, run, or bike the 41-mile Pinellas Trail realize the importance of this path as they travel through Pinellas County railroad history. Railroading in Pinellas County transports the reader through 100 years. History is brought to life through photographs of the individuals who brought to Pinellas the railroad, railroad stations, railroad engines, passenger and freight cars, railroad companies, employees, and industries such as tourism that utilized this form of transportation. These photographs were culled with the assistance and permission of local historical societies, county and state archives, and various private collections.

Florida East Coast Railway

9780738543413

$24.99

Florida East Coast Railway has been the speedway to America's playground for more than 110 years. FEC offered some of America's finest rail passenger service until 1968 and remains the freight lifeline of Florida's east coast. The railroad arrived on the shores of Biscayne Bay on April 15, 1896, and it reached Key West in January 1912. That feat etched both Henry Flagler's and the railroad's names in Florida and U.S. railroad history. FEC's operation is so precise and punctual, its roadbed and motive power so well maintained, that it is the benchmark for every other railroad in the country.

Railroad Depots of Central Florida

9780738553900

$24.99

Railroads have served the northern counties of Central Florida since before the Civil War. Following the war, railroads expanded down the peninsula to bring transportation services to even more people and places throughout the region. By 1929, the railroad network in the state had reached its peak, with some communities being served by two or more railroad lines. Trains provided the means for growth and development, and the local depot was the focal point of every town throughout Florida's central region. Stretching across the middle section of the peninsula from coast to coast, the Central Florida area includes Levy, Gilchrist, Alachua, Putnam, and Volusia Counties to the north, while the counties of Sarasota, Desoto, Highland, Osceola, and Brevard define the southern boundary. Featuring depots of the Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, Florida East Coast, and their predecessor railroads, the photographs used by the author were obtained from local historical groups, the Florida State Archives, and private collections.

Florida Railroads in the 1920's

9780738542324

$24.99

Florida's railroads emerged in the 1830s amid Native American upheaval and territorial colonization. Many periods of development marked this fascinating heritage, but one era towers above the rest: the 1920s. It was then that Florida experienced a colossal land boom, one of the greatest migration and building stories in American history. People poured into the state as never before, real estate traded hands at breakneck speed, and the landscape added countless new homes, hotels, apartments, and commercial buildings. Florida's biggest railroads--the Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, and Florida East Coast--were unprepared for the tidal wave of traffic. Thus, the "Big Three" had to rapidly expand and increase capacity. Dozens of projects unfolded at great cost, by one estimate over $100 million. When the building frenzy ended, the railway map of the state stood at its greatest extent--some 5,700 miles. Further, the frequency of railway service within and to the Sunshine State reached an unprecedented level, never again to be repeated.

Railroads of Southwest Florida

9780738503493

$24.99

When the first "Iron Horse" arrived in Southwest Florida--at Charlotte Harbor in 1886--nearly 150,000 miles of railroads already existed in America, the transcontinental route was open, and Pullman sleeping cars were in wide use. But despite a late start, railroads forever transformed this beautiful region of the Sunshine State and connected its people to the outside world. In Railroads of Southwest Florida, the golden age of railroading
is documented with captivating images of stations, machines, and the people whose lives were affected by this significant form of transportation. From interior views of well-furnished passenger cars to scenes of hardworking men who made it all possible, this collection provides a thorough look at a fascinating, almost forgotten heritage.