Florida West Shore Railway

Florida West Shore Railway's track being laid near Sixth Street in Sarasota in 1902

1970 Aerial image of Bradenton. Florida West Shore Railway's bridge and right of way are visible just to the east of the Desoto Bridge

The Florida West Shore Railway was initially organized by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company in 1901 before being renamed the Florida West Shore Railway upon its completion in 1903.[1] In 1901, construction commenced with the line branching off the Seaboard main line near Turkey Creek. It proceeded south through Durant, Willow, and Palmetto. It crossed the Manatee River via a long swing bridge into Bradenton, which was located just east of the current Desoto Bridge. From Bradenton the line continued south to downtown Sarasota. Here, some of the line ran along the former right of way of the Arcadia, Gulf Coast and Lakeland Railroad, an earlier unsuccessful railroad between Bradenton and Sarasota. The line also had a spur to Terra Ceia, as well as spurs into the central areas of Ellenton, Palmetto, and Bradenton (known then as Bradentown).

The Seaboard Air Line operated the line's first train to Sarasota on March 23, 1903. By 1905, the line was extended east from downtown into Fruitville. In 1909, Seaboard fully acquired the line, ending the Florida West Shore Railway's corporate identity. The Seaboard Air Line designated the line as their Sarasota Subdivision and would extended it south to Venice in 1911 after being convinced by local socialite Bertha Honoré Palmer who owned land in Venice.[2][3] In Venice, the line connected with a small logging railroad operated by the Manasota Lumber Co.[4] One of the Seaboard Air Line's major customers on the line would be the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was headquartered in Sarasota from 1927 to 1959 and then in Venice from 1959 to 1990.[2]

By 1925, at the height of the Florida land boom of the 1920s, Seaboard considered extending the line further south though Englewood along Lemon Bay to Placida to intercept with their Boca Grande Subdivision (the former Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway). The extension was never built.[2]

By the 1940s, the Seaboard Air Line removed the segment between the main line at Turkey Creek and Durant. The Seaboard's Valrico Cutoff, which was built in 1925 and crossed the Sarasota Subdivision at Durant, was then used to access the line and provided a slightly shorter route to Tampa.[2] By then, two daily local passenger trains were running the line daily along with a through freight train from Durant to Palmetto which ran six days a week.[3]

In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line merged with their rival, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, who operated a nearly parallel route closer to the coast (the former Tampa Southern Railroad). While the line remained mostly intact in the wake of the merger, track through Downtown Sarasota was removed with traffic diverted around downtown on the former Atlantic Coast Line tracks. The swing bridge over the Manatee River was also removed at this time in an effort to consolidate the company's operation on to a single bridge crossing (which also resulted in the removal of track between Palmetto Junction and Bradenton Junction). The Seaboard Coast Line then designated the remaining track north of the Manatee River as the Parrish Subdivison, and track south of the river became part of the Palmetto Subdivision (which also included the former Atlantic Coast Line route).[5] The Parrish Subdivision became a freight-only route after the merger.

Passenger operations from Tampa to Venice in the combined network was provided by the Champion once daily. The Champion ran from Tampa to Bradenton on the former Atlantic Coast Line route, but still ran on the remaining Seaboard Air Line track from Bradenton to Venice (except through downtown Sarasota).[6] Passenger service was discontinued in the Sarasota area after the Seaboard Coast Line's passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971.

In 1970, the Parrish Subdivision became the original route of the Tropicana Juice Train which brought fresh orange juice in insulated boxcars from Bradenton to Kearny, New Jersey six days a week. Seaboard Coast Line would later reroute the juice train through Tampa on the Palmetto Subdivision (former Atlantic Coast Line) where it operates today.[7]

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation. In 1986, in an effort to further consolidate the network, track was abandoned between Durant and Willow. Though, the bridge over the Little Manatee River still stands with the tracks removed.[8]

Legacy Trail on the former Venice extension right of way at mile marker 898. The trail's mile markers use the same numbers as the railroad.

From Willow to Palmetto, the line is still in service as CSX's Parrish Spur. The Florida West Shore's former spur in Palmetto now connects the line to the Palmetto Subdivision main track. The right of way of the Parrish Spur north and east of Ellenton is now largely owned by Florida Power and Light, and the Florida Railroad Museum operates excursion trains on this segment from Parrish to Willow.

South of Bradenton, CSX continues to operates the line as part of their Palmetto Subdivision as far south as Oneco. The short line Seminole Gulf Railway took over the rest of line south of Oneco to Venice in 1987. Seminole Gulf abandoned the line from Venice to Palmer Ranch in 2004. The Legacy Trail now runs on the former right of way of that segment. The line from Palmer Ranch to Sarasota was abandoned in 2019.[9]