Fort Myers Southern Railroad

Fort Myers depot at the north end of the line

The Fort Myers Southern Railroad was first chartered in 1918 by the Fort Myers Southern Railroad Company.[1] However, after being chartered, no action was taken to construct the line. That would change in the mid-1920s when the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) would acquire the company and its dormant charter in an effort to extend their Lakeland–Fort Myers Line (which was completed in 1904 as an extension of the Florida Southern Railway) south to Naples.

Construction of the line commenced and was complete to Bonita Springs by late 1925 where a depot was built just south of the Imperial River. The line was further extended to just east of downtown Naples by December 1926. The Atlantic Coast Line's original Naples depot was located at the northeast corner of the present-day intersection of Radio Road and Airport-Pulling Road, near Naples Airport. The line ultimately reached Collier City on Marco Island in mid 1927. This final extension passed through present-day East Naples and Lely. The line would be known as the Fort Myers Southern Branch on ACL employee timetables, referencing the original charter.[2]

By the end of 1927, the Atlantic Coast Line was running regular passenger train service to Naples.[3] A turning wye was built in Bonita Springs and for many years, trains terminating in Naples were turned around here and backed down to the original Naples depot since there was no wye there. Service to Marco Island was provided by a mixed train from Fort Myers and Naples. The Doxsee Clam Cannery was the railroad's main freight customer on Marco Island. A wye existed on Marco Island as well.[4]

Atlantic Coast Line relocated Naples service to the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad station from their original station in 1944

The line initially bypassed downtown Naples because the ACL's main competitor, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL), had quietly secured a more favorable right of way into downtown Naples (along the present route of Goodlette-Frank Road). During construction of the ACL line, the SAL was simultaneously building a parallel line from Fort Ogden to Fort Myers and Naples (built by their Seaboard-All Florida Railway subsidiary). The SAL's service to Naples commenced eleven days after the ACL.

Track in downtown Bonita Springs at the location of the former Bonita Springs depot.

The Seaboard Air Line discontinued service and abandoned their tracks to Naples in 1942. In response, the Atlantic Coast Line acquired the southernmost 7 miles of the SAL's former right-of-way. By 1944, the Atlantic Coast Line abandoned their line to Marco Island, and extended the remaining track from near Vanderbilt Beach down the ex-SAL right of way to the Seaboard's former passenger depot on Fifth Avenue South.[4]

By 1949, the ACL operated mixed train service from Fort Myers to Naples six days a week. These trains connected with other train services in Fort Myers.[2] In the 1950s–1960s, the ACL ran a daily passenger train between Lakeland and Naples via Fort Myers, with through cars from New York coming off the Tampa-bound section of the West Coast Champion at Lakeland.[5] In the Spring 1967 timetable, southbound train #291 left Lakeland at 3:05 pm, arriving at Punta Gorda 4:55 pm, Fort Myers at 5:40 pm, and Naples at 6:50 pm.

The Atlantic Coast Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) after merging with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1967 (which ironically brought the Seaboard brand back to the Naples depot). The line was then known as the Fort Myers Subdivision. The SCL briefly continued to operate a daily passenger train and a local freight train six days a week to Naples.[6] However, intercity passenger service to Southwest Florida was discontinued in 1971 upon the creation of Amtrak, who opted not to serve Southwest Florida.

In 1979, tracks into downtown Naples were removed and the line was cut back to its current terminus in North Naples, a year before Seaboard Coast Line would become CSX Transportation.[4]

Seminole Gulf freight train coming off the Baker Spur and crossing Alico Road on the former Fort Myers Southern Railroad

Today, track of the former Fort Myers Southern Railroad is still in place from Fort Myers to North Naples, where it terminates at a point near Wiggins Pass Road (just a mile south of the Lee/Collier County line). The remaining line has been operated by Seminole Gulf Railway since 1987. The Bonita Springs depot has since been demolished but the depot's platform and siding still remain near Riverside Park.[7] Much of the remaining track south of Alico Road near San Carlos Park is currently inactive has not had any active shippers since around 2008.[8]

Goodlette-Frank Road today runs along the post-1944 former right of way from Immokalee Road to Downtown Naples near the Naples depot.

State Road 951 runs along the former route from the Tamiami Trail to Marco Island.[9] Near Marco Island, a small sandbar named "Railroad Islet" and the "Railroad Shoals" mark the former location of the railroad's bridge to the island, which was located just east of the S.S. Jolley Bridge.[10][11]