Overseas Railroad

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Florida East Coast Railway, Key West Extension, express train at sea, crossing Long Key Viaduct, Florida. photo from Florida Photographic Collection
Florida East Coast Railway train traveling on an Overseas Railroad (Key West Extension) railroad bridge. photo from Florida Photographic Collection
Henry Flagler's train with his private car "Rambler" returning from Key West, Florida on the Overseas Railroad, completed in 1912. photo from Florida Photographic Collection
Rescue Train wrecked in Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 photo from Florida Photographic Collection
Overseas Railroad bridge west of Bahia Honda Key, 2006. The bridge has been pierced to allow sailboat traffic.

Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad) was the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. It operated from 1912 to 1935.

Henry Flagler: Florida's east coast

Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913), was a principal in Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler and later, Standard Oil during the Gilded Age in the United States. The wealthy man took interest in Florida while seeking a warmer climate for his ailing first wife in the late 1870s. Returning to Florida in 1881, he became the builder and developer of resort hotels and railroads along the east coast of Florida.

Beginning with St. Augustine, he moved progressively south. Flagler helped develop Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Palm Beach, and became known as the Father of Miami, Florida.

Flagler's rail network became known as the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). By 1904, the FEC had reached Homestead, south of Miami.

Key West Extension: Eighth Wonder of the World

After the United States announced in 1905 the construction of the Panama Canal, Flagler became particularly interested in linking Key West to the mainland. Key West, the United States' closest deep-water port to the Canal, could not only take advantage of Cuban and Latin America trade, but the opening of the Canal would allow significant trade possibilities with the west.

Initially called "Flagler's Folly", the construction of the overseas railroad required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and monetary resources. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During the seven year construction, five hurricanes threatened to halt the project. Costs were estimated at between $20 million and $40 million.

Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Coast Railway was completed in 1912. In that year, a proud Henry Flagler rode the first train into Key West aboard his private railcar "Rambler", marking the completion of the railroad's overseas connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida. It was widely known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".

Demise

The portion of the Overseas Railroad in the Middle Keys was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, a Category 5 hurricane which is often called "The Storm of the Century". The September 2, 1935 storm killed between 400 and 700 people and devastated Long Key and adjacent areas. The FEC's Long Key Fishing Camp was destroyed, as was a FEC rescue train which became swamped at Islamorada.

The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the State of Florida, which built the Overseas Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure. Rebuilt in the 1980s, following Flagler's dream, the Overseas Highway (U.S. Route 1) continues to provide a highway link to Key West, ending at the buoy which marks the southernmost point in the continental United States. Many old concrete bridges of the Overseas Railroad remain in use as fishing piers.

See also

References

  • Standiford, Les (2002). Last train to Paradise. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. ISBN 0-609-60748-0. 

External links


Edit Florida Keys
Biscayne National Park Soldier Key, Ragged Keys, Boca Chita Key, Sands Key, Elliott Key, Adams Key, Old Rhodes Key, City of Islandia
Upper keys Key Largo (island), North Key Largo (CDP), Key Largo (CDP), Tavernier (CDP), Plantation Key (island), Plantation Key (former CDP), Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Indian Key, Lignumvitae Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Village of Islamorada
Middle keys Craig Key, Fiesta Key, Long Key, City of Layton, Conch Key, Duck Key (CDP), Grassy Key, Crawl Key, Long Point Key, Fat Deer Key, Key Vaca, City of Marathon, City of Key Colony Beach, Boot Key, Knight's Key, Pigeon Key
Lower keys Little Duck Key, Missouri Key, Ohio Key, Sunshine Key, Bahia Honda Key, Spanish Harbor Key, West Summerland Key, No Name Key, Big Pine Key (CDP), Little Torch Key, Middle Torch Key, Big Torch Key, Ramrod Key, Summerland Key, Knockemdown Key, Cudjoe Key (CDP), Sugarloaf Key, Park Key, Lower Sugarloaf Key, Saddlebunch Keys, Shark Key, Geiger Key, Big Coppitt Key (CDP), East Rockland Key, Rockland Key, Boca Chica Key, Key Haven, Stock Island (CDP), Key West, Sigsbee Park, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, Wisteria Island
Outlying islands Mule Keys, Ballast Key, Marquesas Keys, Dry Tortugas, Tortugas Bank
Areas Florida Bay, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, National Key Deer Sanctuary, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Biscayne Bay, Biscayne National Park, Key West National Wildlife Refuge, Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Other topics Monroe County, Conch Republic, Overseas Highway, Overseas Railroad, Card Sound Bridge, Seven Mile Bridge, Bahia Honda Bridge, Theater of the Sea, Hurricane Georges, Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Key Deer, Ocean Reef Club, Key lime pie, Florida Keys Keynoter, Key West Citizen