The Florida East Coast Railway, Over 100 Years of Service In the Sunshine State

The FEC originally had its beginnings in 1895, on September 7th to be exact as that was the date when the Florida East Coast Railway was officially dedicated by its most prominent and original owner, Henry Flagler (who is known not only for his wealth, but also for a number of successful businesses, such as partnering with John Rockefeller of Standard Oil fame), who purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Railway and renamed it (because this railroad began the FEC “empire” for many years, until just recently when it moved to Jacksonville, the railroad’s headquarters were located in St. Augustine). However, the railroad actually had its beginnings much earlier than that, as its predecessor railroads date all the way back to 1858 with the narrow-gauge St. John’s Railway, which operated, between Tocoi and St. Augustine, Florida.

With the newly created Florida East Coast Railway, Flagler quickly expanded it, not only to grow the business but also to bring much needed infrastructure to eastern Florida which, hard to believe by today's situation, was still very undeveloped during the late 19th century. Aside from the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Railway, which began the FEC Flagler, he also purchased the St. John's Railway, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway, and the St. Johns and Halifax River Railway which connected the railroad from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach.

From this point forward, however, the rest of the FEC was built entirely from new railroad, which stretched from Daytona Beach to Miami (which it reached a year after the railroad was officially incorporated in 1896) and continues to serve as part of the railroad’s Jacksonville-Miami main line.

Perhaps what the FEC is best recognized for is its ambitious plan to connect the Florida Keys with the state’s mainland. Construction of the project was completed in 1905 and finished in 1912 with Flagler’s ultimate goal of using the line as a link for traffic coming to and from the Panama Canal, whose construction had also begun in 1905. Hailed as an engineering masterpiece upon completion the line saw a mere 23 years of active service before being destroyed by the massive Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and the railroad never sought to rebuild the line (partly because its intended use never came to fruition). However, the line was so well built that much of the remaining pier infrastructure was used for Highway 1, which now connects the entire Key West island system to the state’s mainland.

The Florida East Coast Railway of today continues to operate almost all of its original railroad lines, although a few segments here and there have been abandoned over the years. For many years the company also held Class I status until one of the more recent class changes bumped the railroad to a Class II, or Regional. Passenger service on the railroad ended in 1968 although there is a likelihood that the southern end of its main line will see state commuter operations commence at some point in the future.

The railroad is and has always been an independent company (although it did have a few brief skirts with receivership and bankruptcy during its lifetime), and today is under the holding company known as Fortress Investment Group, LLC, which oversees the railroad and other businesses (this company also owns the Rail America company of shortlines).

Today with the emergence of rail once again as a highly demanded form of transportation, coupled with an excellent management team, the FEC's future looks as bright as the Florida sun.

For more reading and background about the FEC consider the book below written by Seth Bramson. In Speedway to Sunshine the author gives an excellent historical background on the FEC from its beginnings through today. From the reviews I have read about the book it is the very best out there detailing the railroad (especially considering it is quite shy of the public eye) so if you are a fan/historian of the FEC or just looking for a good railroad book you should not go wrong with Speedway to Sunshine.