The Sanford and Indian River Railroad was a historic railroad in

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

running from Sanford southeast to

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

and Lake Charm, a distance of 20 miles. The railroad dates back to the late 1800s and parts of it are still active today.

Route description

The Sanford and Indian River Railroad began at a junction with the South Florida Railroad in Sanford. The junction with the South Florida Railroad main line in Sanford was located on 9th Street just west of Holly Avenue. From Sanford, the railroad ran south and southwest to the western end of

Lake Jesup Lake Jesup is the largest lake in Seminole County, Florida, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of ...

. At Lake Jesup, it turned east through present-day

Winter Springs Winter Springs is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 38,342 at the 2020 census. The City of Winter Springs was ranked by the Au ...

and

before coming to an end at Lake Charm.

History

The Sanford and Indian River Railroad was chartered in 1881 by officers of the

South Florida Railroad The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's ma ...

. The South Florida Railroad was in the process of building their main line from Sanford southwest to Orlando and Tampa at the time. South Florida Railroad president James Ingraham envisioned a rail line running from Sanford east through agricultural lands to the

Indian River Lagoon The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4, ...

near Titusville, hence the railroads name. The first six miles of the Sanford and Indian River Railroad from Sanford to

was complete on December 27, 1883. That year, it was leased by the

and it would eventually be integrated with South Florida Railroad network. The railroad was extended as far as Lake Charm by 1886 but was never fully extended to its intended terminus at Titusville. The line was also converted to standard gauge in 1886. The line was primarily used to ship celery, citrus, and other produce. The South Florida Railroad, along with other railroads in the Sanford area, were incorporated into

Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...

's system of railroads in 1893. In 1902, the

Plant System The Plant System, named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system was the Savannah, Florida and Western ...

was taken over by the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

. The Sanford and Indian River Railroad line continued operation as the Atlantic Coast Line's Lake Charm Branch (U Branch). In 1953, the Atlantic Coast Line relocated their Sanford passenger station from just north of the Lake Charm Branch junction (the current site of Coastline Park) to their main line's bypass of central Sanford. As a result, main line track southwest of the junction to the bypass (which was the original

alignment through Sanford) was removed. Track from the junction northwest to the bypass at a point near Rands Yard (which was the original

Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway The Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway was a railroad and steamboat network in Florida at the end of the 19th century. Most of its lines became part of the Plant System in 1899 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The line remains ...

alignment) then became part of the Lake Charm Branch. In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with their long-time rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL). The Lake Charm Branch connected with the Seaboard Air Line's Orlando Subdivision (which ran to Lake Charm from Orlando and Winter Park) at Oviedo. After the merger was complete, the company was named the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

and the Sanford and Indian River Railroad line was designated as their Aloma Subdivision (which also included the remaining SAL line from Oviedo southwest to Aloma). The Seaboard Coast Line became

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

by 1986. In the 1990s, CSX abandoned the line from Lake Charm to a point near

along with the remaining SAL track to Aloma. Despite no longer running to Aloma, the remaining line from Sanford to Winter Springs is still known as CSX's Aloma Spur and it connects to the A Line (now the Central Florida Rail Corridor) at the Sanford AutoTrain station. The

Cross Seminole Trail The Cross Seminole Trail is a pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian trail in Seminole County, Florida just north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The first segment opened in 2002. The current route begins at the intersection of Aloma and Howell Branch ...

was built on the abandoned right of way between Winter Springs and Oviedo in 2002.

Potential SunRail expansion

In 2013, local officials proposed to use the line to expand the

SunRail SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 17 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orla ...

commuter rail system to

Orlando Sanford International Airport Orlando Sanford International Airport is a commercial, public use airport in Sanford, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft, ...

. The

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...

has a contractual option to lease the spur from CSX for 30 years after 2007 for $10 as part of the deal when they purchased the A Line (where SunRail currently operates). This remains a proposal and no further action has been taken.

Historic stations

References

{{Reflist Defunct Florida railroads Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1883 Railway companies disestablished in 1893