Editing Seaboard Air Line Railroad (section)

====Seaboard predecessors in Florida====

In 1860, the [[Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad]] (FA&GC) completed construction of a line running west from [[Jacksonville, Florida]], to [[Lake City, Florida]].<ref name="Turner 2008">Turner, Gregg M. (2008) A Journey into Florida Railroad History. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. {{ISBN|978-0-8130-3233-7}}</ref> That same year, the [[Florida Railroad]] opened from [[Fernandina Beach, Florida|Fernandina]], just north of Jacksonville, southwest to [[Cedar Key, Florida|Cedar Key]] on the [[Gulf Coast]]. In 1863, the [[Pensacola and Georgia Railroad]] (P&G) completed a line running east from [[Quincy, Florida]], through [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]] to Lake City, where it connected with the FA&GC.<ref name="Turner 2008" />

In 1868, the P&G and the FA&GC were acquired by [[carpetbagger]]s, with the P&G being renamed the [[Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad]] (JP&M), into which the FA&GC — now called the [[Florida Central Railroad (1868-1882)|Florida Central Railroad]] — was consolidated in 1870.<ref name="Turner 2008" /> Meanwhile, in 1871, the Florida Railroad was reorganized as the Atlantic, Gulf and West India Transit Company.<ref name="Turner 2008" /> Through two new subsidiaries, the Peninsular Railroad and the Tropical Florida Railroad, the Atlantic, Gulf and West India opened two new lines, one running to [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]] and [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] from a junction with the main line at [[Waldo, Florida|Waldo]], and another running from Ocala to [[Wildwood, Florida|Wildwood]].<ref name="Turner 2008" />

In 1881, [[Edward Reed (naval architect)|Sir Edward Reed]] acquired the Atlantic, Gulf and West India and its subsidiaries and reorganized them as the Florida Transit Company.<ref name="Turner 2008" /> The following year, Reed acquired the JP&M along with its subsidiary, the Florida Central, both of which he combined together as the [[Florida Central and Western Railroad]].<ref name="Turner 2008" /> In 1883, Reed reorganized the Florida Transit Company as the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad.<ref name="Turner 2008" /> Then, in 1884, Reed brought both the Florida Central and Western and the Florida Transit and Peninsular under the umbrella of a single entity, the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, which instantly became the largest railroad in Florida. In 1886, the company was reorganized as the [[Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad]] (FC&P).<ref name="Turner 2008" />

In late 1892, the FC&P began construction of a new line running north from a junction near Jacksonville to [[Savannah, Georgia]].<ref name="nytfcp1">{{cite news |title=New Railroad in Florida |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/12/13/106089868.pdf |work=[[New York Times]] |date=December 13, 1892 |access-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> The FC&P had that same year already leased the [[South Bound Railroad]], which ran north from Savannah to [[Columbia, South Carolina]].<ref name="nytfcp1" /> Thus, when the FC&P finished construction in late 1893, it had 1,000 miles of rail and a new "air line" extending straight from a connection with the [[Richmond and Danville Railroad]] in South Carolina into Jacksonville, resulting in not only a saving of several hours of travel time, but also connecting New York and Tampa.<ref name="nytfcp1" /><ref name="nytfcp2">{{cite news |title=Florida Central and Peninsular |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/12/22/109715659.pdf |work=[[New York Times]] |date=December 21, 1893 |access-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref><ref name="nytfcp3">{{cite news |title=Shorter Line to Florida |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/12/24/109716058.pdf |work=[[New York Times]] |date=December 24, 1893 |access-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref>

This direct entrée into Florida did not escape the notice of John Skelton Williams and his financial backers. In April 1899, only two months after assuming formal control of the various railroads in the Seaboard system, the Williams syndicate purchased a majority stock interest in the FC&P for $3.5 million.<ref name="nytfcp4">{{cite news |title=News of the Railroads: Sale of the Florida Central |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/04/23/120264975.pdf |work=[[New York Times]] |date=April 23, 1899 |access-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref>