ACL schedule from Gainesville & Cedar key-1910-1930

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My father and mother rode train from Gainesville to Cedar Key on their honeymoon, Dec.11,1911. Was it a Florida rr from Fernandina to Cedar Key, ACL, SAL. Am writing a story about them and love details. Do you have schedules of TOD or TOA. Would love to know. Their names were Acie Adwin and Cora Parker.

-- Ralph Harvey Parker (maypark@earthlink.net), October 28, 2002

Answers

As of April 9, 1911 there were two Seaboard Air Line Railway trains each way between Gainesville and Cedar Key, a distance of 56 miles. No. 213 left Gainesville 8:22 a.m., and arrived Cedar Key at 1:15 p.m., daily except Sunday. No. 55 left Gainesville at 5:35 p.m., and arrived Cedar Key at 8:00 p.m., daily. Returning, No. 214 left Cedar Key at 11:15 a.m., daily except Sunday. No. 54 left Cedar Key at 6:15 a.m., and arrived Gainesville at 8:22 a.m., daily. These trains originated and terminated at Waldo. Apparently, Nos. 54- 55 were passenger trains while Nos. 213-214 were mixed, hauling freight, passengers, mail and express.

-- Russell Tedder (srtedder@arkansas.net), October 29, 2002.

I had an ancestor that ran a turpentine still @ Wylly on the Cedar Key Line, the nest station to the south was Rosewood, made famous by the movie "Rosewood" about the racial "massacre" there in the twenties. My relatives also cut cedar trees for making pencils, one of the local industries. Their nickname for the train was "the Mullet Hearse" because of the carloads of fish shipped from Cedar Key. The City of Cedar Key also has an excellent museum. Relative's name was Grover Perdue.

-- scott young (syoung01@sprynet.com), October 29, 2002.

In case anyone is curious, there is also a 1929 (Waldo) Gainesville- Cedar Key schedule available online at the Archer Historical Society Website. http://www.afn.org/~archer/rrtt48.gif

I believe that Wason motorcars were handling the non-mixed trains on this schedule. When the Cedar Key "branch" was abandoned in the early 1930s, I think all passenger service on the remaining line from Archer to Waldo was discontinued as well.

You may also be interested to know that both the Gainesville and Archer stations still stand. Archer's station is now its historical society's museum, and Gainesville's, which was recently purchased by the city, is proposed to become a community center of some sort.

-- Jeff Gerlach (jgerlach@trainsofthought.com), October 29, 2002.


thanks for such a quick and informative answer. Ralph Parker

-- Ralph Harvey Parker (maypark@earthlink.net), October 28, 2002.

The railroad would've been the Seaboard(SAL). I don't have a 1911 schedule. In 1906 there were two roundtrips, Gainesville to Cedar Key, Lv.8:20am Ar Cedar Key 1:00pm daily, or Lv.5:36pm Ar Cedar Key 8:15pm except Sunday. Returning: Lv.5:25am Ar Gainesville 7:40am daily, or Lv 9:00am Ar Gainesville 3:05pm except Sunday. At this date, probably coaches and a baggage car only.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), October 28, 2002.


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