I'm trying to find the railroad that my great grandfather might have worked on. I know his son was born in Early Bird, FL in 1892 and he and his wife were from the North. I do not know what his job was on this railroad, but was wondering if it ran back up North-NY? Is there a map anywhere that shows you were it traveled to? Are there any employee records still around for this railroad dating back to the 1890s?

Thanks so much for any help! Gayle :)

-- Gayle Powell (sadesmom@aol.com), January 25, 1999

Answers

Bulletin 86 from the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society provides a history of the Florida Central and Peninsular Rwy. Page 54 describes "(in 1891) work was started on a 29-mile branch, which swung off in a southerly direction from Archer, on the Cedar Key line, toward a place known as Early Bird. The work was completed December 1891, and was referred to as the Eagle Mine branch."

Early Bird and Minehead still show up (as does the track) in my recent Delorme atlas (in Marion County). The track has actually been gone a long time. In that era there was a boom in hard-rock phosphate mining in this area. Most likely the trains operated from the mine up to Archer, then on to Jacksonville to export the phosphate for use in Europe as fertilizer.

-- Neal Horner (nhorner@ibm.net), May 07, 2000.

Early Bird FLA. was a station stop on the old FC&P later the SALRy. IT was on the branch south from Archer Fla. I believe it was in Levy County. Hope this helps. E. Howard

-- E. Howard (dah@svic.net), August 09, 1999.

The Seaboard Air Line Railway Company was not formed until 1900. The association of roads that called themselves the "Seaboard Air-Line" prior to that time did not extend into FL. The Official Guide of the Railways for February, 1893, does not show any rail service to Early Bird, FL.

For what its worth.

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), January 26, 1999.