Ridin' That Train

This issue covers how the train changed Brooksville with a pictorial history of train travel in Brooksville and how it spurred our growth tremendously, not only here, but across the nation. We all know how it gave birth to cattle drives from Texas up or Kansas with the newly formed railroad lines connecting directly to Chicago and New York. The same thing in Florida, enabling the citrus and tourist industry to flourish and later on for the rock mines as well. Train travel was a seminal moment in our history toward the explosion of our economic and tourism development.

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Thanks to the following for their contributions

John White

George Allen Jr.

Lou Charity

Russell Street 1885 Train Depot

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We always take for granted the way we live. Today, we can order anything online and receive it in a day or two. But prior to 1885 in Brooksville, the only way to move goods or people was by horse-driven carriage or stagecoach. Even the most efficient ways could take a couple of weeks from Atlanta. The average stagecoach traveled at 5-10 mph, depending on the age of the horses, the weather conditions and the conditions of the roads. A train in 1885 could routinely travel at 25 mph and up to 60 mph. So it was a blessed day indeed when the city was finally provided train travel. Led by Brooksville's John Hale and J.N.C. Stockman in Jacksonville, the area was surveyed but plans initially fell through for direct service so Brooksville had to settle for a spur line from Croom to Brooksville on the Plant line that ran from Tampa to Jacksonville. People had to be routed in a roundabout way.

Brooksville's John Hale

Citrus production accelerated after 1885 through the 1920's despite two freezes. In 1907, the Tampa Northern Railroad built a line from Tampa to Brooksville providing two daily passenger and freight schedules. Supplementing the Croom line were spur lines to Wiscon, Tooke Lake and Centrailia to the northwest of the county. There we no further developments until 1925-26 when the Florida boom was underway and railroads were willing to make more investments. The Seaboard Air Line bought out the Tampa Railroad and the first train ran on it in January 1926. More plans were made to build a line from Brooksville to Tampa, but before those projects could begin, the real estate boom ended and services were cut to a bare minimum, especially through the 1930's. Prosperity returned after World War II, but by now, buses, cars and planes replaced the train.

Rare photo of train arriving toward Brooksville (c. 1885). Locals pose near an orange grove as they await the train coming into the city.

1885 Florida Southern Railway train schedule for Brooksville and other surrounding towns.

Freight train at the Brooksville Depot 1890

1900 Hernando County map shows railroad routes and future proposed routes. Many of these little towns on the map no longer exist or are ghost towns.

Sunday morning 1912 at the Centralia Train Station. Centralia was a logging boomtown north of Weeki Wachee which once had a population of around 2,000, but by 1918 the timber had been used up and by 1922 ceased to exist as a community

A lonely man waits for a train (1913) at the Russell Street Depot, Brooksville, Florida

1911 train depot at Istachatta, just northeast of Brooksville

On the morning of February 11, 1959, over 750 students of all ages took a train ride from the Russell Street Depot to the Florida State Fair in Tampa. It was a feeling of liberation and freedom. There were no chaperones or teachers. The students indulged in all the rides, carnival food and acts, daredevils, and games like throwing ping pong balls into a bowl to win a goldfish. It was the first time Brooksville had a passenger train in over 30 years. It was truly a memorable moment they would never forget.

Inside the train from Brooksville to the Florida State Fair on February 11, 1959. Arrangements made by "Choo-Choo" Hughley and L.B. Martin of the ACL Railroad in Tampa. The conductor was W.E. Jones who originally tried to collect tickets from all the students but was so overwhelmed by the swarming crowd, he just gave up.

It was a happy day on February 11, 1959, when Brooksville kids took a train ride from the Russell Street train depot to the Florida State Fair in Tampa and got to see famed cowboy Roy Rogers and his horse, Trigger.

Locally grown strawberries ready for shipping on the train (1917)

One of the biggest days in Brooksville history was Tourist Day February 22, 1922 when hordes of tourists descended upon Brooksville by car, bus or train to sample the sweet life.

Brooksville Train Depot (1929) off West Jefferson Street. This is a view from Ft. Dade Avenue.

Loading citrus at the depot on Jefferson Street (1938). The Bell Fruit Company had an office there. At one time, Brooksville was the leading supplier to the northeast for tangerines.

Just another whistle stop - Croom Train Depot (1940). In 1956 a horribly tragic accident took the lives of four trainmen here.

1905 ad for the Southern Railway which brought tourists to Florida with boat rides available to Cuba, Nassau etc. Five trains leaving daily from New York all the way to Miami and all points in between. Train travel contributed largely to to Florida's growth, commerce and development of cities like Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami into large metropolitan areas.

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The Turner Lumber Company (1911) To service Centralia, the Turner Lumber Company had a narrow gauge logging train railroad throughout the logging area but never connected to the main line gauge because of wheel size differences. Instead there was a loading platform between the two railroads.