The Ocala evening star., 1915-03-26
MYERS. MARCO AND MIAMI
Says the Tampa Tribune regard
ing the proposed railroad:
Completing the Loop

Completing the Loop
As noted in the news columns OF
the Tribune on yesterday actual work
has commenced on the survey of the
route of the trans peninsular rail-
road from Fort Myers to Miami.
An encouraging and reassuring fea-
ture of the situation relating to this
prospective new railroad is that there /
have been few preliminaries gone {
through with in tie line of letting off /
superfluous gas, or the publication of
alluring and largely imaginary pros
pectuses. The people in charge of ]
the enterprise evidently mean bust
ness and have taken hold of it as
if they meant to put it through with !
out delay.
Tampa greets the commencement
of the survey with congratulations
/ both of the men who are pushing the
work and are behind the enterprise,
and of herself To use the sterotyped
phrase, cit will be a great thing for
| Tampa" In South Florida all trunk
transportation lines lead to this city.
In order to obtain paying business
for themselves they must come here;
to go elsewhere would be a fatuous
policy that far sighted men, such as
those in charge of this new project
evidently are, will not pursue.
The completion of the new road will
open up new trade territory to the
wholesale merchants of Tampa and
will add to those already existing an
other and extremely attractive travel
route that will render larger the al
ready rapidly growing number of Wis
itors to this West Coast and that is
so fast coming into its own in the
: recognition of the world as the most
attractive section OF the fairest state
in the Union.
Tampa now has a line to Fort My
! ers, the proposed western terminus of
the road, that city being at the south
: ern extremity of the Atlantic Coast
: Line; the construction of the Myers,
Marco and Miami line would supply
the connecting link between what are
at present practically two separate
systems, composed of the lines on the
, , East Coast and those on the west. Ii
will then be easy to run down the East
= Coast line, spending time according
! to inclination at it's various resorts
} and then to cross from Miami to Fort
Myers and go from there up the
West Coast, taking in its attractions
seriatim; or, as the tourist may pre-
u fer, reversing the route. We have
! no doubt that the Inauguration of this
d new line will at least double the num-
) Der of visitors to the West Coast re-
Il sorts in the course of a season with
out diminishing those to the Easi
. Coast.
e Commercially the completion of the
> new line would double the area ac
u cessible to the wholesale establish
u ments of Tampa. At present wha
" is known as Tampa territory" hes al
most exclusively along the west sid
" of the peninsula and in the interior
l. We get little from the East Coas
Il country. This is because of the route
of the present rail lines and the diff
Y fculty of reaching the one coast from
e the other. By the connection by raj
'r with Miami we would be as near t
E most of the country on that side a
"a Jacksonville is now, and being abl
le to compete on equal terms, our mer
chants would get their share of tn
le trade that now all goes elsewhere
0r