The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1916-11-24
OCALA NEEDS IT
AND IT NEEDS OCALA

The above caption refers to the
Tampa & Jacksonville railroad.
So little do large number of the
people of our city know about their
own county that it is dollars to dough-
nuts that they do not know where the
Tampa & Jacksonville railroad is.
Those who have travelled to Gaines
vile by auto cross it four times be-
tween Micanopy and the capital of
Alachua, but of all who make the trip
it is likely that twenty-five per cent
think it is the Coast Line and another
rs per cent do not think of it at all
unless its once day train comes
along.
However, it is there, and it is a
mighty good little railroad. We doubt
that any other railroad in Florida
runs thru as much good farming,
trucking and stock-raising land per
mile as the T. & j.
People who go from here to Gaines
vile via the Atlantic Coast Line
have noticed that the train runs
thru good farming country, with
numerous towns until it reaches Mic
anopy junction. Then it runs eight
miles thru an almost unbroken wild
erness to Rochelle and another ten
miles to, Gainesville thru another al
most unbroken wilderness, but about
five miles from Rochelle and the same
distance from Gainesville, they will
see to the westward wide stretch of
prairie, on which many cattle are
grazing.
On the other side of the prairie,
eight or ten miles away, runs the
parallel line of the T. & j., little
jerkwater road, but passing through
a country that as much excels that on
the east side of the prairie as the big
Atlantic Coast Line excels in equip
ment the little T. & j.
When the writer came to Florida
thirty years ago, the road on the west
OF the prairie hadn't even been
thought of, while the road on the east
was narrow gauge connection with
the Florida Southern at Rochelle.
II the men who built that connec-
ton from Gainesville to the little,
twisting narrow gauge that was
squirming its way from one orange
grove to another southwark, had built
down the west side of Payne's prairie,
then lake almost as big as the Sea
of Galilee, to Micanopy, and made
their connection at Boardman or Evin-
ston, they would have left heritage
worth several million dollars to the
Atlantic Coast Line and had eight fast
trains day over track where now
there are only two slow ones.
But no mans foresight is as good
as his hindsight.
A little over third of a century
ago, Gainesville was on one main line
and the terminus of another. The old
Florida railroad, the first line built ir
the state, passed thru on its way from
Fernandina and Jacksonville to Cedar
Keys. H. B. Plant built his Savannah
Florida and Western down from Du-
pont and made its southern terminus
in the Central City, and then it was
the little narrow gauge was built tc
join the Florida Southern at Rochelle
But dozen years later Gainesville
was sidetracked. The F. r. e "
swung aside at Waldo and build down
thru the center of the state, to Citra
to Ocala, to Wildwood, to Plant City
finally to Tampa. Plant picked up the
S. S. o. g. G. and the southern frag.
ment of the Florida Southern and link.
ed them together and to the South
Florida, built from High Springs te
Archer, from Juliette to Mossiston
leased a few miles of the SeaboarG
and had his west coast route from Sa
vannah to Tampa. But is doing thi.
he set Gainesville to one side. Only
jerkwater trains came into Gaines
vile, and that city was disconnected.
Some of its enterprising men or.
ganized a company and started tt
build railroad to Tampa They call
ed it the Gainesville & Gulf, and il
went thru the rich country to the west
OF Payne's prairie. As soon as sale
road went far enough out of town tt
reach farm or orange grove, it be-
gan to bring business into Gainesville
and it's bringing it in yet.
1t went on south from farm to farm
and grove to grove until it reached
Fairfield in Marion county, and there
it rested awhile. The big roads hat
an eye on it, and the Gainesville mer
found, as the people of many another
little town have found, that building Q
big railroad is like setting in big
game, and you need big stack Of
chips-and sometimes the big men al
ready in the game won't let them hav.
any chips. But they had good little
road-there was no limited nor specia
racing over it, but it was bringing
good business into Gainesville every
day.
After awhile they made another
move and built to Sampson City OF
the G. s. & F., and then they had /
real connection with trunk line ant
begun to do thru business. Also. they
reached out in the other direction ant
built another eight miles down IN