Florida East Coast Railway

Florida East Coast Railway

Route map
Three GP40-2s lead a southbound train through Lake Worth, Florida
Overview
Parent company	Grupo México
Headquarters	Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Reporting mark	FEC
Locale	Florida
Dates of operation	1885 (1885)–present
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	351 miles (565 km)
Other
Website	www.fecrwy.com
Route map Legend CSX Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision A Line NS Valdosta District CSX Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision S Line TY Yard CSX Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision A Line 0 mi 0 km Jacksonville St. Johns River (Strauss Bridge) South Jacksonville 7 mi 11 km Bowden Yard Greenland Bayard Durbin 37 mi 60 km St Augustine Moultrie Cutoff College Park Tocoi Junction Vermont Heights Elkton Armstrong Spuds 54 mi 87 km Hastings Orange Mills 61 mi 98 km East Palatka Yelvington Roy Dinner Island Neoga Espanola 87 mi 140 km Bunnell Favoretta 104 mi 167 km Ormond Beach 110 mi 177 km Daytona Beach Port Orange 124 mi 200 km New Smyrna Beach 135 mi 217 km New Smyrna Beach Edgewater Oak Hill Scottsmoor Wiley NASA Railroad 154 mi 248 km Titusville Indian River City Frontenac Sharpes Brightline to Orlando City Point 169 mi 272 km Cocoa-City Point 173 mi 278 km Cocoa 174 mi 280 km Cocoa-Rockledge 190 mi 306 km Eau Gallie 194 mi 312 km Melbourne Palm Bay Malabar Grant Micco Roseland Sebastian Wabasso Winter Beach Gifford 228 mi 367 km Vero Oslo Viking Indrio St. Lucie 242 mi 389 km Fort Pierce Lake Harbor Branch (South Central Florida Express) White City Walton Jensen Beach St. Lucie River 261 mi 420 km Stuart Port Sewall Salerno Gomez 275 mi 443 km Hobe Sound Loxahatchee River Jupiter Monet Lake Park Riviera Beach 297 mi 478 km West Palm Beach 299 mi 481 km West Palm Beach 306 mi 492 km Lake Worth Hypoluxo Boynton Beach 317 mi 510 km Delray Beach Boca Raton 325 mi 523 km Boca Raton Deerfield Beach 333 mi 536 km Pompano Beach Oakland Park 341 mi 549 km Fort Lauderdale New River Dania 346 mi 557 km Hollywood Hallandale Aventura Ojus North Miami Beach 346 mi 557 km North Miami South Florida Rail Corridor Little River 365 mi 587 km Hialeah CSX Homestead Subdivision PortMiami 366 mi 589 km MiamiCentral Southside Kendall Homestead Florida City Overseas Railroad to Key West Overseas Railroad to Key West Wooddall Siding Everglade Jewfish Jewfish Creek Bridge Key Largo Rock Harbor Tavernier Tavernier Creek Plantation Snake Creek Windley Key Whale Harbor Islamorada Matecumbe Teatable Key Channel Indian Key Indian Key Channel Midway Channel Five Bridge Cook's Siding Crescent Long Key (Fishing Camp) Long Key Viaduct Toms Harbor Grassy Key Key Vaca Cut Key Vaca Marathon Seven Mile Bridge Bahia Honda Bridge Spanish Harbor Bridge Spanish Harbor Big Pine Key Pine Channel Torch Channel Niles Channel Kemp Channel Cudjoe Key Pirates Cove Pirates Cove Upper Sugarloaf Sound Lower Sugarloaf Sound Chase Shark Key Channel Big Coppitt Key Boca Chica Channel Cow Key Channel Key West Trumbo Point This diagram: view talk edit

The Florida East Coast Railway (reporting mark FEC) is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.

Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Flagler. He originally visited Florida with his first wife, Mary; they sought assistance with the health issues she faced. A key strategist who worked closely with John D. Rockefeller building the Standard Oil Trust, Flagler noted both great potential and a lack of services during his stay at St. Augustine. He subsequently began what amounted to his second career, developing resorts, industries, and communities all along Florida's shores abutting the Atlantic Ocean.

The FEC is possibly best known for building the railroad to Key West, completed in 1912. When the FEC's line from the mainland to Key West was heavily damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the State of Florida purchased the remaining right-of-way and bridges south of Dade County, and they were rebuilt into road bridges for vehicle traffic and became known as the Overseas Highway. However, a greater and lasting Flagler legacy was the developments along Florida's eastern coast.

During the Great Depression, control was purchased by heirs of the du Pont family. After 30 years of fragile financial condition, the FEC, under leadership of a new president, Ed Ball, took on the labor unions. Ball claimed the company could not afford the same costs as larger Class 1 railroads and needed to invest saved funds in its infrastructure, the condition of which was fast becoming a safety issue. The company—using replacement workers—and some of its employees engaged from 1963 until 1977 in one of the longest and more violent labor conflicts of the 20th century. Ultimately, federal authorities had to intervene to stop the violence, which included bombings, shootings and vandalism.^[1] However, the courts ruled in the FEC's favor with regard to the right to employ strikebreakers. During this time Ball invested heavily in numerous steps to improve the railroad's physical plant, and installed various forms of automation. The FEC was the first US railroad to operate two-man train crews, eliminate cabooses, and end all of its passenger services (which were unprofitable) by 1968.

Today, the company's primary rail revenues come from its intermodal and rock trains. Brightline, an inter-city rail route, uses FEC tracks between Cocoa and Miami.

The FEC was historically a Class I railroad owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) from 2000 to 2016, FOXX Holdings between 1983 and 2000, and the St. Joe Company prior to 1983.