Florida Midland Railway (defunct)
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox rail
The Florida Midland Railway Company was incorporated under the general incorporation laws of Florida, and surveyed a line from Lake Jessup, in Orange County, to Leesburg, in Lake County.
History
The company was reincorporated on February 10, 1885; only Template:Convert had been graded. The new owners were E. W. Henck, S. M. Breuster, Carl Cushing, A. Menser and C. E. Munson of Florida, and Edward Page, Charles W. Morris and Cyrus Carpenter of Boston, Massachusetts.
The line was extended
Land grants were promised, as long as part of the railroad was completed within a year.
Florida state law chapter 3795, approved June 2, 1887, expanded the area from which land grants could be chosen, and extended the deadline to June 1, 1888.
The line actually built was rather different, running from Clifton on Lake Jesup west to Apopka, but then turning south to Kissimmee.
The railroad's track was Template:RailGauge while it was independent, but when it was taken over by the Plant System in the late 1890s, all track north of the Template:RailGauge narrow gauge section of the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad (also taken over by the Plant System) was abandoned and the remaining trackage from Clarcona to Kissimmee was converted to Template:RailGauge narrow gauge. The two narrow gauge lines were run in conjunction with one another, allowing the usage of the same narrow gauge equipment on both lines.<ref>History of the Orange Belt Railway</ref> The Plant System became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad system in 1902.
Current conditions
From Clifton to Apopka, the railroad has been abandoned for over 100 years. Virtually no trace of this section remains, but parts of the right-of-way were used to construct SR 434.
From Apopka to Clarcona, the right-of-way is used for the West Orange Trail.
From Clarcona to Ocoee, the right-of-way is currently owned by CSX Transportation and run by the Florida Central Railroad.
From Ocoee to Kissimmee, the railroad is abandoned, and some elements remain.
Historic stations
These are listed from north to south.
| Milepost<ref name="SCL 1977">Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)</ref> | City/Location | Station | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton | junction with Sanford and Indian River Railroad (ACL) | ||
| Longwood | Longwood | junction with South Florida Railroad (ACL) | |
| Palm Springs | junction with Orange Belt Railway (ACL) | ||
| Altamonte Springs | Altamonte | ||
| Lake Brantley | |||
| Fitzville | |||
| Apopka | East Apopka | junction with Apopka and Clay Spring Railway | |
| AVB 841.1 | Apopka | junction with Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad Orlando Division (SAL) | |
| AVB 837.5 | Clarcona | Clarcona | junction with Orange Belt Railway (ACL) |
| Villa Nova | |||
| AVB 832.6 | Ocoee | Ocoee | junction with Tavares & Gulf Railroad (SAL) |
| Minorville | |||
| AVB 829.1 | Gotha | Gotha | |
| AVB 825.7 | Windermere | Windermere | |
| AVB 822.0 | Doctor Phillips | Doctor Phillips | previously known as Harperville |
| AVB 818.5 | Vineland | Vineland | previously known as Orange Center, also Englewood |
| Molanes | |||
| AVB 812.3 | Shingle Creek | ||
| AVB 808.0 | Kissimmee | Kissimmee | junction with South Florida Railroad (ACL) |