By Russell Tedder
Images from the
collection of Don Hensley
All
true Southerners understand that the following will be tempting fare. In the process of coming to grips with all
the affiliated companies that should be included in the GS&F RR Historical
Society, an obscure road that should at least be mentioned in passing is the
Gainesville and Gulf Railway Company, often humorously called “Grits and
Gravy.”
The
earliest predecessor of the Gainesville and Gulf was the Gainesville, Rocky
Point and Micanopy Railway which was chartered in 1884. However, it was not until ten years later
that the first construction was completed.
The 16-mile segment between Gainesville, Fla., and Micanopy, Fla., was
opened for service in 1894. The company
was authorized to issue $300,000 of capital stock, but only $54,500 had been
subscribed at the time of this construction. There were also $38,000 of eight
per cent, three-year, gold bonds outstanding and about $10,000 in bills
payable. The total cost of the road was estimated at $100,000.
In
reorganization on July 24, 1895, the name of the company was changed to
Gainesville and Gulf Railway Company which was chartered on June 22, 1895. The new company was authorized to increase
capital stock to $1,000,000. It also
received a land grant of alternate sections along the right-of-way, plus an
extra ten thousand acres per mile from the state. The projected route was from Gainesville to
Tampa Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.
In
1899 the line was extended to Fairfield, Fla., 12 miles south of Micanopy, and
to Sampson City, Fla., 20 miles north of Gainesville, for a total distance of
48 miles. At Sampson City the G&G connected with the GS&F which had
been acquired by Southern Railway in 1895. The G&G was a standard gauge
road laid with 35 and 60-pound rail.
Rolling stock consisted of three Baldwin 4-6-0s, Nos. 60, 70 and 71, and
17 cars.
The
Gainesville and Gulf ran a deficit every fiscal year between 1895 and 1900,
with the exception of 1897 when it had a surplus of $9,194. The company lost no money during the year
ending in 1896 in which there was a deficit of $1,632 after $3,500 was paid out
in dividends.
Notwithstanding
its nickname of “Grits and Gravy,” the G&G was formally advertised as “The
Fruit and Vegetable Route of Florida.”
In
1898 the Georgia Southern & Florida made an investment in certain stock and
the total $150,000 principal amount of outstanding bonds of the Gainesville and
Gulf. The road was sold in 1907 to the F. J. Lisman Company which had organized
the Tampa and Jacksonville Railway on June 6, 1906. On February 25, 1907 the G&G and T&J
were consolidated by joint agreement with the new organization taking the name
of the Tampa and Jacksonville Railway. The new company issued bonds, certain of
which were reserved to redeem the Gainesville and Gulf bonds owned by the
GS&F.
Although
the T&J was proposed to extend between its two namesake cities, the road’s
only extension was an additional eight miles from Fairfield to Emathla, Fla.,
resulting in a total length of 56 miles. It continued to bill itself as “The
Fruit and Vegetable Route of Florida.”
Produce from the area south of Gainesville and phosphate rock and
fuller’s earth from the Emathla area were the chief products hauled by the road
which served primarily as a feeder line for the GS&F at Sampson City.
Besides one daily except Sunday round trip over the entire line both the
G&G and the T&J operated double daily trains between Gainesville and
Sampson City. Schedules were coordinated with GS&F trains between Sampson
City, Valdosta and Macon with connections to and from Atlanta via the Central
of Georgia.
Tampa & Jacksonville #58 photographed at the
Southern Iron & Equipment Company’s shops in Atlanta.
The
public convenience of the G&G and T&J was demonstrated as the road
helped to facilitate intercollegiate romance between female students at the
Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University) at Tallahassee,
Fla., and the all male University of Florida at Gainesville. The enthusiastic
students rode the T&J from Gainesville to Sampson City, the GS&F from
Sampson City to Lake City and the Seaboard Air Line from Lake City to
Tallahassee or vice versa.