The Key West Extension - The Railroad That DID Cross the Sea
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
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www.flickr.com/photos/keyslib... - Авто та транспорт
I love how the vast majority of anything in Florida's history can be summarised with "and then there was a hurricane"
Man , i remenber seeing a map in trainz called "Florida East Coast Railway" With a bridge that ran on the ocean , so now i know why that exists , nice video btw
Very cool
I think this is still on the download station, but I don't know it's compatibly after Trainz12
Oh boi, now thats a map that im gonna try get once i get my own copy of a trainz game.
I have it and edited it
@Bryan Piedramartel it works, but it's got missing assets past Trainz 2012.
I tested it on Trainz 2022
Although no longer really laced with Iron I admire Mr Flagler, he literally paved the way for one of the most beautiful highway trips in the world.
So this was the railroad that the Labor Day hurricane destroyed. Sad really, but I believe I've driven past it before. The fact that it was even built against all the odds and managed to see some semblance of success before it all ended, is indeed an achievement of itself. The Key West railroad definitely deserves the title of a wonder of the world, and this lifelong railroad enthusiast has gained a heightened sense of admiration and respect for this engineering marvel. :D
While Florida's trains don't get much attention, this is honestly really cool!
Thank you so much for covering the Key West Extension! The FEC has always been my "#1" railroad, and there is very little proper material covering the railroad in a timely (and professional) format without anything in the way of any "inaccuracies" (I noticed that you seemed to have gone to great lengths to avoid getting deeply into specifics, I assume for that very purpose). Looking forward to your next video
Like you wouldn't believe! Let's just say that the Florida East Coast Society was very helpful in chasing out the inaccuracies that had crept in. :P
*FINALLY! Someone talked about it!*
Glad to cover this topic. This is one of those things that has to be seen in order to be appreciated.
I've been to the keys so many times I know almost all the (railroad) bridges they have there. Also thank you for making this video.
I drove the old 7 mile bridge many times, it must have been a helluva ride in a steam train!
BTW the old 7 mile bridge has been reopened from Marathon to Pigeon Key [no motorized vehicles].
Flagger speculated that most of the north east USA Bound Ships coming thru the panama canal had to make a coal replenish stop at key west were he sells Coal and Move the Perishables faster on his RR to Florida. But by the time the panama canal was finished Steam Ships boilers were fueled by Oil. And also the Hurricanes constantly wiping the tracks ran him into the ground. A bit of History the side barriers on the 7 mile bridge were made using the old rails from the tracks. Later when Monroe county widen the bridge They were replaced with Concrete.
I went on a sail boat for 7 days with 13 others to key west it was hot, it was smelly, I got a tan, and had a great time I didn’t even know they had a railroad there! I saw what was left of the road bridges they were beyond rusted sections falling into the water. This was a great video and can’t wait to see more
I never noticed there was once a railroad that crossed the sea until watching this now. What neat history!
Omg! I’ve seen the old bridge! My mom told me that it was a railroad bridge but I never thought I’d see a video about it!!
It really is crazy to see in person
I also wasn’t expecting to hear the carrizo gorge as well!
I really enjoy these mini documentaries. Thanks for making them.
Glad you like them!
Imagine if Miami DID change its name to Flagler:
Flagler Herald
Flagler Beach
Flagler Vice
CSI: Flagler
Hotline Flagler
Flagler Dolphins
Flagler Marlins
Flagler Heat
ect.
Great video as always, and a super interesting and unique line! Always love when channels like yours cover topics that I am not familiar with or don’t know at all, it’s so fun learning about little things like this! Thanks for the awesome content!
Much appreciated!
Thanks for using our module! We really appreciate it!
Our pleasure!
BTW friends. On the 10th of April, 2022, I had the good fortune to ride behind Florida East Coast locomotive #148. Now a US Sugar engine.
to think that i’ve probably driven over one of these very bridges without knowing it’s amazing history…
thanks for the enlightenment! 👍
Our pleasure!
As someone from Ormond Beach, this was a fun video
I was terrified approaching a Greyhound bus on the original 7 mile bridge. The guardrails were the rails fom the railroad.
Railroad Manifest Destiny. But Mother Nature had different plans for Mr Flagler. Great video!
History I never knew when I worked for FEC, I was laid off after their acquisition in 2017
You learn something every day
This story reminded me of the Microsoft Train Simulator route, SeaView. Great work as always guys. LJL
Thanks!
Amazing job
omg i live near jacksonvile and i used to live in palm beach no wonder i love trains
Very well done.
Thank you kindly!
Loved it!! Thank you! Just moved to fl l like learning about the all the history here!!!!
Alot of History. I have a 45 rpm record by Pete Duvall titled "7 mile bridge" I received it for free on a visit to our radio station when I was in grade school, and yes I still the record. Its printed on it "demo copy, radio station play ony" or something close. Also at 6:36 it shows 2 trucks by some rail cars, the nearest truck appears to have cotton bales??? That model truck is a Chevrolet, manufactured from 1941-1947. A little after the hurracaine. I have 2 1946 models. Good video.
Nice!
Thanks!
I been to key west and the bridge is beautiful
It's a shame that no piece of track remains of the Key West extension. They should have left a few tracks in the ground at the Key West terminus plus maybe a 20s or 30s railroad car on them
TY you are a god
Great video on this topic. Although I do wonder if some sort of light rail or metro system along the keys would still be feasible...
I don’t think so, based on what happened in 1935 and how problematic constructing it was i think Florida should just stick to a plan of making the bridges into walkways
The Overseas Railroad is one of my all-time favorite tales of a true railroad engineering marvel. I'm glad its story was finally shared.
That said, forgive me for saying, but I couldn't help but sense a certain... despondence in the tone here? A bit of cynicism in the narrative? Like there was a constant undercurrent of "This was an absurd idea, it took a miracle to do it, it never really paid off, and in retrospect they probably shouldn't have bothered." I apologize if I've got you wrong on this, but I would have hoped for a bit more of a commemoration of this work for the engineering marvel it was, not least being one of the first large scale uses of reinforced concrete in America. Perhaps I'm the one looking at this story with rose colored glasses, dreaming of a time when such colossal projects were possible, when America could build a railroad across the ocean largely just to prove that it could be done. We can't do that anymore, and that saddens me. So I couldn't help but feel a bit sadder at the undertone that we shouldn't have even tried.
If the tone did sound cynical, that wasn't the intention. It certainly is an engineering marvel, but one that was built on high hopes that simply didn't materialize. I consider it more tragic than foolhardy that it played out the way it did.
In Australia and I would have thought the US, the government built these marginal railways just with the intent of opening up some of the these areas for settlement and extracting resources. There was never any real intent of them being profitable, only a hope. Sadly most were abandoned once they had served there original purpose. Great videos, keep them up.🇦🇺
I was just thinking about FEC today.
Looking at many bridges I always wonder why "so much excess material is needed"? Surely there are safety factors it just seems way too much.
I hav a book on the history of the fec it’s really cool
*keywest being only accessable via shipping
FEC: _YOU DARE TO OPPOSE ME MORTAL?_
It could be said that the Overseas Railway was the finale of the Gilded Age, for it was the plaything of a very rich old man. Never commercially successful, the combination of the Great Depression and the state building a parallel highway doomed the Key West Extension, minor damage from the Great Storm of '35 gave FEC management the opportunity to unload a white elephant.
Overseas Railroad side
CLOSED CAPTIONS??? I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU! Otherwise, a great video! Keep it up!
Am i the only one who remembers key west being south of Miami not southwest?
Maybe a history on the Catskill Mountain Railroad? I mean it already has its own fictional railroad, so why not cover the real one? This would include both ends, one in service, Kingston New York and Phoenicia New York. The Phoenicia end met the end of its life a few years ago, now a pedal car route. It was doomed for a while, being that floods constantly knocked out bridges and being the less popular of the already bankrupt tourist attraction.
I agree, that would be a good one along with New York Central's Putnam Division which played a key role in the development of the lower Eastern Hudson Valley.
is there a full trainz route of this in trainz a new era?
There's one from the TS2009-12 era that was built on a, "What If" concept of the line surviving into modern day. I did not download that during the making of this video.
What would be the price of 49m in todays dollars ?
one day i will restore the bridges to be use for brightline and my railroad JR internarial
I agree, it’s just a matter of time before justification by Brightline will restore Flagler’s Key west connection.
@@divox9pqr mhm maybe thay will get started on it by 2040
Good luck with that it was hard enough to do already
Unfortunately, Arnold Schwarzenegger blew a part of it up during the filming of "True Lies"!😂😂😂
Didn't Steam Locomotive 148 used to belong to Black River and Western Railroad?
My grandfather worked in that railroad as a fireman way, way back in the day.
@@spuds6423 That’s cool to hear man!
148
For the next episode of the San Juan branch line you should bring back Cameron GP30
Yes - From a time when it seemed like anything was possible! --- Boy, has that day long passed! Today we want the government to save us from anything and everything.
Good video, but you could have mentioned how deep the water was
it should be rebuilt
What ever happened to the engine after the hurricane? Did it survive or did it get scrapped?
Hard to imagine riding from New York City to Key West on one train. It’s time to restore the Flagler connection to Key West. If the State and Federal politicians could ever get their rhetoric in gear, it could be done. Brightline could do it. The route from Jacksonville straight through to Key West is possible again. If there is highway access to Key West, there can also be a need for rail access.
Not going to happen...there is this pesky little document called the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA!!
Would FEC or Brightline rebuild it.
FUCK NO.
They couldn't even if they wanted to ....the NEPA would make it impossible , just like any major improvement to other lines in existence.
And it was not nine passenger cars it was eleven passenger cars