OK, here’s a mystery for the history buffs on the board:
A friend of mine recently bought some property about 10 miles east of Bradenton, FL. His title search revealed that in 1910, the north boundary of the property was the “Right of Way, East and West Coast Railroad”.
I don’t know of any such railroad and there certainly is no sign of a right of way today. Did this railroad ever exist or run trains?
Found this… http://www.sun-herald.com/2000/de1.htm
excerpted: “Transportation improvements during the prewar period included a connection with Bradenton in 1915 by the East and West Coast Railroad. Completion of that line and the presence of the Charlotte, Harbor, Northern and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroads made Arcadia one of the principal rail centers of Southwest Florida.”
Thanks. I wonder if it actually ran from the East and West Coasts of Florida? Now I need to set out to see if I can find any sign of right-of-way.
I found another reference to a place called “Myakka” or “Miakka”. Apparently it’s been pretty well swallowed up by suburbia, but you might be able to catch a reference point there somewhere.
Seaboard Air Line had a 47 mile line between Bradenton and Arcadia during 1928. It was not there in 1900 or 1943. I would guess highway 70 uses the ROW, and it passes through Myakka City. I think it is doubtful it would have gone much further east, although it may have been surveyed to or through Okeechobee.