Passenger service operations terminated

Warren Calloway photograph

Having an affinity for Pullman passenger cars and Seaboard Air Line passenger operations, I decided recently to model a passenger train that would be appropriate for use on Boca Grande. While I have no consist lists, I turned to one of my favorite books, Larry Goolsby's Seaboard Air Line Passenger Service, The Streamliner Era, which details many of the Silver Fleet series cars as well as delves into the smaller branches served by Seaboard Air Line.

The following excerpt was taken from Larry Goolsby's chapter on branchline operations:

"Connecting passenger trains from Tampa to Port Boca Grande reached their destination over the Boca Grande Subdivision, originally the Charlotte Harbor & Northern, which Seaboard leased in 1925 and fully merged in 1946. The “Cold, Hungry & Naked” was built to haul phosphate from the rich mines in southwest Florida, and began at Port Boca Grande (located on Gasparilla Island and called South Boca Grande before 1947). From there the line went inland northeast to Arcadia, then turned north to Edison, near Mulberry on the Tampa-West Lake Wales line. Although Port Boca Grande was only 85 air miles south of Tampa, the rail route took trains on a 126-mile inland journey between the two cities.

            As was the case with Venice branch trains, Seaboard’s employee timetables gave trains leaving Tampa a timetable-north number from Valrico to Edison and beyond. To Port Boca Grande, the train was Nos. 30-321, and to Tampa, Nos. 29-322.

            In the winter season, the Port Boca Grande trains carried a through sleeper from New York (usually a 6 Cpt-3 DR, like the mostly Pullman-owned Glen series). The car came via the Palmland originally, then moved to the Silver Star in winter 1948-49. The Port Boca Grande train left Tampa after the Silver Star and Palmland had pulled in, leaving in the morning and getting to Port Boca Grande just after lunch. Passengers of means could take a connecting yacht beyond to Useppa Island. The northbound run left in the afternoon and got back to Tampa at 6:55 (PM).

            The Boca Grande train carried a Seaboard parlor-diner during the winter season up through winter 1953-54. The New York-Port Boca Grande sleeper line received a lightweight 10-6 car effective in the winter of 1956-57 season, but lightweight 4 DB- 4 Cpt-2 DRs (like the Imperial series owned by Pennsylvania and other railroads) served over the next two winters. The lightweight cars were not enough to Nos. 321-322 in the timetables, and they made their last runs on April 12, 1959."

An interesting side note to passenger service on Boca Grande was the creation of the Boca Grande Causeway bridge constructed beginning in 1955-1958 which effectively opened Boca Grande and Gasparilla to the mainland travelers. A historical background of the bridging of the island to mainland Florida was found at the Library of Congress' archives (FL0794 document).

In 1926, Joseph Spadero an Italian-American from New York, moved to Boca Grande. He subsequently purchased most of the land south of 1st Street, where he started construction of the Boca Grande Hotel and golf course as a rival to the Gasparilla Inn. As a businessman who catered to wealthy tourists, he also believed a road/bridge to the island would make it easier for people to get there. Unfortunately, being new to the area, Spadero had no allies in the community, or local and state governments, to help push his plan through.

In the meantime, William C. Sprott, an entrepreneur from Polk County, moved to Gasparilla Island. Privately promoting the idea of a ferry between the mainland and the island, Sprott purchased land in Placida, at the base of the railroad tracks, and in Boca Grande, opposite 35th Street on the Bayou. He also purchased a small barge capable of carrying one car, and began to operate a ferry circa 1929. In 1930, he invested in a bigger barge and incorporated the Boca Grande Ferry Company.

Circa 1949, Spadero allied with Sam Schuckman and Robert Baynard (president of the Venice-Nokomis Bank), and on June 7 of that year, incorporated the Florida Bridge Company with Baynard listed as president. The intent of the company was to construct a causeway from mainland Florida to Gasparilla Island. Because the causeway would cross Placida Harbor/Gasparilla Sound, which had been part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway since 1949, the causeway would require a moveable bridge-what became known as the Boca Grande Swing Bridgeto allow larger sea vessels to pass. Early in 1950, the company applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was granted in May of that year. It was during this application process that the residents of Gasparilla Island first learned of the plans for the causeway, upsetting most of the wealthy northerners with winter homes and many of the year-round inhabitants who opposed such a project. The dispute expanded in July of that year when the company announced it would submit an application to the state’s Railroad and Public Utilities Commission for a franchise by August 5th. The opposition began to circulate petitions to stop it. However, other residents, particularly local businessmen, supported the plans. 

Spadero and Schuckman had begun to secure the right-of-way needed for the project, including the purchase of the land owned by the Boca Grande Ferry Company. The Ferry Company itself remained in the hands of the Sprott family, who operated the ferry service until the causeway opened.

Eventually, the Florida Bridge Company and its supporters won the battle, and in 1952, the company secured a fifty-year franchise lease from Florida to build the causeway and collect tolls. Sadly, Spadero passed away in October of that year, barely living long enough to see construction start on his project. 

Hardaway Construction Company began dredging operations for the Boca Grande Causeway in 1952; this work was necessary to form the intermediate islands that would carry the road and support the Swing Bridge and the two fixed concrete relief bridges. The cost of this effort was estimated at $250,000. Construction of the causeway began around September 1955 at an estimated cost of $702,000; funds for the project came from a $1 million first mortgage and revenue bond issue initially advertised in August 1955. The original estimated completion date was early 1956, but court suits involving right-of-way acquisition caused delays in the work. 

By the end of June 1958, the causeway was open to traffic, although the official opening ceremony did not occur until July 4th. 14 When first constructed, tolls were collected in both directions via a mobile toll station that would be wheeled onto the oncoming lane of the Swing Bridge; rates varied by the type of automobile. For a standard car, the rate was 75 cents for the vehicle and driver and 10 cents for each additional passenger; motorbikes were charged 25 cents; buses and trailers cost $2 for the vehicle plus 10 cents for each passenger; trucks under 2 tons were charged $1.50 plus 10 cents for each passenger; and truck 2 tons and greater cost 50 cents per ton plus 10 cents for each passenger. The bridge tender was responsible for customer service, and if someone wanted to purchase a discount pass, they had to go to the Control House."

Sadly, the end of passenger service came early to Boca Grande in 1959 due to diminished ridership, thereby eliminating passenger service to the island. One question that has often piqued my interest was the consideration if EMC E4, EMD E6 and later units ever ventured onto the island. Due to weight restrictions, large locomotives were not frequent visitors, it was often at the charge of a Baldwin DR6-4-1500 "Baby Face" cab unit numbered in the 2700-2702 series that passengers were hauled.

An interesting consideration would be the use of a later prototype purchased by Seaboard Air Line in 1964 from EMD, the SDP35. Capable of 90 miles per hour and able to provide steam heat, these units were purchased with the intent to replace aging cab units such as the E4 and E6 units, with the provision of also being used in freight service. The 2,500 horsepower locomotives arrived too late to make inroads on Boca Grande in passenger service, but they may have been a visitor to Port Boca Grande at some point in history that has escaped the lens of photographers. Over the next few weeks, in between fishing trips, I hope to publish some additional posts about the construction of several Pullman sleepers and also share some additional head end equipment cars that would be befitting of a Boca Grande era passenger train.

Warren Calloway collection. SAL 1110 was photographed amidst Seaboard's Silver Fleet and head end cars in Miami, Florida. Behind the locomotive are the stadium lights of Miami's fabled Orange Bowl. 

Post Card view

This "1900" era postcard view of Port Boca Grande was offered for sale on Ebay. Not being one to shy away from maximizing opportunities, I wanted to discuss the elements within the post card.

The view of the artist is such that one is looking in a northeasterly direction towards Charlotte Harbor. One of the drying bins is visible to the left of the image while the dock extends to the right. The scene includes various homes that were extant on what would become the Belcher Oil loading facility. The views from this angle are few and far between which makes this image useful for modeling purposes. The likely vantage point may have been the lighthouse.

While no date is given, the presence of the Seaboard-esque hoppers on the dock which is visible to the right of the drying bin suggests this image is a post-1935 image based upon their delivery in that year. The shotgun style homes would make for an interesting scene to include in a model of the area. If only the owner would have known the value of the property at that time? Today, Google aerial imagery is of no or limited use based upon the redevelopment of the area. The value of these images for modeling purposes is great especially when considering post cards are typically containing, "tourist" views and the like.

The Port Boca Grande station and dock visible in the post card are also visible in greater detail in the above image, though the area has undergone some change at this time. The lumber dock has been shortened, and the vegetation immediately south of the drying bins appears to have increased. Smaller structures, likely some of the homes detailed on the map above, also appear south of the bins and headhouse in this westerly looking image. 

Passenger service

Passenger service to and from Boca Grande was a primary means of transportation until the installation of a roadway bridge in the late 1950s. It was primarily handled by the Seaboard Air Line's venerable Baldwin passenger units, the DR6-4-1500A, which were used on the southern end of the system. The units were frequent visitors to Sarasota, Boca Grande and Tampa and were typically in charge of the southern connections.

The units while not available in HO scale, are some of the most interesting locomotives on the Seaboard roster. The units were purchased in November 1947, and two additional units were purchased in January 1948. The locomotives were numbered SAL 2700-2702 and were powered by a 1500 horsepower Baldwin 608SC, 8 cylinder prime mover which was turbo equipped.

The units were ultimately sold to EMD as trade in credit and scrapped in the early 1960s. Several unique images are contained on the Baldwin Diesel Zone website.

In this image above, SAL 2702, a 1948 built unit, is seen stopping at the Boca Grande passenger depot in 1952. Pullman service from New York was available, and it was not uncommon for a Pullman 12-1 sleeper to be in train, supplemented by various coaches and head end equipment. The loading dock south of the station and sidings provide interesting contrast to the mainline.

More Seaboard Air Line P-9s

I recently stumbled across some higher resolution images of Boca Grande, FL phosphate operations. The car numbers can now be realized and add some more prototype road numbers to the existing list documented throughout photographs. SAL 59016 is seen waiting to be unloaded as an unidentified worker releases car brakes. This P-9 is from the 1950 Pullman-Standard order for cars 58975-59174 which consisted of 200 cars. The car is painted gray with black lettering typical of the later appearance cars. Of note, this image was taken with SCL 1140, an Alco RS2, and a "flip top" conversion, which denotes these images as being during the 1969 era.

SAL 59474 was being pulled towards the head house where the dry rock would be dumped and ultimately conveyed to the elevator or stored within the drying bins. SAL 59474 was built in December 1955 by BSC, and is the last car in the series of SAL 59275-59474. This prototype features the straight end sills with stamped steel roping staples. Again this car appears to be painted in the later gray car body paint with black lettering. This car has not been modified and is being pulled it appears by a winch and pulley system located to the right of the hopper.

SAL 58072 is being pulled long (east) of the head house towards the dock. The Klasing 1500 brake wheel and housing are definitely an oddity on these cars. This car is from the original order of SAL 58000-58099 built in February 1935 by Pullman-Standard. The car body is gray with black lettering.

Boca Grande 1954 images

All images courtesy of the Burgett Brothers collection, Hillsborough County Public Library

Phosphate Hoppers - Seaboard vs. ACL

Beginning in 1935, Pullman Standard was contracted to construct a 100 car order of the newly designed P9 class hopper. As shown below, the P9 is a 70 ton covered hopper of reduced height (AAR circular D.V.1150, Exhibit N), rated at 1912 cubic feet and largely considered the catalyst of all modern phosphate hoppers. Seaboard again returned the following year, 1936, for a second order of 100 cars eventually amassing the largest fleet of the such cars. Atlantic Coast Line while following the lead of it’s rival competitor, turned to Bethlehem Steel for a 100 car order in 1938.

Seaboard 58850 was part of a 300 car order constructed in 1950 by Pullman Standard. Sporting Gypsum expanded metal grid running board, Miner powered handbrake and 33 inch one wear steel wrought steel wheels this car is representative of the later built hoppers. Differences among the fleet were minimal when considering the earliest of orders, however, as production and materials advanced welded designs became the standard.

Seaboard’s 70 Ton P9 covered hoppers circa 1935-1962:

Car Number:     Qty:     Builder/Lot:      Built:              Cuft:            Hgt:            Lgth:

58000-58099       100       P-S 5503            2/1935            1912            10’10”            36’6”

58100-58199       100       P-S 5525            7/1936            1912            10’10”            36’6”

58200-58399       200       P-S 5852            6/1947            1912            10’10”            36’6”

58400-58574       175       P-S 5890            12/1947          1912            10’10”            36’6”

58575-58674       100       P-S 5935            1949               1912            10’10”            36’6”

58675-58974       300       P-S 5968            9/1950            1912            10’10”            36’6”

58975-59174       200       P-S 5975            1950               1912            10’10”            36’6”

59175-59274       100       P-S 5987            4/1951            1912            10’10”            36’6”

59275-59474       200       BSC 219            12/1955          1912            10’10”            36’6”

59475-59624       150       ACF 5900          4/1962            1970            10’09”            37’6”

(Notes: P-S, Pullman Standard / BSC, Bethlehem / ACF, American Car and Foundry)

Beginning in 1960, Seaboard moved towards a modern paint scheme resulting in the selection of a gray car body over that of the oxide red as delivered by Pullman Standard. Roman lettering remained, however, as demonstrated above, stenciled road names and numbers became commonplace. The scheme above is a later paint scheme based on the location of the reporting marks to the B end of the car. The early hoppers featured the road name and number over and under scored within the center of the car body.

Noted changes in the Bethlehem Steel Company order included a straight profile side sill, sheet steel roping staples, the inclusion of vibration pads, gussets and a thin side sill directly below the bottom most rivets located along the car body. 

The sill variation began in 1951 with the delivery of SAL series 59175-59274; this design variation continued through the BSC order delivered in 1955 lasting for only two orders. It should be noted the sill slope was revised again in 1962 to resemble that of the early Pullman Standard deliveries, however, by this time cubic capacity, and the car design dimensions were enlarged. 

Seaboard’s fleet of early cars continued in varying service, ranging from sand service, fish meal service, and dedicated phosphate service until the FRA mandated 50 year rule was imposed thus bringing an end to the P9 era.

On July 1st, 1967, Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line merged to form Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The merger streamlined operations, but also eliminated duplicate trackage. A large component of the merger was the Bone Valley region of Florida. As a part of the elimination of duplicate trackage and operations, SCL sought to increase phosphate operations through a new phosphate unloading facility located in Tampa. The terminal was named Rockport Terminal and would increase the tonnage of export phosphate dramatically. The new facility allowed for complete trains to be rotary unloaded and would ultimately replace Port Boca Grande operations.

Beginning in 1969, two years after the Seaboard Coast Line merger, the cars were sent to Bethlehem Steel for heavy repairs and rebuilding. When the cars emerged from Bethlehem, the class was equipped with a full panel rooftop hatch constructed by Stanray. The full length hatch measured 27’7 5/8” in length and included the original 8 smaller roof top hatches which were retained in their original location. The flip top hatch included a hinged type action which allowed the car to be rotated vertically allowing the lading to fall into awaiting pits while in a rotary type dumper. The hinged section commonly called the flip top design marked one of the final design changes to the class.

The following roster denotes the new SCL car numbers, previous car number series, the build date, and the rebuilt date. The rebuild series was not completely inclusive of the series as examples of non-rebuilt cars exist, so one should assume that all cars were rebuilt in kind into "flip tops". The rebuilt series were given the new car classification US12 to follow ACL practice which utilized, "U" to denote phosphate hoppers.

SCL #:                         Previous #:                 Built:        Previous Class:   Rebuilt:           

858000-858199            58000-58199               1935            P9/SAL             1969 (198 cars)

858200-858674            58200-58399               1947            P9/SAL             1969 (466 cars)

                                     58400-58574             1947-48         P9/SAL             1969

                                     58575-58674               1949            P9/SAL             1969

858675-858916            58675-58916               1950            P9/SAL             1969 (200 cars)*

858917-858974            58917-58974               1950            P9/SAL             1969 (200 cars)

858975-859174            58975-59174               1950            P9/SAL             1969 (100 cars)

859175-859274            59175-59274               1951            P9/SAL             1969 (100 cars)

859275-859474            59275-59474               1955            P9/SAL             1969 (200 cars)

859475-859624            59475-59624               1962            P9/SAL             1969 (150 cars)

Note: (*) class renumbered 200000-200199. Not all cars rebuilt to flip top design. Classed by SCL as US12 to provide uniformity to car classification system.

It can be inferred that Seaboard’s 1934 plans took the dry rock industry by storm, however, rival ACL chose to implement the wait and see approach. Beginning in 1938, ACL turned to Greenville with nearly identical plans for such a car. Differing only in choice of trucks, and applicable hardware (brake wheel, running boards, etc…) the U7 is a near clone of the Pullman Standard product. 

ACL quickly augmented their fleet of U5 and U6 hoppers with the likes the of the new U7 quickly realizing the need for a larger, modern hopper. The U7 class, like the P9, featured riveted construction, a unit cast bolster, and the trademark saw tooth design which proved unusually successful. 

ACL’s newest class of U7s, 100 cars in total, became the only class of dry rock hoppers to feature outside bracing. While it was not an as delivered feature, ACL shop forces added the braces to strengthen the 3/16” sides due to corrosion and stresses from loading.

Atlantic Coast Line U-7 covered hoppers:

Car Number:            Qty:           Builder/Lot:         Built:        Cuft:            Hgt:            Lgth:

9200-9299                  100              BSC 85009         1937-38      1970            10’09”          37’6”

9300-9399                  100              BSC 14               12/1940      1970            10’09”          37’6”

9400-9499                  100              BSC 28               12/1941      1970            10’09”          37’6”

9500-9599                  100             ACF 3326            12/1948      1970            10’09”          37’6”

The U7 class totaled 400 cars in total with orders being placed in 1937, 1940, 1941 and 1948. Slightly larger in length and cubic footage while a decrease in overall height, the U7 is nearly identical in many terms when compared to that of the P9. Initially delivered in ACL Indian red or Mulberry red, the U7 class saw differing paint schemes varying from unpainted aluminum or gray Other items of note are Motor wheel journal box lids, Barber S2A stabilized trucks with 2 ½ inch spring travel, Wine door locks and fixtures.

The U7s featured three distinct paint schemes - Indian Red, unpainted Aluminum or gray. The shops of Lakeland, Florida are noted to be one of the major shop points within the Bone Valley region. Capable of heavy or minor repairs, rebuilding cars en mass and equipped with painting facilities, Lakeland or LAKD was a hub of activity during the 1950s. Both SAL and ACL also maintained extensive facilities within Tampa (TPA) and Uceta, Florida. 

                       SCL (nee-ACL) U7/8/10/12 class rebuilds (subclasses included):

SCL #:                   Previous #:            Built:       Previous Class:       Rebuilt:

739200-739499       9200-9299            1938               U7                          N/A (342 cars)*

                                 9300-9399           1940               U7                          N/A

                                 9400-9499           1941               U7                          N/A

739500-739599       9500-9599            1948               U7                          N/A

739600-739999       9600-9999            1951               U8                          1969 (400 cars)

610000-610199       10000-10199        1957               U10                        1969 (200 cars)*

610200-610499       10200-10499        1962               U12                        1969 (300 cars)*            

Note: (*) Class U7 conveyed in part to SCL. No cars rebuilt to flip top design. Classed by SCL as U7, U8, U10, or U12 to provide uniformity to car classification system. Some cars rebuilt with circular hatches in place of square type hatches. A majority of the U7 class were rebuilt into open ballast hoppers used in company service. 

The U7 class were the first cars to be retired of ACL’s fleet due to their service type and longevity. In all, 1450 cars were rebuilt to flip top conversions through 1969, making the P9 type hopper one of the greatest assets to the domestic phosphate industry.

Early survey of Boca Grande Pass