The Key West Extension - The Railroad That DID Cross the Sea 

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

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

*FINALLY! Someone talked about it!*

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

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!

Thanks for using our module! We really appreciate it!

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.

I really enjoy these mini documentaries. Thanks for making them.

I never noticed there was once a railroad that crossed the sea until watching this now. What neat history!

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.

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!

Loved it!! Thank you! Just moved to fl l like learning about the all the history here!!!!

Railroad Manifest Destiny. But Mother Nature had different plans for Mr Flagler. Great video!

to think that i’ve probably driven over one of these very bridges without knowing it’s amazing history… thanks for the enlightenment! 👍

This story reminded me of the Microsoft Train Simulator route, SeaView. Great work as always guys. LJL

As someone from Ormond Beach, this was a fun video

Amazing job

Very well done.

You learn something every day

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.

I was terrified approaching a Greyhound bus on the original 7 mile bridge. The guardrails were the rails fom the railroad.

History I never knew when I worked for FEC, I was laid off after their acquisition in 2017

omg i live near jacksonvile and i used to live in palm beach no wonder i love trains

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

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...

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.

I was just thinking about FEC today.

Nice!

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.

TY you are a god

*keywest being only accessable via shipping FEC: _YOU DARE TO OPPOSE ME MORTAL?_

I hav a book on the history of the fec it’s really cool

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.

is there a full trainz route of this in trainz a new era?

Overseas Railroad side

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.

CLOSED CAPTIONS??? I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU! Otherwise, a great video! Keep it up!

What would be the price of 49m in todays dollars ?

Am i the only one who remembers key west being south of Miami not southwest?

one day i will restore the bridges to be use for brightline and my railroad JR internarial

148

Didn't Steam Locomotive 148 used to belong to Black River and Western Railroad?

For the next episode of the San Juan branch line you should bring back Cameron GP30

Good video, but you could have mentioned how deep the water was

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.

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.

it should be rebuilt

Would FEC or Brightline rebuild it. FUCK NO.

And it was not nine passenger cars it was eleven passenger cars