Footprints of the oldKissimmee Valley Branch Right-of-Way
One of the shorter-lived and evidently unsuccessful branches of the FEC, this line junctioned with the Titusville branch at Maytown and trailed South through the desolate Kissimmee outback all the way to the top of Lake Okechobee. It was completed in 1915 (building at the same time the Railway was hustling to finish the Key West extension!) and was abandoned in 1947 when a more direct route to the lake from Fort Pierce was opened. The northern part of this branch was used by a small logging railroad until about 1951. I have no idea how much longer the rails remained after that. Careful examination of precise local maps of the area do reveal numerous trails and old grades along with roads built over or along the old right-of-way. My next railroad trip to Florida this Spring is going to include exploration of this area and hopefully reveal remnants of this most remote and sparse branchline of the Florida East Coast Railway.
