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88-562: Pigeon Key is a small island containing the historic district of Pigeon Key, Florida. The 5-acre (2.0-hectare) island is home to 8 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which remain from its earliest incarnation as a work camp for the Florida East Coast Railway . Today these buildings serve a variety of purposes, ranging from housing for educational groups to administrative offices for

176-487: A 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge railway that began service in 1883 between South Jacksonville and St. Augustine. While the JStA&;HR was used to transport building materials for the hotel's construction, Flagler found it was poorly constructed and its passenger services would be inadequate for patrons to reach his hotel. Flagler joined the board of the JStA&HR on December 10, 1885, before fully purchasing

264-470: A channel, built streets and The Royal Palm Hotel , instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the town's first newspaper, the Metropolis . In 1903, Flagler extended the main line an additional 12 miles from Downtown Miami southwest to access much of the unsettled lowlands near Cutler Ridge which he felt could generate agricultural traffic. This proved successful and the following year,

352-439: A crew not obeying signaling. . FEC has what is called by some a "prime" railroad right-of-way. The heavy weight of the rock trains required very good trackage and bridges. The railroad has mostly 136 pound-per-yard (66 kg/m) continuous-welded rail attached to concrete ties, which sits on a high quality granite roadbed. The entire railroad is controlled by centralized traffic control with constant radio communication. Because

440-541: A future rail expansion to Tampa is currently in the planning stages. A lifeblood of the FEC is its transportation of high-grade limestone , which is used in the formulation for concrete and other construction purposes. The limestone is quarried near Miami in the "Lake Belt" area of Dade County and Broward County just west of Hialeah . The rock trains come out of the FEC yard at Medley in Miami-Dade County and

528-515: A greater and lasting Flagler legacy was the developments along Florida's eastern coast. During the Great Depression, control was purchased by heirs of the du Pont family . After 30 years of fragile financial condition, the FEC, under leadership of a new president, Ed Ball , took on the labor unions . Ball claimed the company could not afford the same costs as larger Class 1 railroads and needed to invest saved funds in its infrastructure,

616-463: A line from Central Florida to West Palm Beach (built by the Seaboard's Florida Western and Northern Railroad subsidiary) in 1925. This line was extended by their Seaboard-All Florida Railway subsidiary to Miami and Homestead on a route nearly parallel to the FEC two years later. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and Great Depression were harsh on the FEC. The railroad declared bankruptcy and

704-425: A move surprising to many employees and railroad industry observers alike, the FEC was purchased for over US$ 3 billion (including non-rail assets) by Fortress Investment Group , the principal investors who also control short line railroad operator RailAmerica . John Giles was named chairman, and David Rohal was named president. Both men were also principals with major responsibilities at RailAmerica as well, although

792-568: A new station was planned at NE 36th Street and NE 2nd Avenue, it was never built. Further, while freight trains were operated with non-union and supervisory crews, passenger runs were not reinstated until August 2, 1965, after the City of Miami sued and the Florida courts ruled that the FEC corporate charter required both coach and first class passenger services to be offered. In response, FEC sold "parlor car seating" for first class accommodations in

880-428: A privately owned and operated service between Miami and Orlando along its route, to be named All Aboard Florida. New high speed trackage would be built between Brevard County (the oceanside county east of Orlando) and Orlando International Airport . In addition to the new track, the main line is once again being expanded to double track from Brevard County to Miami (some of the bridges still have adequate width from

968-434: A prolonged work stoppage by non-operating unions, beginning January 23, 1963, and whose picket lines were honored by the operating unions (the train crews). Because the strike was by the non-operating unions, a federal judge ordered the railroad to continue observing their work rules, while the railroad was free to change the work rules for the operating unions, who were technically not on strike and thus had no standing in

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1056-422: A settlement. According to historian Burton Altman: After the settlement, workers were earning at least one dollar an hour less than their counterparts on other railroads. Wages were well below the industry's scale and the work force had been cut in half. When the strike began, 1,600 walked out. In time, 900 went back to work on the company's terms; others found employment elsewhere. Only about 100 stayed out until

1144-576: A week until it was finally discontinued on July 31, 1968. The Florida East Coast Railway has operated from its relocated headquarters in Jacksonville since it sold the original General Office Building in St. Augustine to Flagler College in late 2006. Its trains run over nearly the same route developed by Henry Flagler, with the addition of the Moultrie Cutoff (St. Augustine to Bunnell ), which

1232-507: A winter resort for the wealthy members of America's Gilded Age . Palm Beach was to be the terminus of the Flagler railroad, but during 1894 and 1895, severe freezes hit all of Central Florida , whereas the Miami area remained unaffected, causing Flagler to rethink his original decision not to move the railroad south of Palm Beach. The fable that Julia Tuttle , one of two main landowners in

1320-481: Is it that you propose?" To convince Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, both Tuttle and William Brickell offered half of their holdings north and south of the Miami River to him. Tuttle added 50 acres (200,000 m ) for shops and yards if Flagler would extend his railroad to the shores of Biscayne Bay and build one of his great hotels. An agreement was made and contracts were signed. On September 7, 1895,

1408-450: Is off U.S. 1 at mile marker 45. It contains 11 historic buildings and 3 structures. The old Seven Mile Bridge (closed to vehicular traffic) crosses over the island and has a pedestrian exit ramp going to the island. Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway ( reporting mark FEC ) is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida , currently owned by Grupo México . Built primarily in

1496-529: The Atlantic Coast Line which had proposed an alternate plan of reorganization. That same year, a labor contract negotiation turned sour. Ball was determined to save the railroad from the bankruptcy that had continued for more than a decade. Ball was certain that if the company didn't become profitable, the equipment and track would deteriorate to the point where some lines would become unsafe or unusable and require partial abandonment. Later, in 1962,

1584-590: The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad . The Key West extension was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 . An FEC rescue train, with the exception of steam locomotive 447, was overturned by the storm surge at Islamorada . 42 miles (68 km) of track were washed away by the hurricane, two miles of which ended up washing ashore on the mainland at Cape Sable . The FEC's Long Key Fishing Camp

1672-610: The Atlantic Ocean . The FEC is possibly best known for building the railroad to Key West , completed in 1912. When the FEC's line from the mainland to Key West was heavily damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 , the State of Florida purchased the remaining right-of-way and bridges south of Dade County , and they were rebuilt into road bridges for vehicle traffic and became known as the Overseas Highway . However,

1760-691: The Casa Monica Hotel , which he renamed Cordova. He then built a third hotel, the Hotel Alcazar , which opened in 1898. With the success of his three St. Augustine hotels, Flagler incorporated the Jacksonville Bridge Company to build a bridge across the St. Johns River and connect the JStA&HR to the rest of Jacksonville's railroads. Passengers needed to be ferried across the St. Johns River in Jacksonville to access

1848-583: The Du Pont company grew into the largest black powder manufacturing firm in the world. The family remained in control of the company up to the 1960s, and family trusts still own a substantial amount of the company's stock. This and other companies run by the du Pont family employed up to 10 percent of Delaware's population at its peak. In the 19th century, the Du Pont family maintained their family wealth by carefully arranged marriages between cousins which, at

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1936-498: The Episcopal Church , Éleuthère Irénée du Pont was a Huguenot . The stylings "du Pont" and "Du Pont" are most prevalent for the family name in published, copy-edited writings. In many publications, the styling is "du Pont" when quoting an individual's full name and "Du Pont" when speaking of the family as a whole. Some individual Du Ponts have chosen to style it differently, such as Samuel Francis Du Pont . The name of

2024-595: The Florida land boom of the 1920s , which led to increased traffic. By 1923, the FEC was running five daily passenger trains roundtrip between Jacksonville and Miami. Two of these trains, the Havana Special and the Key West Express continued to Key West. The following year, the number of passenger trains between Jacksonville and Miami increased to eight with two continuing to Key West. In response to

2112-524: The French Chamber of Deputies . Du Pont, in English, is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. In French, neither syllable is accented." French orthographic tradition for the styling of de , or its inflected forms, as a surname particle, in either nobiliary or non-nobiliary form, is discussed at Nobiliary particle § France . In non-nobiliary form, the prevalent French styling of

2200-758: The National Trust for Historic Preservation , preserving President James Madison 's home Montpelier , and establishing numerous museums such as Winterthur and the Delaware Museum of Natural History . The Brandywine Conservancy, founded by family member George Alexis Weymouth , owns around 2,350 acres (951 ha) of land in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and owns permanent conservation easements on an additional 37,000 acres (14,973 ha). In 2013, Lammot du Pont Copeland 's Mt. Cuba Center contributed over $ 20 million to purchase land for donation to

2288-761: The Ormond Hotel in Ormond Beach . Flagler created the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company in 1892 as a holding company for his railroad network. Beginning in 1892, when landowners south of Daytona petitioned him to extend the railroad 80 miles (130 km) south, Flagler began laying new railroad tracks; no longer did he follow his traditional practice of purchasing existing railroads and merging them into his growing rail system. Under Florida's generous land-grant laws passed in 1893, 8,000 acres (3,237 ha) could be claimed from

2376-514: The Overseas Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure. A rebuilt Overseas Highway ( U.S. Route 1 ), taking an alignment that closely follows the Overseas Railroad's original routing, continues to provide the only highway link to Key West, ending near the southernmost point in the continental United States. The remaining Long Key Viaduct , Seven Mile Bridge , and Bahia Honda Rail Bridge that once carried

2464-762: The Panama Canal was announced by the United States in 1905. As the closest deep-water port in the United States to the canal, Key West was positioned to take advantage of significant new trade with the west that would be enabled by the opening of the canal – this, in addition to the city's existing involvement with Cuban and Latin American trade. Key West was a major coaling station for ship traffic between South America and New York. Flagler thought it would be profitable for coal to be brought by railroad to Key West for coaling those ships. Though, by

2552-421: The St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing. The St. Johns Railway first opened in 1858 and Flagler purchased the line from New York millionaire William Astor. Flagler also acquired another railroad from Astor, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway which ran from Tocoi Junction (about halfway between St. Augustine and Tocoi Landing) on the St. Johns Railway and ran southwest to East Palatka. Finally, Flagler acquired

2640-628: The St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad which opened in the early 1880s from East Palatka southeast to Ormond Beach and Daytona . It was extended west into Palatka after the completion of a bridge over the St. Johns River in 1888. In addition to expanding the network, the acquired railroads gave Flagler two additional accesses to the St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing and East Palatka, as well as additional connections to other railroads in Palatka. Continuing to develop hotel facilities to entice northern tourists to visit Florida, Flagler bought and expanded

2728-634: The United States Supreme Court . The FEC continued operation with heavily reduced non-union crews (often former strikers), at the cost of a high turnover rate, low morale, and deteriorating infrastructure. Most of the unions struck an agreement with the FEC in 1971; the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers remained on strike until March 1, 1974, until the courts forced

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2816-407: The duPont Registry . William S. Dutton's mid-20th-century history of the family business uses "Du Pont" both for the family mentioned generally and for the company's short name, but "du Pont" in an individual's full name, for example, " Éleuthère Irénée du Pont ", " Henry du Pont ", " Alfred Victor du Pont ", " Lammot du Pont ". For example, "when he [Lammot du Pont] went to General Henry du Pont with

2904-434: The 7-mile (11 km) span. The island was originally known as "Cayo Paloma" (literally translated as "Pigeon Key") on many old Spanish charts - said to have been named for large flocks of white-crowned pigeons ( Columba leucocephala Linnaeus) which once roosted there. During the building of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad Key West Extension between 1908 and 1912, there were at times as many as 400 workers housed on

2992-556: The Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the firm in order to pursue his Florida interests. When Flagler returned to Florida, in 1885 he began building a grand St. Augustine hotel, the Ponce de Leon Hotel . Flagler realized that the key to developing Florida was a solid transportation system. At the time, St. Augustine was served by the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway (JStA&HR),

3080-643: The FEC line might be used for a commuter rail service to complement the existing Tri-Rail line (which follows former CSX tracks to the west). There has also been some discussion about Amtrak or the State of Florida using FEC lines for a more direct route between Jacksonville and Miami. The company has more recently indicated that it is open to allowing commuter rail services along its lines, with potential service areas in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Jacksonville's First Coast Commuter Rail . In March 2012 FEC Industries (not FEC Railway) proposed

3168-406: The FEC. Passenger service became a political issue in Florida during the early years of the labor strike, which essentially lasted 14 years, from 1963 to 1977. At the insistence of the City of Miami—which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown section just north of the county courthouse—Miami's wooden-constructed downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963. Although

3256-499: The Florida East Coast Railway in 1893 to 1909. Flager and his lawyers defeated all legal challenges and neither the company or its employees were ever convicted in court. However, there were many reports of harsh working conditions and forced indebtedness to the company, and malfeasance by labor agents who hired men for the railway. Knetsch concludes that "Flagler in fact provided health care for his employees and

3344-529: The Key West extension still stand and are on the National Register of Historic Places. In the early 1960s, Edward Ball , who controlled the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust , bought a majority ownership of FEC, buying its bonds on the open market, allowing the FEC to emerge from bankruptcy following protracted litigation with a group of the company's other bondholders, led by S.A. Lynch and associated with

3432-590: The Miami area along with the Brickell family, sent orange blossoms to Flagler to prove to him that Miami, unlike the rest of the state, was unaffected by the frost , is untrue. The truth is that she wired him to advise him that "the region around the shores of Biscayne Bay is untouched by the freezes." He sent his two lieutenants, James E. Ingraham and Joseph R. Parrott —now famous in Florida history—to investigate; they brought boxes of truck (produce) and citrus back to Flagler, who then wired Tuttle, asking, "Madam, what

3520-421: The Moultrie Cutoff was built to shorten the distance between St. Augustine and Bunnell (just north of Ormond Beach ) on the main line by bypassing its turn towards Palatka. The main line was also expanded to double track from Jacksonville to Miami in 1926, along with the installation of automatic block signaling . Many of the bridges were rebuilt when the main line was expanded to double track, including

3608-579: The Reef was shot on Pigeon Key. Pigeon Key was one of the locations for the "Bal Harbor Institute" in the 1995 series of Flipper . It was seen in three episodes during season one including the pilot episode. It was also the site of the Finish Line of The Amazing Race 18 "Unfinished Business" in 2011. The Pigeon Key Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on March 16, 1990) located on Pigeon Key in Florida . The district

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3696-513: The United States by their immigrant progenitors from France and reinforced in later generations by avid gardeners who married into the family. As early as 1924, the du Ponts were recognized by Charles Sprague Sargent, the famed plantsman and director of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, as "a family which has made the neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware one of the chief centers of horticulture in the United States." The family's first American estate, Eleutherian Mills, located at Hagley Museum and Library ,

3784-489: The advice of his physician, he traveled to Jacksonville, Florida , for the winter with his first wife, Mary, who was quite ill. Two years after she died in 1881, he married Mary's former caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. After their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida , in 1883. Flagler found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. He recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state visitors. Though Flagler remained on

3872-490: The central interior of the peninsula south from Jacksonville to Auburndale , and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad route south from Auburndale completed the trip to West Palm Beach and Miami. The strike and the resulting interior rerouting marked the end of long-distance coastal service between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. Any resumed service later, in 1965, was strictly intrastate trains operated by

3960-443: The chemical company founded by the family is today styled solid as " DuPont " in the short form. The long form is styled as E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The stylings "Du Pont" and "DuPont" for the company's short name coexisted in the 20th century, but the latter is now consistently used in the company's branding. The solid styling "duPont" is less common. The Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children uses it, as does

4048-679: The company effective December 31, 2017, and was replaced by Nathan Asplund as the railway was purchased by Grupo México and now manages it along with its other transport interests. The FEC operations today are dominated by "intermodal" trains and unit rock (limestone) trains. Passenger service was discontinued in 1968 after labor unrest but later resumed (under a different operator) with the introduction of Brightline in 2018. The company's major income-earning sources are its rock trains, transporting primarily limestone, and intermodal trains. FEC freight trains operate on precise schedules. Trains are not held for missed connections or late loadings. Most of

4136-407: The condition of which was fast becoming a safety issue. The company—using replacement workers—and some of its employees engaged from 1963 until 1977 in one of the longest and more violent labor conflicts of the 20th century. Ultimately, federal authorities had to intervene to stop the violence, which included bombings, shootings and vandalism. However, the courts ruled in the FEC's favor with regard to

4224-466: The end, and many of them could not return to work because they could no longer pass the required physical examinations or were too old to work. The end of the strike also ended their meager benefits that had enabled members to survive. After Ball's death in 1981, Raymond Wyckoff took the helm of the company on May 30, 1984. From the beginning of the strike, the long-distance named passenger trains rerouted over an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route through

4312-432: The expanded Cuban embargo added to the woes. Having gained total control of the FEC by 1960, Ball sought to make the railroad profitable again by holding down wages. Despite the recommendation of a National Mediation Board convened by President Kennedy in 1962, Ball refused to grant FEC workers a 10-cents-an-hour raise, accepted by 192 other railroads, claiming that the FEC could not afford to raise wages. This led to

4400-424: The family fortune was estimated at $ 14.3 billion, spread across more than 3,500 living relatives. Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours was the son of a Parisian watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian Huguenot family. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of a minor noble family . In 1800, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Éleuthère Irénée du Pont , migrated from France to the United States. He used

4488-399: The federal court regarding the strike. Ball's use of replacement workers to keep the railroad running during the strike led to violence by strikers that included shootings and bombings; a number of freight trains were derailed or blown up. Eventually, federal intervention helped quell the violence, and the railroad's right to operate during the strike with replacement workers was affirmed by

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4576-507: The federal government, to form the First State National Historical Park . Beginning with William du Pont, Jr. and his sister, Marion duPont Scott , many members of the Du Pont family have been involved in the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred racehorses , as well as establishing racehorse venues and training tracks, including Delaware Park and Fair Hill, Maryland. While most Du Ponts are members of

4664-630: The first day of service on the new route, a proud Henry Flagler rode the first passenger train into Key West, marking the completion of the railroad's oversea connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida. The completed extension was widely known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Upon his arrival in Key West, Flagler stated "Now I can die in peace" with pride in his achievement. Flagler died 16 months later in May 1913. The Florida East Coast Railway benefitted greatly from

4752-585: The island. While these workers built many bridges along the route through the lower keys, the Seven Mile Bridge, spanning the gap between Knight's Key and Little Duck Key, remains the largest component of what was once referred to as "the 8th Wonder of the World". A number of buildings from the Flagler era remain on the island and are now part of the Pigeon Key Historic District . Much of the 1978 television film Hunters of

4840-651: The land boom, the FEC made investments to their network to increase capacity. Within the decade, FEC built Bowden Yard in Jacksonville and the Miller Shops in St. Augustine. In 1923, the FEC built the Miami Belt Line, a freight route that ran from Little River through Hialeah that reconnected with the main line in Larkin (near Kendall ), bypassing downtown Miami. A yard was also built in Hialeah. In 1925,

4928-660: The last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Flagler . He originally visited Florida with his first wife, Mary; they sought assistance with the health issues she faced. A key strategist who worked closely with John D. Rockefeller building the Standard Oil Trust, Flagler noted both great potential and a lack of services during his stay at St. Augustine . He subsequently began what amounted to his second career, developing resorts, industries, and communities all along Florida's shores abutting

5016-498: The letter of the law, the passenger service was bare bones. The trains carried no baggage , remains, mail or express and honored no inter-line tickets or passes. The only food service was a box lunch (at Cocoa-Rockledge in 1966). On-board beverage service was limited to soft drinks and coffee. Without a station in Miami, the 1950s-era station in North Miami became the southern terminus. This stripped-down service operated six days

5104-453: The line at the time, which was a time-consuming process. Construction began in 1889 and the bridge opened on January 5, 1890, allowing a direct connection for private railcars and Pullman coaches to reach St. Augustine. By 1888, Flagler was interested in expanding his network beyond St. Augustine. He acquired three additional railroads that year to expand further south. He acquired the St. Johns Railway , which ran from St. Augustine west to

5192-429: The line three weeks later. Flagler then rehabilitated the line to his standards, purchased new rolling stock, and converting the track to standard gauge. He built a modern depot facility as well as schools, hospitals and churches, systematically revitalizing the largely abandoned historic city. The Ponce de Leon Hotel opened on January 10, 1888. By April of that year, Flagler acquired a second hotel in St. Augustine,

5280-516: The line was extended to Homestead . Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the fledgling rail empire extensively employed convict labor from largely African-American convicts. While most Southern states employed a form of convict lease at the time, renting prisoners' labor to various businesses, Florida's version of convict lease was considered "especially violent" compared to the others. According to historian Joe Knetsch, reformers and muckrakers exaggerated charges of peonage regarding construction of

5368-420: The name is " Dupont ". Thus the choice by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours to begin styling himself so during the monarchical era, hints at social ambition. Today the influence of French orthography and prerevolutionary class structure on how English orthography styles surnames today, is outweighed by how families and individuals so named, style themselves. Below is an alphabetical listing of selected members of

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5456-512: The name of Flagler's system was officially changed from the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company to the Florida East Coast Railway Company and incorporated. The Florida East Coast Railway reached Fort Lauderdale on March 3, 1896. On April 15, 1896, track reached Biscayne Bay , the site of present-day downtown Miami. At the time, it was a small settlement of less than 50 inhabitants. When

5544-494: The necessities to operate the mill: a water flow sufficient to power it, available timber (mainly willow trees) that could be turned into charcoal fine enough to use for gunpowder, and close proximity to the Delaware River to allow for shipments of sulfur and saltpeter , the other ingredients used in the manufacture of gunpowder. There were also nearby stone quarries to provide needed building materials. Over time,

5632-402: The non-profit Pigeon Key Foundation. The former Assistant Bridge Tender's House has been converted into a small museum featuring artifacts and images from Pigeon Key's colorful past. It is located off the old Seven Mile Bridge , at approximately mile marker 45, west of Knight's Key , (city of Marathon in the middle Florida Keys) and just east of Moser Channel , which is the deepest section of

5720-407: The original bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville which was replaced by the current Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge . By the end of 1926, the number of passenger trains from Jacksonville to Miami increased to 12, with some continuing to Key West. Due to the prosperity of South Florida during the land boom, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad brought competition to the region by building

5808-471: The ownership of FEC and RailAmerica were not linked corporately, and the spinoff of RailAmerica as a publicly traded company did not include FEC. In May 2010, James Hertwig was named as president and chief executive officer of the company effective July 1, 2010. Hertwig had recently retired from CSX , most recently having served as president of CSX Intermodal, one of CSX's major operating units. James Hertwig retired as president and chief executive officer of

5896-766: The previous double track). In 2014 the very first beginnings of All Aboard Florida commenced with studies and actual construction of the first phase, and construction began in November 2014. In 2015, AAF announced they would operate the service under the name Brightline. Since 2018, Brightline has had service on an initial stretch between West Palm Beach and Miami , with a station in Fort Lauderdale in between. In 2022, two additional stations in Boca Raton and Aventura were added. A new railway extension to Orlando International Airport started service in 2023, and

5984-597: The proposal that the Du Ponts manufacture dynamite, he was answered by a blunt and unqualified 'No!'" ) The first page of Dutton's monograph contains the following footnote about the surname's styling. The mention of "Samuel Dupont" here refers to the 18th-century Parisian watchmaker, not to his 19th-century descendant : "Samuel Dupont used this form of the family name [i.e., Dupont], but beginning in 1763 his son signed himself 'Du Pont.' Later, he added 'de Nemours' to his name to prevent confusion with two other Duponts in

6072-407: The railroad has only minor grades, it takes very little horsepower to pull very long trains at speed. 60 mph (97 km/h) trains are a normal FEC operating standard. The FEC was already in the freight-only business when Amtrak was created and assumed passenger operations of nearly all U.S. railroads' passenger services in 1971. Periodically, there has been speculation that the southern end of

6160-523: The rear lounge section of a tavern-lounge-observation car. Train service operated daily, except Sunday. This new state-mandated passenger service consisted of a single diesel locomotive and two streamlined passenger cars, which, in addition to the operating crew, were staffed by a passenger service agent and a coach attendant, who were "non-operating". The mini-streamliner operated all of the way across three previously observed crew districts (Jacksonville to New Smyrna Beach to Fort Pierce to Miami). Following

6248-510: The resources of their Huguenot heritage to found one of the most prominent of American families, and one of its most successful corporations , E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , initially established by Éleuthère Irénée as a gunpowder manufacturer. In 1802, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont established a gunpowder mill on the banks of the Brandywine River near Wilmington, Delaware . The location, named Eleutherian Mills , provided all

6336-526: The right to employ strikebreakers . During this time Ball invested heavily in numerous steps to improve the railroad's physical plant, and installed various forms of automation. The FEC was the first US railroad to operate two-man train crews, eliminate cabooses , and end all of its passenger services (which were unprofitable) by 1968. Today, the company's primary rail revenues come from its intermodal and rock trains. Brightline , an inter-city rail route, uses FEC tracks between Cocoa and Miami . The FEC

6424-611: The seven years of construction, three hurricanes threatened to halt the project. This included the 1906 Florida Keys hurricane , which killed 135 of Flagler's workers. The Key West extension cost $ 50 million and the lives of hundreds of workmen. Workers toiled under conditions sufficiently cruel and harsh that the US Justice Department prosecuted the FECR under a federal slave-kidnapping law. Journalists also chronicled conditions of debt peonage wherein immigrant labor

6512-403: The southern end of the FEC service area. Shipments currently are principally for materials dealers Titan and Rinker . Du Pont family Several former du Pont family estates are open to the public as museums, gardens or parks, such as Winterthur , Nemours , Eleutherian Mills , Longwood Gardens , Gibraltar , Mt. Cuba , and Goodstay. The family's interest in horticulture was brought to

6600-549: The state for every mile (1.6 km) built. Flagler would eventually claim in excess of two million acres (809,371 ha; 8,094 km ) for building his railroad, and land development and trading would become one of his most profitable endeavors. Flagler obtained a charter from the state of Florida authorizing him to build a railroad along the Indian River to Miami , and as the railroad progressed southward, cities such as New Smyrna and Titusville began to develop along

6688-492: The time the extension was finished, the range of ships had been extended to such a degree that they no longer stopped in Key West for coal. The construction of the Overseas Railroad required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and monetary resources. Many considered the Key West extension a folly as it was one of the most daring infrastructure ever built exclusively with private funds. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During

6776-565: The time, was the norm for many families. The family played a large part in politics during the 18th and 19th centuries and assisted in negotiations for the Treaty of Paris and the Louisiana Purchase . Both T. Coleman and Henry A. du Pont served as U.S. senators. Pierre S. du Pont, IV served as Governor of Delaware. The family has played an important role in historic preservation and land conservation, including helping to found

6864-496: The town incorporated, on July 28, 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for the city's development by naming it Flagler. He declined the honor, persuading them to retain its old Indian name, "Miami." The area was actually previously known as Fort Dallas after the fort built there in 1836 during the Second Seminole War . To further develop the area surrounding the Miami railroad station, Flagler dredged

6952-792: The tracks. The railroad reached Fort Pierce January 29, 1894. By March 22 of the same year, the railroad system reached what is today known as West Palm Beach . Flagler constructed the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon . He also built the Breakers Hotel on the ocean side of Palm Beach, and Whitehall , his private 55-room, 60,000 square foot (5,600 m ) winter home. The development of these three structures, coupled with railroad access to them, established Palm Beach as

7040-406: The trains are paired so that they leave simultaneously from their starting points and meet halfway through the run and swap crews, so they are back home at the end of their runs. The FEC pioneered operation with 2 man crews with no crew districts, which they were able to start doing after the 1963 strike. The entire railroad adopted automatic train control (ATC) after a fatal 1987 collision caused by

7128-418: Was a far better employer than the press alleged." Once the railroad reached Homestead in 1904, Flagler then sought perhaps his greatest challenge: the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles (206 km) beyond the end of the Florida peninsula . He became particularly interested in linking Key West to the mainland after the construction of

7216-418: Was also destroyed in the storm. Traffic was immediately embargoed south of Florida City after the storm while the Florida East Coast Railway decided whether or not to restore the line. The Florida East Coast Railway quickly determined that it was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections. The roadbed and remaining bridges south of Florida City were then sold to the state of Florida, which built

7304-416: Was built in 1925 to shorten the main line south of St. Augustine. In March 2005, Robert Anestis stepped down as CEO of Florida East Coast Industries after a four-year stint, allowing Adolfo Henriquez to assume that position, with John D. McPherson, a long-time railroad man, continuing as president of the railway itself. By this time, the railroad had long since made peace with its workers. In late 2007, in

7392-636: Was historically a Class I railroad owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) from 2000 to 2016, FOXX Holdings between 1983 and 2000, and the St. Joe Company prior to 1983. The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) was developed by Henry Morrison Flagler , an American tycoon , real estate promoter, railroad developer and John D. Rockefeller 's partner in Standard Oil . Formed at Cleveland, Ohio , as Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler in 1867, Standard Oil moved its headquarters in 1877 to New York City . Flagler and his family relocated there as well. He

7480-432: Was in receivership by September 1931, 18 years after Flagler's death. Bus service began to be substituted for trains on the branches in 1932. Streamliners plied the rails between 1939 and 1963, including The East Coast Champion (from New York), The Florida Special (from New York), City of Miami (from Chicago), Dixie Flagler (from Chicago) and South Wind (from Chicago), all of which were jointly operated with

7568-558: Was joined by Henry H. Rogers , another leader of Standard Oil who also became involved in the development of America's railroads, including those on nearby Staten Island , the Union Pacific , and later in West Virginia , where he eventually built the remarkable Virginian Railway to transport coal to Hampton Roads , Virginia . Flagler's non-Standard Oil interests went in a different direction, however, when in 1878, on

7656-464: Was preserved and restored by Louise E. du Pont Crowninshield . She also helped to establish the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1949. In recent years, the family has continued to be known for its association with political and business ventures, as well as philanthropic causes. Two family members were the subjects of well-publicized criminal cases. John Eleuthère du Pont was convicted of murdering wrestling coach Dave Schultz. As of 2016,

7744-412: Was threatened with prohibitive transportation fees to leave Key West after seeing the unsafe and disease-ridden conditions, essentially forcing them to stay. Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Coast Railway to Trumbo Point in Key West was completed in 1912. The first train, a construction engineers' train, arrived in Key West on January 21, 1912. The next day, which is considered

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