Do the Charleston clear to Tampa Bay...

Henry Plant took over the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad and expanded into Tampa to connect with his steamship lines running to Cuba and other destinations. He also built hotels and key locations along this line in the 1890s. In 1900, Henry Plant died and his railroad interests were soon purchased by the Atlantic Coast Line, along with several other acquisitions in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. The Atlantic Coast Line made Tampa its major destination on the West Coast with maintenance shops, yards and shipping facilities located there. The ACL Florida main line ran from Jacksonville to Tampa via Orlando, Lakeland and Plant City.

Manatee County railroads in the 1930's.

The Seaboard Air Line, based in Richmond, VA, was a competitor of the ACL and came to Tampa in 1902, running tracks through Ocala and Plant City before turning west toward Tampa. Seaboard began building branch lines just after the turn of the century to St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice. Both railroads also absorbed several short lines until their tracks intertwined throughout this region and laid the ground work for their eventual merger in 1967, forming the Seaboard Coast Line.