Sarasota Subdivision

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Sarasota Subdivision (W Line) was a rail line that ran from the company's main line at Turkey Creek south to Palmetto, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice. The line was built in phases from 1901 to 1911. Parts of the line are still in service today.

At its greatest extent, the Sarasota Subdivision began on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Main Line in Turkey Creek. From Turkey Creek, it headed south to Durant where it crossed the company's Valrico Subdivision. It continued southwest from Durant through Boyette, Wimauma, Parrish, and Ellenton. Between Parrish and Ellenton, a spur ran northwest to the island of Terra Ceia.

In Ellenton, the Sarasota Subdivision turned west to Palmetto before turning back south. Spurs into both Ellenton and Palmetto also existed along the route.

South of Palmetto, the Sarasota Subdivision crossed the Manatee River on a long swing bridge into Bradenton. In Bradenton, a passenger depot was located on 8th Avenue East. South of Bradenton, the line continued south through Oneco and Tallevast to Sarasota, where a passenger depot was located on the northwest corner of Main Street and Lemon Avenue. South of the Sarasota depot, the line ran south through Downtown Sarasota along Lemon Avenue and Pineapple Avenue, and east along Alderman Street. It continued east through the community of Fruitville before turning south through Bee Ridge, Osprey, Laurel, and Nokomis before entering Venice. A passenger depot was located along Venice Avenue. The line's terminus in Venice was at a wye a short distance south of the passenger depot.

The Sarasota Subdivision was one of the first major expansions of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network in Florida. All of Seaboard's lines in Florida prior to this were part of the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (FC&P) network, which the Seaboard acquired in 1900. The northernmost five miles of the line were built in 1892 by the FC&P as a spur to Durant.

The Seaboard Air Line organized a subsidiary United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company in 1901 to oversee construction of a branch line to Sarasota. In 1901, construction commenced from the spur in Durant south to Willow, Palmetto, Bradenton (known then as Bradentown), and Sarasota. Some of the line would run along the former right of way of the Arcadia, Gulf Coast and Lakeland Railroad, an earlier unsuccessful railroad between Bradenton and Sarasota. Spurs were also built to Terra Ceia, and into the central areas of Ellenton, Palmetto, and Bradenton.

The Seaboard Air Line operated the line's first train to Sarasota on March 23, 1903. Upon completion, the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company was renamed the Florida West Shore Railway. By 1905, the line was extended east from downtown into Fruitville. In 1909, Seaboard fully acquired the Florida West Shore Railway subsidiary, ending the Florida West Shore Railway's separate corporate identity.

The Seaboard Air Line extended the line south to Venice in 1911 after being convinced by local socialite Bertha Honoré Palmer who owned land in Venice. In Venice, the line connected with a small logging railroad operated by the Manasota Lumber Co. The extension to Venice greatly benefited the city's economy. The railroad would be used by cadets and faculty of the Kentucky Military Institute's Venice campus for winter classes from 1933 to 1970. It also transported patients to Fred H. Albee's Florida Medical Center from 1932 to 1942 and transported goods and servicemen to Venice Army Air Field during World War II. Another major customer on the line would be the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was headquartered in Sarasota from 1927 to 1959 and then in Venice from 1959 to 1990.