History
The Ocala Northern Railroad, a new line, leased the 1.9-mile (3.1 km) SAL spur to Silver Springs on December 14, 1909, and obtained trackage rights over four miles (6 km) of the SAL to downtown Ocala. The ONRR was owned by E. P. Rentz, who owned a saw mill at Silver Springs. He soon built it north to Fort McCoy and built a logging railroad west into the forest. He continued to build the ONRR, and it reached Palatka by 1912, with 45.5 miles (73.2 km) of track from Silver Springs to Palatka. Plans to extend the railroad across the St. Johns River to Hastings and then north on the east shore to Jacksonville fell through; the company went bankrupt in May 1913. The railroad was also involved with the Ocala Southwestern Railroad, which was planned to Tampa; no part of that was ever constructed.
On April 16, 1915, the railroad was bought by H. S. Cummings of Rodman Lumber in Rodman, Florida, and reorganized as the Ocklawaha Valley Railroad. The lease of the SAL's Silver Springs Branch was transferred on August 19, 1915. A short 1.5-mile (2.4 km) spur was built from Rodman Junction to Rodman. and many logging lines were built to connect to the OVRR. Passenger service was also provided.
The mill closed in 1922, and Cummings had grown ill. The railroad was sold at a bankruptcy auction. Each major railroad wanted the line, but they were all afraid of a bidding war, so they agreed to allow an independent company to win the auction unopposed. Unfortunately for them, that independent company, Assets Realization of New York, had bought it for scrap value. Residents and companies along the line and connecting railroads protested, and brought the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ordered that it would not be abandoned. However, Assets Realization disobeyed the court and tore it up anyway in December 1922, leaving the Florida Railroad Commission "no recourse but to declare the Ocklawaha Valley Railroad abandoned".
Read more about this topic: Ocklawaha Valley Railroad
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