Jupiter
and Lake Worth number 2 somewhere on line. Blus Rice the engineer will
be oiling the locomotive as soon as he finishes scratching the head of
his bird dog, Blue, whom he rented out to passengers for hunting along
the rail line. Blus would stop at choice hunting spots and would leave
the hunters with Blue, and on his return trip he would blow his whistle
and Blue would return his charges back to the railbed. Blus greeted his
passengers by playing "Dixie" on his whistle when he arrived at the wharf.
On the pilot is the fireman, Milton Messer. On the combination car is Captain
Matheson, the conductor. The original photo is in the Library of Congress.
Equipment for the J&LW came from its parent
railroad, the JT&KW. At that time the JT&KW operated the Key System,
a large system of railroads in Florida. This system operated at one time
four narrow gauge railroads: The Florida Southern, the Jacksonville, St.
Augustine & Halifax, the St. Johns & Halifax and the St. Johns
& Lake Eustis. Equipment to the J&LW consisted of hand me downs
from these roads. The
J&LW owned two locomotives, both Baldwins with rare recatngular plates , two combination baggage and passenger cars,
two flat cars and one box car.
Regular operations consisted of four trains a day,
except for Sunday when only two afternoon trains were run. Trains were
normally operated as a straight passenger run with just one combination
car for the passengers, mail, light freight and express. When freight traffic
was heavy enough, freight cars would be added making it a mixed train.
As the road operated in the tropical part of Florida, northbound traffic
consisted of coconuts, pineapples, dates, citrus, sugar cane, turtles,
fish and early vegetables. Southbound traffic included building materials
and merchandise.
There was no way to turn
trains on the J&LW, so the locomotives always faced southbound toward
Juno. Northbound runs to Jupiter were made backwards. Local citizens had
to look twice at northbound trains as it appeared that the cars were pulling
the little engine. Trains would stop for anyone flagging it down from the
bushes and it has been said that complaints were heard that the crew would
visit often and long with friends during the scheduled run.
The end came when Henry
Flagler's Florida East Coast Ry bypassed the little line on its way south
to Palm Beach and later on to Miami and Key West. Flagler wanted to buy
the little J&LW, but the JT&KW wanted him to buy not only the J&LW
but also the steamboat company that would be put out of business by Flagler's
trains. But Flagler, who always built his hotels before the arrival of
his railroad, needed the J&LW to carry the building material for the
Breakers Hotel at Palm Beach. The railroad made a small fortune hauling
this material, and they made more money than they would have received from
Flagler. The end came in April of 1895 when the Florida East Coast reached
Palm Beach putting the Indian River Steamship Company and the Jupiter and
Lake Worth out of business. The rolling stock was sold at auction in Jacksonville,
Florida in June of 1896.
Jupiter and Lake Worth number one with three little
girls from the Doster family who had a store on the dock. Photographed
at Jupiter. Original photo is in the Library of Congress, this one is made
from a copy negative from H.C. Dubal and is now collection
of Don Hensley.