GREEN MOUNTAIN SCENIC BYWAY - Florida Scenic Highways

SECTION 8- RESOURCE SPECIFIC CRITERIAHISTORIC RESOURCESworld by the Tavares and Gulf Railroad. The Tavares & Gulf, which nevermade it any closer to the Gulf of Mexico than the neighboring town ofClermont, became known locally as the Tug & Grunt, the Try & Go, the Turtle& Gopher, as well as other, more colorful, but less pleasant names. Therailroad immediately became an integral part of the local resident’s lives. TheT&G had originally intended to bypass the Town of Montverde, but leadingcitizens persuaded railroad officials to come through the town with promisesof free right of way, building materials, and voluntary labor. Remnants of thetrack remain in the Woodlands Camp, along with several boxcars. Thefoundation of the Howey Heights depot is located near the northern terminusof the corridor along the highway right of way, and would make an excellentlocation for a historic marker.Tavares & GulfEngine No. 106(1930’s)Florida Photographic Collection,Florida Memory Project, Florida Dept. of StateThe T&G provided freight and passenger service between the Lake Countycommunities of Tavares, Astatula, Montverde, Minneola, and Clermont, aswell as the Orange County communities of Oakland, Winter Garden, andOcoee. The T&G was entirely dependent upon the freight and passengers ofthe local communities it served. Freight consisted mainly of agriculturalsupplies, watermelons, truck crops, rough cut lumber, and citrus. At one timethe train ran holiday excursions from Winter Garden in Orange County toApopka Springs and Montverde.When the local economy flourished, the railroad prospered, and for severalyears the small railroad with only 38 miles of track was one of the mostprofitable in the U.S. But hard times were expressed by the railroad throughneglected track and roadbed. During one of its periodic declines at thebeginning of the last century, the railroad boasted that it held the U.S. recordfor jumping the tracks the most times during a single round trip, a total ofnine times.86