Abandoned Rail Line Shaping Up To Be Pasco Link Of Orange Belt Trail

PASCO COUNTY, FL — Pasco County residents will have a chance to see the latest plans for the 37-mile Orange Belt Trail that will run from Trinity in southwest Pasco to Trilby in Northeast Pasco, linking the county's existing trail system.

The Pasco County Engineering Services team is holding its second round of workshops to go over suggestions for amenities along the Orange Belt Trail. The workshops will take place Monday, April 17, at Land O' Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O' Lakes Blvd., and Tuesday, April 18, at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City. Both meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Those attending will have a chance to see the latest plans for the trail, speak with leaders overseeing the project and vote on a trail plan.

The proposed trail, funded with Pennies for Pasco sales tax funds, will connect to the county's existing trail network including the Coast-to-Coast Trail, the Starkey Trail, the Suncoast Trail and ultimately connect with the Withlacoochee State Trail. Beginning in Trinity, the trail will link the Pasco County communities of Odessa, Land O’Lakes, San Antonio, Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Trilby.

The trail is proposed to be a 12- to 14-foot-wide paved multi-use trail that will generally follow the path of the abandoned Orange Belt Railway railroad tracks. Where feasible, the trail will be off the roadways and follow the natural features of the land as much as possible. It will be open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and may include equestrian accommodations in certain areas.

At the first workshops in December, residents gave the county feedback on the uses of the trail, surface materials, possible alignments and amenities including lighting, restrooms, the availability of refreshments, drinking fountains, picnic tables, public art, covered shelters, wayfinding and historic markers and bike self-repair stations.

The former railroad tracks-turned-trail will be an extension of the Pinellas Trail in Pinellas County, which also made use of the old railroad alignment.

In Pasco County, the trail will take users through expanses of live oak trees, pasture land, the Starkey Wilderness Preserve, Cypress Creek Preserve, wetlands and historic towns.

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council conducted an economic impact study on the Orange Belt Trail, which will eventually link Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Orange, Hernando, Citrus, Lake and Seminole counties, and concluded that it could have an economic impact of $42.6 million a year.

In 1885, Russian immigrant Petrovitch A. Demenscheff, who changed his name to Peter Demens, borrowed money to build the railroad and eventually became one of the biggest contractors in the state, building houses, stations and hotels along the railroad that crossed from Florida's east coast to the west coast. The 152-mile-long rail line from Sanford in Seminole County to St. Petersburg was completed in 1888. At that time, it was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States. It carried citrus, vegetables and passengers.

The Armour meat-packing company in Chicago helped fund the line's extension from Trilby to San Antonio in Pasco County. The first passenger train on that section of track arrived in San Antonio on Feb. 13, 1888, according to historian Don Hensley Jr.

Eventually, the railroad went into receivership and was acquired by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant who sold his railroads to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902.