# Overseas Highway (US 1) to Key West, back in the day.



## MARC Rider (Dec 3, 2015)

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took a short vacation to south Florida. Among the things we did was a bus trip to Key West. I've never been on the overseas Highway, and the ride down was as interesting, maybe not as interesting as knocking around Old Key West, but still interesting. My understanding is that the original Overseas Highway was built on the bridges of the railway that originally opened up Key West to the mainland. Some of the bridges are still standing:




Occasionally, we got a closer look at some of the old bridges. Some of them looked like they were originally built for single track, and the roadway on top looked kind of narrow for a 2-line highway. Not to mention the fact that the guardrails looked kind of low. (Well, we were riding in a big tall motorcoach.) I guess that driving that route back before they rebuiltthe bridges must have been kind of exciting. Now it appears that the worst thing about the ride is the traffic on Key Largo and the narrow streets (and finding a parking spot) in Key West.




And as a final observation, note this snack bar:




Interesting, I spend a lot of time in Maine, and up there, no one seems to have a need to sell conch fritters at the seaside snack bars, whereas down in Florida, they feel there's a market for Maine lobster rolls.

Anyway, I need to post my Amtrak travelogue about our journeys on the "Silver Snail." We had a good trip.


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## MARC Rider (Dec 3, 2015)

The streets of old Key West are really not made for full-size motor coaches, but they manage to get them through, anyway.

I also learned that despite what they were saying during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba is 98 miles from Key West, not 90 miles.


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## BCL (Dec 3, 2015)

Some of the history was mentioned here:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/66209-rail-in-the-keys/


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## railiner (Dec 5, 2015)

Greyhound Lines and its local predecessor, Florida Motor Lines, have long operated line runs and tour runs over the Overseas Highway, and back even before it. I found this interesting history, including the time Greyhound owned one of the keys, where they operated a Post House cafeteria and adjacent motel.....

http://www.keyshistory.org/FK-Fiesta%20Key.html

Here's another shot, featuring a GM PD-4151 "Silversides"....http://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024246/00001/1x

and here's a shot with a pair of ACF-Brill IC-41's....https://www.cardcow.com/380152/greyhound-post-house-hotel-restaurant-fiesta-key-florida/


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