Plant in an effort to extend his railroad network further south to Charlotte Harbor.

From Gainesville south, the line was built by the Florida Southern Railway.

Henry Plant was unaware that the Florida Southern was building north to Gainesville and further north as he was building his line, the Live Oak, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Railroad, south.

[4] For much of its history, the Atlantic Coast Line's West Coast Champion and an additional local passenger train ran the line round-trip daily on its route from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg.

By the 1950s, a local freight train was running the line from High Springs to Croom six days a week.

A mixed train (with both passengers and freight) also ran the line from Burnett's Lake to High Springs six days a week.

[7][8] By 1989, track was abandoned from Gainesville to Rochelle (along with the Palatka Branch east to Hawthorne).

This segment is operated by the Florida Northern Railroad, a shortline run by Regional Rail, LLC, which crosses the S Line in Ocala.