The Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad (T&G) was a railroad company in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida in the United States. It initially built and operated a line that ran from the Tampa Northern Railroad main line in Lutz west to Tarpon Springs and into Pasco County. Additional track starting from Sulphur Springs running west towards Clearwater and south to St. Petersburg was built shortly after. The railroad was informally known as the "Tug n' Grunt" and the "Pea Vine" due to its frequent twists and turns. While it was the second railroad to serve St. Petersburg and Clearwater after the Orange Belt Railway, it had the advantage of being the first to connect the area directly with Tampa.

The Orange Belt Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad established in 1885 by Russian exile Peter Demens in Florida. It was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States at the time of its completion in 1888, with a mainline 152 miles (245 km) in length between Sanford and St. Petersburg. It carried citrus, vegetables, and passengers; and it interchanged with two standard gauge lines: the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway at Lake Monroe, and the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad at Lacoochee.