Florida Railroad Museum

Florida Railroad Museum
Reporting mark FGCX
Locale Manatee County, Florida, USA
Dates of operation 1981–
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Parrish, Florida

The Florida Railroad Museum (reporting mark FGCX) is a railroad museum located in Parrish, Florida.

The museum operates a heritage railroad and offers round-trip tourist excursions along six miles of the former Seaboard Air Line Sarasota Subdivision in Manatee County between Parrish and Willow.

The museum was founded in 1981 as the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum, and has been operating weekend excursions out of Parrish since 1992. The museum is also active in the ghost town of Willow, where it has maintenance facilities. At Willow, there is a railroad spur that leads east off of the mainline to a Florida Power & Light Company plant. CSX Transportation provides rail service to the plant. The area of Willow is accessible from Willow Road east off of US 301. The museum has a fence around its facilities at Willow and cameras for security. It has constructed a new depot at Willow within this secured property.

The railroad line that the Florida Railroad Museum uses is a very small part of a 55-mile route that was built south from Durant to Manatee County and into Sarasota with construction starting in 1895. It was first incorporated in 1902 as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company. It became the Florida West Shore Railway on May 9, 1903. On November 4, 1909 it was acquired by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company. In 1967, the merger of the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line created the Seaboard Coast Line. The Seaboard Coast Line would later become a part of the Family Lines System. This would lead to the Seaboard System and that would become a part of CSX Transportation in the 1980s, although the segment from Durant to Willow was pulled up in 1986. The rail is an 85 lb and jointed. It is Class I track.

The Florida Railroad Museum is one of three Official State Railroad Museums in Florida.[1] It became a Florida state railroad museum in 1984 when it received statutory recognition by the Florida Legislature as meeting the following four criteria: its purpose is to preserve railroad history, it is devoted primarily to the history of railroading, it is open to the public, and it operates as a non-profit organization. It is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm year-round. The train departs from Parrish at 11am and 2pm on these days, and the excursions from Parrish to Willow last about an hour and a half round trip.

Rolling stock

Locomotives


Builder Model Year built Type Current number Former numbers (if applicable) Operational status
EMD FP7 1952 Diesel-electric VLIX 904 GO Transit 904 Stored, no prime mover.
EMD GP7 1951 Diesel-electric FGCX 1835 US Army 1835 In service
EMD GP7 Diesel-electric FGCX 1822 US Army 1822 Stored, used for parts
EMD GP10 Diesel-electric FGCX 8330 UP 183B, IC 8330 In service. Built as GP-9 B-unit. Rebuilt to GP10 by Illinois Central Paducah Shops
ALCO RS-3 1951 Diesel-electric Seaboard Air Line 1633 New York Central 8277 Undergoing engine repairs ALCO RS-3 Diesel-electric PRR 8604 Pennsylvania Railroad 8604 Stored, used for parts
GE 44-ton switcher Diesel-electric FGCX 100 US Navy 65-00345 In service
EMD NW5 Diesel-electric Cargill 61 Static display
Porter 0-6-0T Steam BEDT 12 Static display
BLW 2-6-2 Steam Cummer Sons Cypress 104 Static display. From Leesburg, FL

Cars


Builder Model Year built Type Current number Former numbers (if applicable) Operational status
Fruit Growers Express Refrigerated box car ex-TPIX 250 TPIX 250 Static display
Tank car ex-SAL? SAL? Static display
ACF U-12 1962 Covered hopper TBA Atlantic Coast Line 10304; CSXT 651873 Static display
Pullman Pullman 1926 Passenger Kentucky Club Mt. Langford; Kentucky; Royal American Shows 51 In service
Pullman Pullman Sleeper TBA Formerly owned by RBBX circus. To be used as crew quarters for crews who stay overnight. Under Restoration
Pullman Pullman 1954 Passenger Cape Tormentine Originally operated by Canadian National Railway and later Via Rail Canada. In service
EMU 1930 Passenger FGCX 3518 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3518; New Jersey Transit 3518 In service
EMU 1930 Passenger FGCX 3572 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3572; New Jersey Transit 3572 In service
Baggage-RPO 1925 Passenger Southern Railway 142 Stored
Coach 1914 Passenger Illinois Central Railroad 2682 Royal American Shows 2682 Stored, partially restored
Coach 1950 Passenger FGCX 2002 Union Pacific 5416, Alaska RR 5416, New Georgia 2002 In service
Caboose 1929 Freight Texas and Pacific Railway 12070 Ticket office
N&W Caboose 1942 Freight Norfolk and Western Railway 518415 In storage
B&O Caboose 1945 Freight Baltimore and Ohio Railroad C-2417 In storage
Pullman Pine-series 1953 Passenger Short Leaf Pine Louisville and Nashville Railroad #3464 Under restoration
Bethlehem Steel Coach 1938 Passenger Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 1116 In storage

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chapter 15 Section 045 - 2012 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate". Retrieved 14 May 2015.

Media related to Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 27°35′07″N 82°12′00″W / 27.58528°N 82.199889°W / 27.58528; -82.199889


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