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 at 12210 83rd Street East.
The museum operates a heritage railroad and offers roundtrip tourist excursions along 6 miles of a former Seaboard Air Line Railway route in Manatee County from Parrish north to Willow, returning to Parrish.
The museum was founded in 1981 as the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum and has been operating weekend excursions out of Parrish, Florida since 1992. The museum is also active in the ghost town of Willow, Florida, 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 U S 301. The Florida Railroad 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. The rail is 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 four statutory criteria that: 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, the excursions from Parrish to Willow last about an hour and a half roundtrip.
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 | Under Restoration |
| 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
- ↑ "Chapter 15 Section 045 - 2012 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate". Retrieved 14 May 2015.
External links
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