Florida Railroad Museum

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Florida Railroad Museum
Parrish FL Florida Railroad Museum01.jpg
Florida Railroad Museum
Established1981
Coordinates 27°35′24″N82°25′25″W / 27.59000°N 82.42361°W / 27.59000; -82.42361
Type Railroad museum
Website frrm.org

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.

Contents

History

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 line is currently part of the CSX Palmetto Subdivision's Parrish Spur. It is Class I track with jointed, 75-pound rails.

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 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. year-round. The train departs from Parrish at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on these days, and the excursions from Parrish to Willow last about an hour and a half round trip. The museum also offers specials events throughout the year such as Day Out With Thomas, Pumpkin Patch Express, and North Pole Express.

Rolling stock

Locomotives


BuilderModelYear builtTypeCurrent numberFormer numbers (if applicable)Operational status
EMD CF7 1950Diesel-electricIMCX 204 ATSF 238L (F7), ATSF 2472 (CF7)In service; primary road power.
EMD FP7 1952Diesel-electricVLIX 904 GO Transit 904Stored, no prime mover.
EMD GP7 1951Diesel-electricFGCX 1835USATC 1835In service; primary road power.
EMDGP71951Diesel-electricFGCX 1822USATC 1822Stored, used for parts for GP7 1835 due to being in less good condition upon arrival with 1835.
EMD GP10 1954Diesel-electricFGCX 8330UP 183B, ICG 8330, IC 8330, G&O 8330Out of service; primary road power. Original Paducah prime mover suffered failure in Dec 2018. Returned to service in Dec 2024 following installation and testing of a replacement 567 prime mover. Out of service again due to #4 traction motor failure.
ALCO RS3 1951Diesel-electricSeaboard Air Line 1633NYC 8277, PC 5518,

AMTK 133

Out of service; on display in Willow yard.
ALCORS31955Diesel-electricPRR 8604PRR 8604, PC 5404,

AMTK 114

Stored, used for parts initially for RS3 1633
ALCOS-2M1946Diesel-electricCYDZ 251In service; primary road power and/or switch power.
GE 44-ton switcher Diesel-electricFGCX 100US Navy 65-00345Out of service awaiting possible repair to #1 prime mover.
EMD NW5 Diesel-electricCargill 61Static display in Parrish, used as occasional part source for the operational EMD locomotives on the roster.
Porter 0-6-0TSteamBEDT 12Static display in Parrish.
BLW 0-6-0 SteamFrisco 3749Static display. Once appeared in an MGM movie, The Wings of Eagles, starring John Wayne. [2] [3]
BLW 2-6-2 SteamCummer Sons Cypress 104Static display in Willow. Formerly on static display in Leesburg, FL

Cars


BuilderModelYear builtTypeCurrent numberFormer numbers (if applicable)Operational status
Fruit Growers Express Refrigerated box car ex-TPIX 250TPIX 250Static display
Tank car ex-SAL?SAL?Static display
ACF U-121962 Covered hopper TBA Atlantic Coast Line 10304; CSXT 651873Static display
Pullman Pullman 1926PassengerKentucky ClubMt. Langford; Kentucky; Royal American Shows 51Traded w/ Kentucky Railroad Museum for Seaboard Air Line coach #821.
Pullman Pullman SleeperTBAFormerly owned by RBBX circus. To be used as crew quarters for crews who stay overnight.In service in Willow Yard.
PullmanPullman1954PassengerCape TormentineOriginally operated by Canadian National Railway and later Via Rail Canada.Traded along with the Kentucky Club to the Kentucky Railroad Museum for Seaboard Air Line coach #821.
EMU 1930PassengerFGCX 3518 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3518; New Jersey Transit 3518Out of service
EMU1930PassengerFGCX 3572Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3572; New Jersey Transit 3572Out of service
Baggage-RPO 1925Passenger Southern Railway 142Stored
Coach 1914Passenger Illinois Central Railroad 2682 Royal American Shows 2682Stored, partially restored
Coach1950PassengerFGCX 2002 Union Pacific 5416, Alaska RR 5416, New Georgia 2002In service
Caboose 1929Freight Texas and Pacific Railway 12070In Service
N&W Caboose 1942Freight Norfolk and Western Railway 518415In Service for special events.
B&O Caboose1945Freight Baltimore and Ohio Railroad C-2417Originally on static display in Willow. Now sold to a church group.
Pullman Pine-series 1953PassengerShort Leaf Pine Louisville and Nashville Railroad #3464Under restoration
Bethlehem Steel Coach1938Passenger Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 1116In storage

See also

References

  1. "Chapter 15 Section 045 - 2012 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate" . Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  2. "Frisco Survivors" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, July, 1988 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  3. "Non-active Steam Locomotives". Florida Railroad Museum. Retrieved October 14, 2020.

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