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| Established | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°35′24″N82°25′25″W / 27.59000°N 82.42361°W |
| Type | Railroad museum |
| Website | frrm |
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 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 10a.m. to 4p.m. year-round. The train departs from Parrish at 11a.m. and 2p.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.
 | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(December 2018) |
| Builder | Model | Year built | Type | Current number | Former numbers (if applicable) | Operational status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMD | CF7 | 1950 | Diesel-electric | IMCX 204 | ATSF 238L (F7), ATSF 2472 (CF7) | In service; primary road power. |
| EMD | FP7 | 1952 | Diesel-electric | VLIX 904 | GO Transit 904 | Stored, no prime mover. |
| EMD | GP7 | 1951 | Diesel-electric | FGCX 1835 | USATC 1835 | In service; primary road power. |
| EMD | GP7 | 1951 | Diesel-electric | FGCX 1822 | USATC 1822 | Stored, used for parts for GP7 1835 due to being in less good condition upon arrival with 1835. |
| EMD | GP10 | 1954 | Diesel-electric | FGCX 8330 | UP 183B, ICG 8330, IC 8330, G&O 8330 | Out 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 | 1951 | Diesel-electric | Seaboard Air Line 1633 | NYC 8277, PC 5518, AMTK 133 | Out of service; on display in Willow yard. |
| ALCO | RS3 | 1955 | Diesel-electric | PRR 8604 | PRR 8604, PC 5404, AMTK 114 | Stored, used for parts initially for RS3 1633 |
| ALCO | S-2M | 1946 | Diesel-electric | CYDZ 251 | In service; primary road power and/or switch power. | |
| GE | 44-ton switcher | Diesel-electric | FGCX 100 | US Navy 65-00345 | Out of service awaiting possible repair to #1 prime mover. | |
| EMD | NW5 | Diesel-electric | Cargill 61 | Static display in Parrish, used as occasional part source for the operational EMD locomotives on the roster. | ||
| Porter | 0-6-0T | Steam | BEDT 12 | Static display in Parrish. | ||
| BLW | 0-6-0 | Steam | Frisco 3749 | Static display. Once appeared in an MGM movie, The Wings of Eagles, starring John Wayne. [2] [3] | ||
| BLW | 2-6-2 | Steam | Cummer Sons Cypress 104 | Static display in Willow. Formerly on static display in Leesburg, FL | ||
| 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 | Traded w/ Kentucky Railroad Museum for Seaboard Air Line coach #821. |
| Pullman | Pullman | Sleeper | TBA | Formerly owned by RBBX circus. To be used as crew quarters for crews who stay overnight. | In service in Willow Yard. | |
| Pullman | Pullman | 1954 | Passenger | Cape Tormentine | Originally 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 | 1930 | Passenger | FGCX 3518 | Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3518; New Jersey Transit 3518 | Out of service | |
| EMU | 1930 | Passenger | FGCX 3572 | Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 3572; New Jersey Transit 3572 | Out of 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 | In Service | ||
| N&W | Caboose | 1942 | Freight | Norfolk and Western Railway 518415 | In Service for special events. | |
| B&O | Caboose | 1945 | Freight | Baltimore and Ohio Railroad C-2417 | Originally on static display in Willow. Now sold to a church group. | |
| 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 |
The Florida Northern Railroad Company, Inc. is one of several short line railroads run by Regional Rail, LLC. It has connections to CSX at Ocala, Florida, running north to Lowell, Florida, and south to Candler, Florida. It was formerly run by CSX as their Ocala Subdivision.
The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort Myers Division, which was previously the southernmost segment of CSX's Fort Myers Subdivision, runs from Arcadia south to North Naples via Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Estero, and Bonita Springs. The company's other line, the Sarasota Division, runs from Oneco south through Sarasota. Seminole Gulf acquired the lines in November 1987 and operates its own equipment. The company's first train departed Fort Myers on November 14, 1987.
The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jacksonville west through Tallahassee and south to Tampa. Much of the FC&P network is still in service under the ownership of CSX Transportation.
The Wiregrass Central Railroad is a shortline railroad operating 19.5 miles (31.4 km) of track from a CSX Transportation connection at Waterford, near Newton, to Enterprise, Alabama via the south side of Fort Novosel. The company was initially a subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways and began operations in 1987 following the purchase of the Enterprise Subdivision branch line of CSX Transportation.
Parrish is an unincorporated community in northwestern Manatee County, Florida, United States.
The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and, where still in use, is operated by CSX Transportation and the First Coast Railroad. The highway corridor of SR 24, US 301, and SR A1A/SR 200 closely parallels the former Florida Railroad.
The Inland Lakes Railway, later known as Florida Rail Adventures, was a tourist railroad located in the northwestern portion of Central Florida. The railway operated several excursion trains ranging from a five course dinner train to sightseeing excursions throughout Lake and Orange Counties. The company operated through a lease agreement with the Florida Central Railroad, the owner of the tracks. Trains operated between the towns of Mount Dora, Tavares, Eustis, Lake Jem, and Orlando.
The Florida Central and Western Railroad was a rail line built in the late 1800s that ran from Jacksonville west across North Central Florida and the part Florida Panhandle through Lake City and Tallahassee before coming to an end at Chattahoochee. The line was later part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network from 1903 to 1967, and was primarily their Tallahassee Subdivision. The full line is still in service today and is now part of the Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad.
The Callahan Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad subdivision within the Jacksonville Division on the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The sub extends northward 20 miles from Baldwin, Florida, where the Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision's S Line and Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad meet just north of Baldwin Yard, a classification yard. According to Jacksonville Division Timetable Number 4 published in 2005, the sub runs from milepost SM 0.18 to milepost SM 20.0, where it joins the Nahunta Subdivision, a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, in Callahan, Florida. The line serves as a bypass to Jacksonville.
The Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway is a historic railroad line that at its greatest extent serviced Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor and a major shipping port that once operated there. The railroad's principal purpose was to transport phosphate mined along the Peace River and in the Bone Valley region of Central Florida to the port to be shipped. It also brought passengers to the island community of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, and is largely responsible for making Boca Grande the popular tourist destination it is today. Part of the line remains in service today between Mulberry and Arcadia, which is now owned and operated by CSX Transportation. Today, it makes up CSX's Achan Subdivision and part of their Brewster Subdivision.
The Tampa Southern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) originally running from Uceta Yard in Tampa south to Palmetto, Bradenton, and Sarasota with a later extension southeast to Fort Ogden in the Peace River valley built shortly after. It was one of many rail lines completed during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Most of the remaining trackage now serves as CSX Transportation's Palmetto Subdivision. Another short portion just east of Sarasota also remains that is now operated by Seminole Gulf Railway.
The Florida Western and Northern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that expanded their network in the 1920s by building a rail line from Coleman, Florida all the way to West Palm Beach via Auburndale and Sebring, a distance of 204 miles. The line would be extended to Miami by the Seaboard-All Florida Railway, another Seaboard Air Line subsidiary, shortly after with the full line from Coleman to Miami becoming the Seaboard Air Line's Miami Subdivision. The line is still in service today from Auburndale to West Palm Beach and is now operated by Seaboard successor CSX Transportation as their Auburndale Subdivision.
The Palmetto Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. It runs from just south of Tampa south to Bradenton.
Willow is a ghost town in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
The Tampa Terminal Subdivision is a group of railroad lines owned by CSX Transportation in and around Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Terminal Subdivision covers track around Yeoman and Uceta Yards and is located at the end of two of CSX's U.S. East Coast main lines to Richmond, Virginia, the A Line and the S Line.
CSX Transportation's Valrico Subdivision is a railroad line in Central Florida. It serves as CSX's main route through a region of Central Florida known as the Bone Valley, which contains the largest known deposits of phosphate in the United States.
The Wildwood Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. It runs along CSX's S Line from Baldwin south to Zephyrhills via Ocala and Wildwood for a total of 155.7 miles. The S Line is CSX's designation for the line that was the Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line from 1903 to 1967.
The Plant City, Arcadia, and Gulf Railroad was a railroad line that once operated from Plant City, Florida, south to Welcome, a distance of about 13 miles. The line remains in service today and is owned by CSX Transportation, which it operates as their Plant City Subdivision.
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Sarasota Subdivision was a rail line that ran from the company's main line at Turkey Creek south to Palmetto, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice. The line was built in phases from 1901 to 1911.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's DuPont—Lakeland Line was a historic rail line in southern Georgia and the northern west coast of Florida. On employee timetables, the line was actually divided into the DuPont—High Springs Line and the High Springs—Lakeland Line. The line was primarily used for freight, though some passenger services ran on parts of it in Florida. While parts of the line were built as early as 1863, the full line was not complete until 1913. Parts of the line in Florida are still active today.
Media related to Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum at Wikimedia Commons
