Florida Railroad Museum

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.

Florida Railroad Museum
Location within Florida
Established1981
Coordinates27°35′24″N 82°25′25″W
TypeRailroad museum
Websitefrrm.org

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, 85-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 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. 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


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
EMD GP10 1954 Diesel-electric FGCX 8330 UP 183B, IC 8330 Out of service; awaiting repair. Built as G-9 B-unit. Rebuilt to GP10 by Illinois Central Paducah Shops in Paducah, KY
ALCO RS3 1951 Diesel-electric Seaboard Air Line 1633 NYC 8277, PC 5518,

AMTK 133

 Out of service; awaiting repair and restoration.
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 switch power.
GE 44-ton switcher Diesel-electric FGCX 100 US Navy 65-00345 In service; primary switcher power in Willow Yard. Also used as a backup locomotive.
EMD NW5 Diesel-electric Cargill 61 Static display in Parrish.
Porter 0-6-0T Steam BEDT 12 Static display in Parrish.
BLW 2-6-2 Steam Cummer Sons Cypress 104 Static display in Willow. Formerly on static display in 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 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. In service
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

See also

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

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