If you’re looking for a relaxing yet adventurous afternoon, you may want to visit the Florida Railroad Museum, which offers one of the most unique museum experiences in the world: You actually “ride the exhibits.”
The train departs from Parrish, Fla., at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, taking passengers on a one-and-a-half- hour excursion along six miles of a former Seaboard Air Line Railway route to the “ghost town” of Willow, a former flourishing lumber town. Battered by weather and age, the railroad cars create a colorful tapestry against the landscape while the town of Willow offers a nostalgic peek at the past.
The trainmen on board are friendly and eager to answer passengers’ questions. “We all share a common love of the railroad,” said volunteer trainman Alex Martin. “I’ve been into trains since I was 5 years old.”
The town of Willow, characterized by simple white buildings and fencing, shows the results of America’s Great Depression, as the price of lumber dropped and caused the town to fail. In 1937, the lumber operation was forced to move to Tampa, where the steam engine from its sawmill is still on display at the Robbins Manufacturing Co. on Nebraska Avenue.
A 1913 railroad single-truss bridge crossing the Little Manatee River still remains, as do bare foundations of some of the old buildings. There is a new railroad depot at Willow, built by the Florida Railroad Museum. On weekends, some of the Museum’s volunteers who live a fair distance away will stay overnight in Willow in the restored passenger-car sleepers so that they can work at the Museum for the entire weekend.
Trainmen Alex Martin, left, and Mark Manley. Lisa Stark photos.
Nancy Windingland, a Florida snowbird from Fredericksburg, Va., volunteers on weekends to run the snack bar.
Ex-U.S. Army # 1835 is the Museum’s primary road engine.
Snowbirds from Ohio relax in the dining car. From left, Robert Maag, Agnes Maag, JoAnn Niese and Eugene Kuhlman.
Trainman Rick Martin, left, and Stan Kotes, conductor.
Grayson Chesnut, a frequent passenger on the train, enjoys discussing Willow and its place in the history of Florida’s Railroad. “You could call me a train history geek,” said Chesnut, who is the owner of a railroad video production company called Country Rail Fan Productions. “I enjoy talking with and working with avid railroad fans,” he said. “We share a certain kinship with one another.”
Conductor Stan Kotes agrees. “We’re like a family here, all with a similar passion.”
At Willow, there is a railroad spur that leads east off the mainline to a Florida Power & Light Company plant.
The Florida Railroad Museum, one of three official state Railroad Museums in Florida, has been operating out of Parrish since 1992. It became a Florida state railroad museum in 1984 when it received statutory recognition by the Florida Legislature.
Special events are scheduled at the museum throughout the year, featuring themed train rides. The party caboose is available to charter for small, private parties or for large corporate events. For those who have dreamed of running their own locomotive, the museum offers prospective engineers hands-on training so that they can have the thrill of taking the controls for an hour.
For those who would like to test their skills as a detective, the Museum offers murder-mystery dinner excursions. This year’s mystery is titled Murder on the Skeeter Meteor and is peppered with colorful characters like Catastrophe Joan, Sheriff Annie, Conductor Duncan and Ma Money.
Day Out with Thomas is the next big event that is planned at the Florida Railroad Museum. “Kids absolutely love it,” said trainman Mark Manley. “They also look forward to the Cottontail Express for Easter and The North Pole Express at Christmas. There’s always something special going on here.”
The Florida Railroad Museum would not exist without the devotion of its volunteer members. From restoring old equipment, renewing the track and operating the train each weekend, volunteers form the backbone of the Museum. “I drive up from Bradenton every weekend to work the snack bar,” said Nancy Windingland, a Florida snowbird originally from Fredericksburg, Va.. “Why do I do it? Because I love trains.”
Volunteers are also hired to work in the dining car, gift shop and reservations. The most rigorous training can be found in the operations department, where volunteers work their way from car host to locomotive engineer.
Railroad history is rich in Florida, beginning in the 1860s with a line running from Fernandina Beach to Cedar Key. The railroad line that the Florida Railroad Museum uses is a small part of a 55-mile route that was built south from Durant to Manatee County and into Sarasota.
After the Civil War, railroad development intensified, with lines eventually built off Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad and Henry Plant’s Plant System. The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line railroads built their tracks through Central Florida to the Gulf Coast. In the Florida Panhandle, Seaboard built a line west from Jacksonville to Chattahoochee, where it connected with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad into Alabama. Simultaneously, the Southern Railway System pushed south from Valdosta, Ga., into Jacksonville.
The Florida Railroad Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. year-round. For more information, call 941-776-0906 or visit website www.frrm.org.
