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West Florida Railroad Museum"Dedicated to the Preservation of the Railroad History of Northwest Florida" |
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When the Pensacola & Atlantic was constructed through Northwest Florida in 1881-1883 the Florida panhandle was sparsely populated. The only two areas that warranted a depot were Milton and Marianna, Florida. Other depots were quickly added as people moved in to settle the wild lands and traffic began to increase. There were sixteen depots built in the first years. Passenger service peaked in the 1920's with six trains a day calling at Milton. With the coming of the automobile and airplanes that were heavily subsidized by the government, diner interior passenger service started going into the red. Four trains survived until 1967 when the Louisville & Nashville along with other railroads lost the mail contracts.
ocated in the Florida panhandle, northeast of Pensacola, the West Florida Railroad Museum occupies the former Louisville & Nashville passenger and freight depot in Milton, Florida. Built in 1909, the depot is on the National Register of Historic Places; it is owned by the Santa Rosa Historical Society and leased by the West Florida Railroad Museum. The museum began operation in the depot in 1989 and facilitated a major restoration of the building in 1992 upon receipt of a grant from the State of Florida's Bureau of Historic Preservation. The depot features a gift shop, numerous railroad artifacts, and many displays on railroading in the Panhandle region. The museum grounds feature Louisville & Nashville and Frisco rolling stock, a model railroad club, a 7" gauge scale-riding railroad, and the southeast's largest outdoor G-scale garden railway.
Click to see the West Florida Railroad Museum plotted on a Google Maps page
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
1910 Official Guide map / collection
1910 Official Guide ad / collection
collection
1932 L&N brochure / collection
Depot
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
The original circa 1882 depot was built by the Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad and burned around 1907. This present structure was built on the site of the original depot in 1909 by the Lousiville & Nashville Railroad. It was built to their standard plans for a Station Master's office mid-size combination freight and passenger station. It was modernized in 1917 with the addition of indoor restrooms, an enlarged general waiting room, concrete platform, and a train shed over the new platform. The station was closed in 1973. Shortly after that the Santa Rosa Historical Society was formed to purchase the depot from the L&N Railroad. The society did a preliminary restoration as a 1976 Bicentennial project. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The West Florida Railroad Museum began operation in the depot in 1989 and did a major restoration of the building in 1992 upon receipt of a grant from the State of Florida's Bureau of Historic Preservation.
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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West Florida Model Railroad Club
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Rolling Stock
Louisville & Nashville #1148
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
This steel bay window caboose was built in April 1965 by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at its South Louisville shops, Louisville, Kentucky. Originally painted confederate gray with red letters. Renumbered Louisville & Nashville #6148 then Seaboard #16148. Retired in 1989 and donated to the Museum by CSX. Restored by the Museum members and repainted during the 1990’s. Red was selected as the scheme.
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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St. Louis - San Francisco #1102
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
This all-steel cupola caboose was built in 1934 by American Car & Foundry for the Santa Fe Railroad, then sold to the Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco) in 1965. Modified by the Frisco for local service as their #1102 then renumbered to Burlington Northern Railroad #1105 after the Frisco merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. The caboose was retired in 1983 and sold to Southern Scrap of Pensacola, who in turn donated it to the Museum in 1989.
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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Milton, Fl / Nov 2019 / RWH
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Louisville & Nashville #18050
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Atomic Bomb Car
Louisville & Nashville #1652
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Our Office car, former Louisville & Nashville baggage-dormitory car 1652, was built originally in 1911 by the Pullman Company as a 10-section / 3 double bedroom sleeper car. It was named “Vicker.”
There is a very interesting part of its history: In 1961 it and three other cars of their class were rebuilt by Pullman to Atomic Energy Commission specifications and assigned by the L&N to the A.E.C. for duty at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. They hauled nuclear material for atomic and hydrogen weapons. They each provided dormitory space for four armed guards and carried shipments in lead and concrete-lined vaults. They ran between Oak Ridge and A.E.C. destinations such as Rocky Flats, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
They carried normal L&N paint colors with lettering indicating they were in Railway Express Agency service, but they also were stenciled at the baggage door "Assigned United States Atomic Energy Commission Loading Only. When Empty Return To L&N R.R. - Oak Ridge Tenn."
After serving the A.E.C. for some ten years, the cars were returned to the L&N and two of the cars, No. 1650 and No. 1651, became snow plows. This car, No. 1652, renumbered to 42326, was converted for service on wrecker trains as a dormitory and tool carrier and was assigned to Corbin, Kentucky. The fourth car, No. 1653, renumbered to 42325, was assigned to wrecker service at Mobile, Alabama. The Museum obtained the latter two of these: No. 1652 was donated by CSX to the Museum in 1991, and we purchased No. 1653 in 1993 and scrapped it in 2011.
Exhibits
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Garden Railway
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Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club
The Emerald Coast Railway Club is a diverse group of G scale garden railroading enthusiasts, ranging from novice level to those with many years experience.
The Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club is an informal group of garden railroading enthusiasts. We have members with a long history of garden railroading and we have novice members just getting into this aspect of the model railroading hobby.
We operate under the West Florida Railroad Museum and enjoy the use of its facilities including the active CSX mainline. We share the Museum’s purpose of providing information and education to the public concerning railroading in general. We also focus on garden railroading in particular. The Club provides public shows demonstrating various aspects of garden railroading.
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Links / Sources
- West Florida Railroad Museum
- Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club
- Wikipedia article for West Florida Railroad Museum
- Louisville & Nashville Historical Society