Gold Coast Railroad Museum

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Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Gold Coast Railroad Museum is located in Florida
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Location within Florida
Gold Coast Railroad Museum is located in the United States
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Gold Coast Railroad Museum (the United States)
Established1956
LocationMiami, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates25°37′02″N 80°24′03″W / 25.617142°N 80.400706°W / 25.617142; -80.400706
Websitegcrm.org

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum (reporting mark GCOX)[1] is a railroad museum located in Miami, Florida, adjacent to Zoo Miami.

Description

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum was founded in 1956. The museum was built on the former Naval Air Station Richmond. With over three miles of tracks, the old base was an ideal place to build a railroad museum.

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is one of three Official State Railroad Museums in Florida.[2] It became a Florida state railroad museum in 1984 when it received statutory recognition by the Florida Legislature as meeting the four statutory criteria, including: 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.

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum promotes historical trains and railroads. It houses over 30 historic trains including classic railroad cars like the Western Pacific "Silver Crescent” and engines like the Florida East Coast "113.” The museum strives to teach railroad history with the use of artifacts, movies, and railroading materials. The museum includes a number of displays that are interactive.

The museum's train rides allow guests to board vintage trains and get a taste of the past. On certain days, guests can ride in

narrow gauge Edwin Link Children's Railroad also offers rides.[3]

Located at a latitude of ~25.62 degrees north, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum possesses the southernmost active railroad trackage in the continental United States.

Exhibits

One of the most important exhibits is the Presidential Car Ferdinand Magellan. The museum also has a collection of model railroad equipment.

Locomotives

Gold Coast Railroad Museum/
Zoo Miami
Standard gauge
train rides
Metrobus (Miami-Dade County)
Edwin Link
Children's Railroad
Miami Military Museum
Metrobus (Miami-Dade County)
Asia Station
Main Station
Africa Station
Amazon Station

Several of the diesel locomotives are operational and active. Some of the locomotives on location are:

Steam locomotives

Diesel-electric locomotives

Other locomotives

East Swamp & Gatorville Railroad 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge[5] 4-4-0 Locomotive #3. Built by Crown Metal Products; donated by Edwin Albert Link. Originally coal-powered, but now runs on compressed air.

Freight and other cars

The freight cars and other railroad cars on display include:

  • US Dept of Interior-Bureau of Mines Helium Field Operations - Helium Transportation Car MHAX #1202
  • Frisco Line Railroad Gondola Car #60053
  • Port Everglades Railroad Flatcar #1103
  • Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Steam Crane #765157
  • Burro Crane #15
  • Southern Railway Boxcar #260909
  • Southern Railway Boxcar #27416
  • Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Boxcar #126307
  • Belcher Oil Company Tank Car #105
  • Belcher Oil Company Tank Car #121
  • United States Army Side Dump Ballast Car
  • United States Army Flatcar #35703
  • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Caboose #0322
  • Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Boxcar #593188
  • NASA Shuttle Rocket Booster "Skirt" car #NALX 171

Rolling stock

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum has over 40 pieces of railroad rolling stock and equipment. They are currently in the process of selling of some of the equipment to continue to operate a financially stable museum.[6]

Model railroading

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum exhibits include a number of model railroads in many scales, including N, HO, O27, and G scale. The collections and equipment on display have been donated or loaned to the Museum for the public's enjoyment.

Publications

  • Steam N' Steel Newsletter - published monthly
  • Model Railroad Magazine - published online

See also

References

  1. ^ Railinc, Search MARKs Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, accessed September 2009
  2. ^ Florida Statutes, Section 15.045
  3. ^ "Gold Coast Railroad Museum - Train Rides". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  4. ^ "NASA Railroad rides into sunset". Florida Today.
  5. ^ Crown Metal Products Locomotive Roster
  6. ^ "Florida's Gold Coast Railroad Museum offers 20 pieces for sale in transition plan | Trains Magazine". Trains. 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2024-01-22.

External links