Field Trip: Plant City, Florida Railway Museum

Canadian snowbirds love to spend as much of the winter as they can in Florida.  The state of Florida has a fascinating railway history but there are very few railway museums which capture that history.  A brief history of Florida railways can be found by clicking here and in more detail in this Wikipedia entry.

In September of 2013, retired engineer R.W. "Bob" Willaford donated his railroad collection, including a restored caboose, to Plant City in the Tampa Bay area. The caboose and the rest of his collection moved from his rural home to the city's old train depot. Nearly 30 items of railroad machinery and equipment are being donated. The city is renaming the depot the Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum.

The above 7 minute video features the move and an interview with Bob.

A more extensive 48 minute video can be found by clicking here.

The 10 minute video below is the last of a series of Youtube videos tracking their progress in developing a quite massive viewing platform for railway enthusiasts to watch mainline action at their museum.

To read more, visit their website page by clicking here.

Posting by Russ Milland