MILTON, Fla. — A trip to the West Florida Railroad Museum is a journey back in time.
“Back in the day before automobiles, railroad tied this nation together,” Museum Director Bob Cole said.
Cole jokes he might have liked to work on the railroad, but they weren’t hiring when he got out of the Navy. Instead, he and other museum members devote hundreds of hours to maintaining trains, from miniature replicas to full-size rail cars that once rolled through the very depot that now houses the museum.
The depot was originally built in 1882 and rebuilt after a fire in 1909. Today, it is filled with antiques, photographs, railroad equipment and fixtures from an era when railroads served as the nation’s primary transportation network.
“It is crazy how well-crafted they made this. I mean, we’ve had to do a little bit of work, but really it’s original,” Museum Manager Bethany White said.
White developed a passion for the museum after taking a student job there while she was in high school. One of her favorite exhibits is the dining car, a 1929 Louisville and Nashville Railroad original that is one of only three remaining.
Outside, the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club operates a large model railroad that members built from the ground up using many trains from their personal collections. The museum also offers rides on a kiddie train that has become a favorite attraction for younger visitors.
“What I love to see the most is little kids,” Cole said. “Just the eyes light up, they run around, they can’t believe it, they can’t see it fast enough.”
“Sometimes they will be totally in awe, and it is the cutest thing,” White said. “And you would be shocked by how much a toddler can know about trains. They’ll walk into that gift shop and they will tell me all of these technical terms. And I won’t have any idea, and it’s so impressive.”
The museum also features an indoor model railroad with replicas of local buildings and landmarks.
The building that houses that display has a unique history of its own. It is the former bridge tender’s house that once sat in the middle of Escambia Bay.
“When it was first built, the bridge tender that opened and closed the bridge for traffic to get up to Monsanto and Gulf Power, they lived in there,” Cole said. “And the only problem was, the kids couldn’t ride their bicycles. But they could fish out the bedroom window.”
Creating and maintaining the museum has become a labor of love for its volunteers, who hope to build a bridge between the past and present.
It’s not just about preserving trains. It’s about preserving the stories of the people who rode them.
“We’ve had people come in, and they’ll see the graffiti on the walls in there, and it’s names of people who had traveled through here almost a hundred years ago,” White said. “And they’ll realize, ‘I’m one of those people. They were just like me,’ and it’s just beautiful.”
The West Florida Railroad Museum is free to visit and is open on Saturdays. The museum also hosts special events throughout the year.
Right now, they’re seeking volunteers. Whatever skill you have, they’ll put it to work! Find out more here.