Gold Coast Railroad Museum

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Gold Coast Railroad Museum (the United States)

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Established| 1956
Location| Miami, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates| 25°37′02″N 80°24′03″W﻿ / ﻿25.6172°N 80.4007°W﻿ / 25.6172; -80.4007
Website| gcrm.org

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

## Description

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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 historic railroad cars like the Presidential Pullman "Ferdinand Magellan” and engines like the Florida East Coast "153.” The museum strives to teach railroad history using artifacts, movies, and railroading materials. The museum includes many interactive displays.

The museum's train rides allow guests to board vintage trains and get a taste of the past. On Most Saturdays, guests can ride in standard gauge railway cars and can also ride in the cab of the train's locomotive. The separate 2 ft (610 mm) 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

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

* The Presidential Car Ferdinand Magellan

* Florida East Coast 153

* EMD E-8A of Florida East Coast Railway No. 1594

* EMD GP 7m of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad No. 1804

* Collection of classic model trains & prototypical scale models

## Locomotives

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* v
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Gold Coast Railroad Museum/
Zoo Miami

Legend

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|  |  | Standard gauge

train rides
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|  |  | Edwin Link

Children's Railroad
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Miami Military Museum

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| Gold Coast Railroad Museum

Zoo Miami

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|  |
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|  | Asia Station
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|  | Main Station
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Maintenance facility

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|  | Africa Station
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|  | Amazon Station
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Several of the diesel locomotives are operational and active. Some of the locomotives on location are:

### Steam locomotives

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* Florida East Coast 113
* Florida East Coast 153
* Winston Co. 48

### Diesel-electric locomotives

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* NASA Railroad SW1500 #2[4]
* Gold Coast Railroad Museum RS-1 #106
* Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad E-9A #9913
* Florida East Coast Railway E-8A #1594
* Atlantic Coast Line Railroad GP-7 #1804
* Seaboard Air Line Railroad FP-10 #4033
* Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad S-2 "Slug" #C
* NASA Railroad S-2 #1

East Swamp and Gatorville Railroad 4-4-0 #1865, December 2022

### Other locomotives

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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 Passenger cars

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The Freight Cars, Passenger Cars & other Cars on display include:

* Port Everglades Stake Car No. 1103
* SCL Fruit Boxcar No. 593188
* FEC Heavyweight Passenger No. 136
* ACL Wood M-3 Caboose No. 0322
* SAL Heavyweight Combine No. 259
* US No. 1 "Ferdinand Magellan"
* Southern Railway Express Agency Baggage No. 359
* US Army Hospital Car No. 89436
* FEC Anniversary Smooth-Side Car No. 1996
* ACL Observation-Tavern-Bar No. 254
* SAL Tavern-Lounge No. 6300
* WP "Silver Crescent" CZ-10/WP 881
* CB&Q Sleeper "Silver Vale" No.490
* SAL Diner/Kitchen No. 6112
* CB&Q Sleeper "Silver Slumber" No.4901
* WP Baggage "Silver Stag" No.802
* FEC Lightweight Chair Car "Belle Glade"
* SAL Sleeper/Lounge "Silver Palm" No.54 (Privately Owned)
* CB&Q Baggage "Silver Treasure" No.908 (Privately Owned)
* SCL Waffle-Sided Boxcar No.126307
* Belcher Oil Tank No. 105
* Belcher Oil Tank No. 121
* FRISCO Drop-End Gondola No. 60053
* SCL Self-Driven Steam Crane No.765157
* USAX Flat Car No. 35703
* USAX Air-Dump Car D.66
* Burro Crane No.15
* MHAX Helium Car No.1202
* NASA KSC Railroad Skirt Car No. 171
* Illinois Central Gulf Caboose No.199477
* Metra Gallery Car No.7680
* Metra Gallery Car No.7667
* Metra Gallery Car No.7670
* Metra Gallery Car (Cab Control) No.8723
* Metra Gallery Car (Cab Control) No.8726
* Long Island Rail Road P-72 Commuter Car No.2916
* Illinois Central Gulf Caboose No.199479
* Chessie Steam Special PC-100
* Chesapeake & Ohio Power Car 914101 (Privately Owned)
* ACL Cafe Car "Swarthmore College"
* SCL "Vassar College" No. 765348
* SCL "Cameron Pass" # 765310

## Rolling stock

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The Gold Coast Railroad Museum has over 50 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

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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

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

## See also

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* Trains portal

* Florida Railroad Museum
* Royal Palm Railway Experience

## References

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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 February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
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. August 13, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2024.

## External links

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* Official web site

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Gold Coast Railroad Museum.

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Railroads of Florida

Common carriers|

* Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway
* AN Railway
* Bay Line Railroad
* CSX Transportation
* First Coast Railroad
* Florida Central Railroad
* Florida East Coast Railway
* Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad
* Florida Midland Railroad
* Florida Northern Railroad
* Florida West Coast Railroad
* Georgia and Florida Railway
* Georgia Southern and Florida Railway
* Port Manatee Railroad
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* South Central Florida Express
* Seminole Gulf Railway
* Jacksonville Port Terminal Railroad

Passenger carriers|

* Amtrak
* Brightline
* Jacksonville Skyway
* SunRail
* TECO Line Streetcar
* Tri-Rail
* Metrorail
* Metromover
* Walt Disney World Monorail System

Private carriers|

* CF Industries
* Conrad Yelvington Distributors
* The Mosaic Company
* NASA Railroad
* Perdue Farms
* Port of Palm Beach District
* Port of Panama City

Heritage railroads|

* Florida Railroad Museum
* Gold Coast Railroad Museum
* Kirby Family Farm Train
* Seminole Gulf Railway
* Serengeti Express
* Sugar Express
* TECO Line Streetcar
* Walt Disney World Railroad
* Wildlife Express Train

* See also: Former carriers in Florida
* List of United States railroads by political division

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