12. February 2025
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Museums & Exhibitions / Other Transportation

Cab Ride at the Florida Railroad Museum (Parrish)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Florida Railroad Museum

22.26 USD (normal ride)
Florida Railroad Museum
4.8

Rating

 4.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great locomotive ride experience
  • Wide range of locomotives and cars
  • Very friendly staff
  • Model railroad

I am transportation nerd. Even though there is a certain touch of aviation in that regard on Flyctory.com, I do love rail travel as well. When I prepared for my last trip to Florida, I found the opportunity to ride a historic North American train in the engine as part of a rail museum visit. Thus, integrating the Florida Railroad Museum into my travel plannings was a no-brainer. Here is my review of the experience.

 

 

Florida Railroad Museum – Location & Admission

The Florida Railroad Museum is located in Parrish South of Tampa in Florida. From Tampa International Airport (TPA), for example, it is a some 50 mile and roughly one hour drive away. In fact, the museum consists of two places. The main entrance and car park is located Northeast of the city of Parrish. The place is close to the US-301 highway and not too far away from the I-75. The main part of the exhibits is located at the Willow Yard near the village of Willow. The distance is roughly 6.5 miles, visitors take a ride between the two points as part of their museum ticket.

You can visit the museum between Wednesday and Sunday between 10:00 and 16:00. As the train rides only operate on weekends, you should visit the place on Saturdays and Sundays. The admission, including the return ride, is 21 USD for adults. Including taxes, it sums up to 22.26 USD currently. Your admission is always bound to a fixed, timed ride of the train. My end of 2022 price for having a ride in the engineers cabin was 30 USD (31.80 USD post-fees). You currently need to call the museum to book the experience. It obviously requires to be able to climb the engine and is thus not accessible. You also need to be adult and have a valid Driver’s licence for it.

 

Florida Railroad Museum – Cab Ride

The cab ride was provided by two different engines. The way to Willow Yard was powered by an EMD GP-7 locomotive. The 1951-built General Motors locomotive was part of the US Army services and operated in Sunny Point, North Carolina. Especially as I am not exposed to North American engines of that era, the trip was really impressing to me. The driver was also very helpful and knowledgeable, so that I enjoyed the ride and learned a lot about it on the rather short trip. Before I had the ride, I also had the opportunity to have a quick look into the passenger cars for the “ordinary” visitors, which definitely also lead to an interesting time. If you are using the passenger car, you may also use the bar service in there.

The ride takes you through the rural Florida forests and plains. The natural scenery around is really nice, you also may run into deer and other animals. It rides at Willow Grove where the engines are changed before you head back in the opposite direction (on the same tracks). During that process, you have sufficient time to explore the Willow Yard part of the museum. It is also used to maintain and restore the engines and cars owned by the privately driven technical museum.

 

 

Return Ride

For the return, the train was driven by the IMC 204 / EMD CF-7. The engine was originally used by the Santa Fe Railway and then sold to IMC in 1988, where it was used in Port Sutton. It has been a really interesting experience to see another train operating, even though this was on the same tracks.

 

Florida Railroad Museum – The Museum

The key part of the Florida Railroad Museum is located in Willow Yard. You have sufficient time to explore the area during the changing of direction of the trains. There are a lot of additional cars, like the cabooses owned by the museum. It is really interesting to stroll through them and explore the different exhibits.

A key part of the exhibition at the starting point of the train rides is the rather large model railroad. It is also available on those days, where the museum is open, but train rides are available. Obviously, the model railroad is very popular, especially in the time right before, after or between the rides. It is really nicely done and a good add-on to the visit.

 

Florida Railroad Museum – Services

The museum reception is also driving a nice gift shop. There are also special event rides, including dinner and dance shows.

 

Florida Railroad Museum – My View

Having the cab ride at the Florida Railroad Museum was an incredible experience. The driver was really friendly and being able to see all the action to drive it was really memorable. But even the ordinary ride and visit at the museum is great fun. They run an impressing collection of locomotives and cars. The additional exhibits at Willow Yard and the model railroad add a lot of value as well. If you are in the Greater Tampa Bay area on a weekend it is definitely worth to do the detour to Parrish.

 

Tampa Bay Postings

Here are all pictures of Tampa Bay and surroundings:

 

Top Pick! Technical Museums

Here are all my technical museum reviews, which have been assigned a Top Pick! rating:

 

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