1989: Tiny Town Another childhood spot that I took Lisa too More on this place to come later too *smile* Yep, the hair had started to shorten and starting to turn grey by then. Looks like a few pounds heavier as well...
1991: Cimarron, Colorado Here is another place I took Lisa to see RR history and there will be more about this place in future posts too...
While I slowly reminisce through the old trips, please feel free to stop me if you do want to hear more and/or see more photos of each destination. In some cases we have been back to these location since so there will be "More" about them coming but if you truly want more about these older locations I will be glad to do more detail; if I can. Once Lisa and I got farther in life we took more and more photos as well as videos and now in the digital age we do shot allot more including high resolution HD videos. To give you a sneak peek as to something I have been up to recently take a look at this setup I have created for my 4x4 when on some of our RRAdventures outings...
Well, officer, you see it was this way. I was so busy checking the display screen on my camera, I did not realize I was driving off that 500 foot cliff! Oops....
Darren, 278 was recently cosmetically restored--very nicely I might add, and I think they are going to place it back on that bridge, not sure.
Let just say it's allot more stable then it free swinging from the mirror and being held by hand. Certainly it would be nice to have a more stable setup (maybe long term) but it's better then nothing. I have actually been pleased with the results as we are not traveling that fast; commonly 5-20 mph depending on road conditions. Yes, one of my posts to come later will show the bridge completely empty and I have seen a recent photo of the engine and she looks great. What I heard is they will likely wait until all the cars are restored and transported back to the site before they and reloaded onto the bridge
1992: Lake Wales Museum Back on March 11, 1992 we stopped by the Lake Wales Museum and Cultural Center and found a few nice pieces of equipment as well as this depot.
Ah. Well, I'm not familiar enough with Florida. Have never been any closer to that locale than Louisiana.
My bad for not including the location; I wouldn't have know the location either without looking it up...
1992: Gold Coast Railroad Museum (Pre-Hurricane) Still in Florida (Miami)... Here is another stop we did back on March 21, 1992. I am so glad we got these shots as just a few months later this place was nearly wiped off the map by Hurricane Andrew and it took the museum eight (8) years to rebuild. We have not had a chance to return to see how the place has done since that dreadful day...
Were they able to recover and restore most artifacts? I'd wonder what could be done to protect items against a future such event. Scary.
From their website (http://gcrm.org) ANDREW! It has been said that "into life a little rain must fall." Yes, but not at 170 miles per hour! August 24, 1992. Hurricane Andrew roared into southern Dade County. The Gold Coast was hurt "bad" by the storm. The display shed was uprooted from its foundation and the building collapsed over the collection of equipment. One of the building's overhead beams pierced the roof of the Ferdinand Magellan. The "Silver Crescent" had a beam crush down on its "Vista Dome." The car also had a window blown out allowing the monstrous winds inside. On the South Pad a long string of coupled equipment were flipped onto their sides. The historic Princeton Station lost its roof and the remaining structure collapsed, never to be rebuilt. The site of the museum was of great devastation. It took a heavy emotional toll on the members, some of whom would not be seen at the museum again. The most costly storm in United States history might well have brought the Gold Coast Railroad to the "end of the line" - except for the "help" of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). The "Battle" to Survive A mandate from FEMA claimed that they would put all non-profits back to their pre-Andrew condition. In the case of the museum, that would end up being a multi-million dollar promise and take over 8 years to accomplish. Rebuilding the museum was to become a very long and arduous process. Along the way many rough times were encountered. A very small core of museum volunteers would "hang in there" through that time to see the project completed. It was not to be an easy job. All the equipment had to remain outside in the tropical environment, sun, rain, and heat, suffering much as a result. During this time the museum did not look very presentable. The entrance and store was a cheap house trailer. Visitors had to endure the sun and rain as they walked the museum grounds. Equipment arriving during the eight years of reconstruction: "9001" Streamlined Passenger Sleeping Car, Ex-SP "Silver Vale" Ex-CB&Q Streamlined Passenger Car Metro North, Long Island Passenger Commuter Car "Belle Glade" Streamlined Passenger Coach, Ex-FEC Fruit Growers Express Freight Car, Ex-SAL #593188 A New Name for a New Century In April 1998, the museum changed its name to "Gold Coast Railroad Museum, Inc." to more accurately reflect its educational goals. The New Millennium, Entering 2000: Finally, at LONG last, the new, and much strengthened museum display building was completed and ready for the equipment to be placed inside. This was a major joy and relief for all who had worked for so many years to bring the museum to that point. The new museum store came shortly thereafter. Finally, the Gold Coast was "looking" again like the first class museum that it is. Equipment arriving after Andrew: July 2002: Helium Transportation Freight Car built In 1962 December 2002: E-8A Diesel Locomotive, Ex-PRR #5794 (Now Painted In FEC Colors #1594) December 2002: GP-7 Diesel Locomotive, Ex-Alaska #1804 (Now Painted In ACL Colors #1804) December 2002: E-9A Diesel Locomotive, Ex-CB&Q #9913 (Painted in CB&Q Colors #9913) January 2003: "Silver Slumber" Streamlined Passenger Car built In 1956 June 2003: SAL Streamlined Coach Lounge Passenger Car built in 1939 June 2003: ACL Streamlined Observation Lounge Passenger Car built in 1941 January 2004: F-3/F-10 Diesel Locomotive, Ex-GM&O 800A (Now Painted In SAL Colors #4033)
I presume the "Princeton Station" was from somewhere nearby in Florida. I wonder what it was? Do you have a picture?
Gold Coast Railroad Museum - Cont. This was still at a time for us where money was tight so we only took 20 photos; mostly of the Ferdinand Magellan plus shots of the Silver Crescent that were both damaged by the hurricane. Here are four of the shots we took that day of equipment that was inside the shelter the crashed into the equipment below it... [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica][/FONT]
1992: Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Let's now move up a few months to September 16, 1992 when we took a wonderful trip on this Narrow Gauge from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM. On this trip we will take nearly 100 photos so let me know how much detail you would like to see of this trip...
