Welcome to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum

Sponsor of
Operation Lifesaver

Gold Coast Railroad Museum - "History in the Making" - Pg. 1

Page 2 >>>

IN THE BEGINNING:

The history of today's Gold Coast Railroad Museum is rather unique. The coming together of persons and events in a rare mix that helped shape today's premier railroad museum in the state of Florida and one of the finer rail museums in the United States.

It all began in August, 1956. William J. Godfrey was a Business Administration student, attending the University of Miami (UM). He was also a bit of a "rail enthusiast." He had heard that the University's "South Campus" contained miles of unused railroad tracks. That site was 2,100 acres of high pineland located in southern Dade County. The property had been Naval Air Station Richmond (NASR) - A WWII airship base. A few years after the war, the Navy left the base and the land was leased to the University of Miami from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for non-profit educational and research purposes. The University used the base as a remote campus for returning GI's and for botanical research. Being an all male campus, the students could use the same barracks that the Navy had recently abandoned.

LOTS OF TRACKS:

Bill reasoned that, with over three miles of tracks, the old base would be a great place to have an operating steam engine. It could be used as an engineering, educational, and historical attraction. He presented the idea to Dr. Jay F.W. Pearson, President of the University who just happened to be a rail fan. President Pearson liked the idea and thus the seed of a South Florida institution was germinated.

A "SWEET" STEAM ENGINE:

The U.S. Sugar Company (USSC), based in Clewiston, Florida had a few steam engines which they were considering for retirement. Mr. R.M. Hare of USSC was contacted. President Pearson and Dr. James M. Godard, Executive Vice President went to Clewiston and "picked out" former Florida East Coast (FEC) locomotive #153 as their choice. USSC agreed to donate the locomotive to the UM. Months of preparations for the movement were completed, and on February 19, 1957, the locomotive left USSC on its trip to Miami. The engine moved "cold" over Atlantic Coast Line, Florida East Coast Railway, and Seaboard Air Line trackage to reach the South Campus. On Friday, April 12, 1957, at 2:30 p.m., the #153 acceptance ceremonies were performed at the South Campus. Dr. Charlton Tebeau, Chairman of the University's History Department, was the master of ceremonies. The gathering took place on a portion of the old Navy blimp landing pad. In attendance were UM President Pearson, US Sugar Executive V.P., H.T. Vaughn, as well as representatives of the FEC, ACL, and SCL. At the same time the Miami Railroad Historical Society (MRHS) was created under the umbrella of the UM to oversee the maintenance and operation of the locomotive on the university property.

Page 2 >>>

THIS PAGE ONLY, Last Updated 5 January 2004.
Each page may have different update dates.
Please check each page for current information.