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  • Steam Locomotive Association 253 Grand Opening

  • General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.
General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.

Moderators: rob216, Miketherailfan

 #755519  by Steamenginesmitty
 
Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of Steam Locomotive Association 253, I would like to invite you to our grand opening Saturday, January 30, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at our new location in Fort Pierce, Florida. Our Association is nearing completion on the restoration of the former Florida East Coast Railway steam locomotive #253, and we are also in the process of establishing a working railroad museum facility for the restoration and repair of steam locomotives and other railroad related items in this region; this facility will be the only working railroad museum of this type in Florida and the Southeastern United States. Our goal is the preservation of Florida’s railroad history and other items associated with railroad history of this region as it relates to the steam and diesel era so we would greatly appreciate you attending our first annual open house. The event will consist of tours of #253 and related railcars, the museum currently under construction, a bluegrass band, scale steam engines, and other historic items of this era such as hit-and-miss flywheel engines, antique cars, etc.

Steam Locomotive Association 253 is located at 1401 North Second Street in Fort Pierce, Florida. Directions to the museum: from US 1 in North Fort Pierce travel to avenue H and go east crossing over the railroad tracks and travel one block to North Second Street and turn left (north). The museum is approximately one half mile on the left (west) side of North Second Street. Please feel free to contact me or browse our newly constructed website at http://www.slafec253.org for additional information. I am excited about our first event and look forward to seeing you attend our first annual open house.

General Public:
The general public is asked to make a gate donation of $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for children (under 3 free) and all proceeds will be applied toward the 253 steam locomotive. Steam Locomotive Association 253 is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization and operates solely on donations provided by our patrons; if you are pleased with the progress of the organization, your guided tour, the event, etc. please consider a donation as your heart leads. Donation boxes are located adjacent to the locomotive and in the gift shop or please see the gift shop staff if you would like to make a donation and receive a receipt for your donation.


Sincerely,

Jeffrey W. Smith
Executive Director
Last edited by Steamenginesmitty on Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #765493  by Noel Weaver
 
Yesterday (Saturday, January 30th) I attended this event from about 10:30 PM until well into the evening. It was fantastic,
everything that the introduction stated that it would be and even more. We had the music which was great, steam powered
tractors and devices of all sorts, a bunch of old gasoline powered things too and an antique car gathering as well. I got an
opportunity to meet some old friends and co-workers from New York as well as a bunch of FEC people.
I am sure that there will be more on this in the future and I urge anybody who is in the area to join in the gathering, you will
be very glad you did, I know, I was.
It was a long day but even us old f---s can deal with that occasionally.
Noel Weaver
 #798453  by SST
 
My dad has lived in Fort Pierce for years and we always take the Old Dixie HWY to follow the tracks and view "old Florida." I was down in March and after dinner we drove down Old Dixie Hwy as usual. It was also dark. Neither one of us was expecting to see anything different. As we drove along, I see something in the background. Gee, what is that light? I stopped the car and got out. To my amazement, it's 253. Did not expect to see a steamer there.

I had just finished reading a booklet on the FEC keywest division. So it was very interesting to see this locomotive. The next time I'm down, I'll stop in. Good luck.