Hi! Going to Orlando on business (darn , should be vacation) next week for a few days. Any "train stuff" in the area to see? As always, many thanks.
Not much right in Orlando itself, just a couple of hobby shops. Go north to Mount Dora, about an hour by car, for the Mt. Dora & Eustis Railway, a seven mile short line with limited passenger service.
Over by Tampa FL, Tampa Bay is Ybor City(pronounced Eebor city), they have a trolley line that still runs. If you want to ride the trolley over there buy an all day ticket, it's not that much extra and ride around the city.
St. Augustine FL nearby to Orlando area has Henry Flagler Museum.
Ft. Myers FL on the west coast near the south has the Gulf Coast Railroad, famous for it's dinner and murder mystery train ride. Was around $50.00 a person, you get a great meal(choice of dinner entry; steak or chicken or salmon), three or four course dinner & a nice train ride.
Lee F.
Servoguy: Thanks.....Will do!
LeeF. : Thanks for all the info. I've been to the Tampa area and below several times and am pretty familiar with the Gulf Coast. If I can fit it in, I may try the Mt. Dora trek. We'll see!
(Side Note: A few years ago, Cypress Gardens had an extensive 'HO' layout which was dismantled and removed. I haven't been able to find out who has it or what happened to the consists and detailed scenery. If anyone knows, please clue me in. Although I'm now "into" the larger stuff, I still have a fondness for the smaller stuff, having been in that world for many years. Thanks.
The wife and I will be at The Shades of Green Resort (Disney) with some of the children and grandchildren and other outlaws from 3/5-3/14. What days wil you be there. Might even be nice if you could get an evening pass to enjoy some of Disney. Also I heard that Universal has a new Harry Potter exhibit. E-mail me if you want to converse.
I believe Disney has a program for behind the scenes with their railroad where you go and they give a tour of the facility and trains, etc. I think it costs about $100, and that is above the cost of park admission. You would have to look into it as I don't recall where I saw that.
As to hobby shops, Colonial Photo there has a good amount of stuff, but not cheap. They are also located in a rough part of town. We went there and didn't buy a thing. I was also leary of having my family there with some of the characters I saw walking around there.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
You could always ride Thunder Mountain
Terry Thomann Fredericksburg, Virginia That is me on the left. My brother got the train TCA 09-64381
I found only one "train shop" for O gauge there [mainly MTH]. Nice big Bass Pro Shops there [competes every year with Charlotte NC for #1 in nation for sales]. Its not for up Industrial.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Thanks guys...Just checked the weather there. It's 42 degrees. Here in the Bronx, it's 36 degrees. So much for a respite. Thank goodness it is a business trip!
If you want , you can make a round trip to Tampa on Amtrak. You will leave Orlando around 10:30 am, and you will get back from Tampa a little after 7:00 pm (if the train is on time). I live south of the Orlando station and I pickup transmissions from the "DD" (milepost 801) on the scanner. I can also hear the trains blow for 2 grade crossings about a half mile away, so I usually hear P091 about 10:40 and P092 about 6:50 You may also want to check on the Dinner Train that operates out of Eustis.
Thanks for the info.
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