I seem to remember that the state of Florida pulled an ancient (1850s) era 4-4-0 out of the swamp and had it on display at the State Agricultural offices. Anybody know of any photos?

I answered my own question. Gotta love Google.

Now the question is, where is she now, and in what condition.

Rich C.

Interesting that you should mention it... I cave dive in the area where this engine was pulled out of the river. It was in fact Luraville, Florida. I was told about it by the guy who owns the fill station where we get our breathing gas. His place is just down the road from where the engine was set on a panel track after being pulled out of the historic Suwannee River. Apparently the engine was crossing the river by barge or some rickety tressel and somehow ended up in the river mostly submerged, but with a part of the engine out of the water. The local guy who owned the Luraville Country Store (which is about the only thing in Luraville) as the story goes, spent most of his life savings getting the engine out of the water and as I remember it cost him his marriage! Sometime later the engine was either donated to, or purchased by the Florida Agricultural Museum and I have been told it is on display there today. I was shown a picture of the engine and a short history in a book on Florida history by my friend. He also told me a narrow gauge logging railroad used to run right behind where his house and shop are now located. I had to see for myself and sure enough, there was an old ROW buried in the jungle. I have been told some of the local cave sites are on land that was formerly logged by rail and there are still old tramways that the divers use to access the springs. I love it when I can combine my hobbies!

Ryan Parkevich

She's in Tallahassee, on the East side of town along Capitol Circle right near the Federal Prison. What you see in the photo is what you get. No tender, no hardware, everything rusted into a mass which was sandblasted and painted black. One of the wheels isn't even touching the rail, as it rusted in place where is sat all those years underwater. The "Museum" isn't really a museum at all, just some logging equipment sitting outside.

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomo ... isplay=348
I remember a Rail Classics magazine story about this engine many years ago, showing it sitting in someone's front yard. In the story, they said it'd been confirmed that the engine is a 1850 Danforth and Cooke (Spelling?), if I remember correctly. There was something about the Smithsonian confirming her ID, but I don't know the details.

It was quite a story when they put her in Tallahassee in the early 80's, as it's the only steam locomotive in that town. I was born and raised in Tallahassee, I've seen her many times, but she's nothing to write home about. The last time I was there in 2001, she was still there if I remember correctly.

Here's a good website for RR info from that area:
http://www.taplines.net/
I'll pass this thread on to a buddy of mine in the local NRHS chapter in Tallahassee. He'd be able to answer any RR-related questions about the area.