ATTRACTIONS
crews. Many Fort Pierce families were made up from
those crews.”
Coincidentally, he says, his agency had purchased a
factory building on five acres — with its own railroad
siding — in the port area of Fort Pierce. With the Police
Athletic League using part of the building, the remainder
40
was leased to the locomotive association in 2007.
“Fort Pierce has to continue to develop assets that
are unique to the city, to attract the kinds of cultural
tourists that many studies have confirmed stay longer
and spend more money locally than
general travelers,” Ward says. “(This)
collection could certainly provide the
basis for a substantial rail
museum that should
attract that sort of highgrade
tourist. Combined
with the city’s other assets,
the steam group could certainly
play an important role in
Architect Robert Brodie created this computer visualization of the engine house,
intended to be the first detached building in the complete project. Brodie is a member
the city’s emerging image as a
cultural center.”
Long-range plans include a working
two-track restoration facility
where No. 253 will be protected from
the elements yet available for short
excursions with passengers, says
Betty Jean Andrianoff, volunteer
coordinator and the local go-to person for the
organization. Dinner rides are on the menu after the engine
passes her boiler test, possibly by the end of the year.
Andrianoff had been on a train only once in her life, but
it made such an impression that when she heard about No.
253’s coming to Fort Pierce, she knew she had to be part of
it. Completion of the project is expected to take from three
to five years, she says. When it’s finished it will include a
railroad museum, picnic grounds, extended tracks, an engine
house and additional enhancements that will attract railroad
This dining car, once used by Amtrak, is scheduled to be returned to its original condition.
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of the museum planning board.