ATTRACTIONS
and steam engine buffs to Fort Pierce from all over the world.
With education a main goal, a rail camp for children is planned
as well as a place for adults to learn to work on real railroad cars.
“It’s basically a dying art,” Spreckelmeier says. “It’s going to be
lost forever if we don’t carry it on.”
Andrianoff’s roster of volunteers and contributing members
numbers almost 150 and is growing. Members range in participation
42
levels from junior members at $18 annual dues to life members,
one of whom recently contributed a dining car. Others have
donated railroad artifacts to the museum: lanterns, signage, oilers’
cans, a big brass engine bell and even a potbellied stove. >>
Oilers’ cans and lamps are among the many artifacts donated to the museum by
railroad enthusiasts. The cans came in a variety of shapes and sizes so the oilers
could find the can they needed in the dark.
This caboose stove with utensils and teapot date to 1895. The teapot
has a special bottom that sits in a hole in the stove to keep it from
falling off while the train is moving. The stove was bolted to the floor.
Workers would warm their feet by propping their shoes against the
cool red rim. The stove would be bolted to the floor of the caboose.