How Milton's railroad museum is transforming from 'a stop in the road' to a destination

The West Florida Railroad Museum in Milton is about one year into its aggressive revitalization effort, and those spearheading the push said they are experiencing a wave of fresh interest from the community.

"We get people driving by almost every weekend. Somebody will stop in and say, 'Oh my gosh, there's so much that's been done here.' And they wouldn't have stopped before," said the museum's treasurer, Peggy Humbert. "So, it's really exciting to see these people recognizing the improvements and being interested in stopping."

The feedback for encouraging museum staff as they move full steam ahead on further renovations and upgrades.

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Driving up to the museum, the centerpiece caboose out front is now a gleaming red, drawing in the attention to the entire collection of locomotives and buildings scattered at the intersection of Henry Street and a set of railroad tracks.

Humbert said it was last spring that the staff at the museum changed their approach around the museum and decided to get started on renovation projects to grow and attract people to visit.

"So, I think it was just realizing, 'We can't go any further down the line. Do we want to be a real museum that people want to visit? Or do we just want to be a stop in the road that some people will visit,'" Humbert said, adding that these changes are ushering in a new era at the museum.

In terms of projects completed or begun, many of the locomotives on display have undergone repainting, the flat car is in the process of getting re-decked — with the museum's president, George Wilson, noting it took more than six months to acquire lumber for the project — and a section of the dining car, which can be used as a venue space, is set to undergo some structural and cosmetic work.

"The restrooms need refurbishing inside. We painted the outside of the building, but there's no hot water in there; no (air conditioning) in the restrooms," Humbert said. "So, we want to paint inside, put in new faucets, hot water and A/C in the restrooms. So that would be the next big project that we have."

$125,000 raised to renovate museum

The Santa Rosa Historical Society purchased the L&N depot — now the museum — in 1975. The West Florida Railroad Museum began to work with the historical society in 1989 to restore the depot, and over the last year, they have raised over $125,000 for the new renovation efforts.

And even while the team works to improve upon what is already there, they are also already thinking ahead to pieces worth adding to make the space even more attractive.

One building on site houses an elaborate, still-being-worked-on, model train track, which includes key sights from around the Milton area.

"You can tell we're in the middle of doing our (scenic work)," Wilson said. "It took me nine months to get the whole thing to run. And the (re-scening) is an entirely different project."

Toward the back of the property, there is an open space filled with the museum's garden railroad, which includes a number of model trains working their way through scenic terrains that include pop-culture characters. And the keynote item in the garden area is a model train large enough for children to sit in. A museum member operates it from the front, giving the kids an expedited tour of the space.

Expanding educational opportunities

Humbert said when she thinks of the future of the museum, she imagines a much larger emphasis on educational opportunities.

"We want to add a QR code system like some museums have, where people can use your phone and pull up and review a video about what that piece is about," Humbert said, adding they have already begun looking into the feasibility of that project.

Another future development would include a partnership with the Santa Rosa County School District.

"We have telegraph keys and old telephones and things where they can actually learn about communications; how it was done then versus how we communicate now. This kind of stuff. So those conversations are actually taking place now," Humbert said.

Other educational emphases, according to Humbert, could include mathematic assignments involving the movement of a train, and the historical elements typically associated with a museum.

Humbert and Wilson also pointed out that the museum will feature on Milton's ghost walk this fall, and ultimately said they enjoy the fact they have begun seeing new faces around the museum grounds.

"We have visitors every week that say, we you never knew you were here," Wilson said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: West Florida Railroad Museum in Milton investing $125,000 in upgrades