TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

All aboard:

ADVERTISEMENT

By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: December 13, 2008

SHADY HILLS - The Central Pasco and Gulf Railroad is making tracks to Crews Lake Wilderness Park.

Open for about a year, the miniature train ride has expanded, with volunteers more than doubling the amount of track.

That calls for a celebration, president Jerry Smithson said. The group is inviting the public to a rededication today at the park in the Shady Hills area north of State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand and other community leaders have been invited for the festivities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Smithson said. Santa is scheduled to make an appearance as well.

Almost 5,000 feet of track now winds through woods at the park, Smithson said.
Steam engines will take to the tracks with the arrival of a 4-8-4 locomotive pulling 11 passenger cars painted with the authentic, yellow Union Pacific pattern. Diesel engines have done the bulk of the work so far on the excursion trains.

The designation 4-8-4 is applied to locomotives with four leading wheels, eight coupled drive wheels and four trailing wheels.

The group has built up a collection of about nine engines.

The 30-minute rides are especially popular for birthday parties. "The people love 'em," Smithson said about the private excursions, often with two to three scheduled each weekend.

"It was awesome," said Terry Ward, who recently treated 2-year-old Ryder Richardson to a ride. "Ryder loved it, and he brought his own Thomas Train with him for the ride. He dropped it during the train ride and the next train picked it up and brought it to the station for us."

The train is a replica of the Orange Belt Railroad that ran through Pasco County in the 1800s, said Gunther Richey, a member of CP&G.

"Eventually, we will be building replicas of the little towns that it ran through, like San Antonio, Dade City and Sanford," Richey said.

Sandra Stine recently took her daughter, Megan, 2, on the ride.

"I think it's a great experience for young children and it helps bridge the generations, because Grandpa absolutely loves trains, too," Stine said. "We're going to have to come back here with Grandpa."

The railroaders do their utmost not to harm the environment, Smithson said.

The rails are aluminum. The concrete base came from concrete recycled from the former Tampa Bay Executive Airport on State Road 54. Castoff granite and marble countertops were ground up to become the ballast to hold the tracks in place.

Private donations keep the trains running. Their business boosters include Scott's Tractor Service, P.A.W. Materials, Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay, Western Florida Lighting and Samuelsen Builders, among others. The group suggests people donate $1 per ride during trips to help defray expenses.

Many generations of residents may never have seen trains rumbling through the area, visited a train station here or waited at a railroad crossing.

The first depot came to New Port Richey in 1914 with practically the whole town at the grand opening. But trains and tracks virtually disappeared in west Pasco nearly four decades ago.

The nonprofit CP&G organization is dedicated to preserving that railroad heritage.

While a standard gauge of railroad track is 4 feet and 8.5 inches wide, the CP&G train ride will roll down rails set 7.5 inches apart.

The CP&G might herald the comeback of trains to the area, members said.

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority is looking at high-speed commuter trains for Pasco and six other counties.

So get on board for the renaissance of railroads, CP&G members say.

For information, go to www.cpgrr.org, e-mail bobm@cpgrr.org or call (727) 569-2289.

In The Loop reporter Carole Dickey contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT