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Oh, Henry! Take A Trip Into The Past
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Published: July 19, 2008
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DADE CITY - Visitors rounding the corner to enter the city's renovated historical railroad depot are greeted by a voice that seems to come out of the past:
"All aboard!"
On what once was a dock where railroad workers loaded luggage and greeted passengers, mannequins carry on a work-related conversation. Nearby, a boxed engine en route to Jacksonville is mechanically lifted toward the landing.
On a recent visit to the Dade City Train Museum and Theater, a small crowd inside the depot watched a toy train roll through an intricate rendering of what Dade City looked like decades ago.
"I travel by here a lot, and I knew they were restoring it, so I brought my sons," said Fred Ottman of Lakeland.
As Ottman spoke, Berkley, his 15-year-old son, took pictures, and brother Beau, 12, seemed mesmerized by the train.
On a bench nearby, Kate Vacca, 23, of Spring Hill, prepared for another performance. An aspiring actress, Vacca was entertaining people making a stop on the Dade City Trolley Tour.
"It's 1945, and I'm waiting for my boyfriend coming home from the war," Vacca said. "We'll talk about what life will be like and his job at the Pasco packing plant."
As Vacca spoke, Johnny Cash's "Orange Blossom Special" played on an antique record player.
Above Vacca's head were wooden signs bearing the names of nearby towns: Croom, Brooksville, Vitis, Zephyrhills, Baldwin, Wildwood, Lacoochee, Trilby, San Antonio, Blanton and Owensboro - all former stops along the railroad line.
Jim Guedry, who owns the Dade City Business Center and operates the trolley tour, said about $150,000 worth of historical pictures, an actual railroad crossing, a train set that replicates Dade City in the 1950s and other items - some purchased at local antiques stores - are part of the project.
His partners, Don Dueker and Ronnie Triplett, also have donated old pictures and other artifacts and have helped remodel the old building, most recently used as office space by Habitat for Humanity.
The museum and trolley tour are part of Guedry's plan to lure tourists. The museum had a soft opening last week, with a grand opening planned for late October.
"Our real goal is to get people coming into Orlando and Tampa for conventions and make it a day trip, an organized tour," Guedry said. "We've made a four-minute DVD about the trolley tour and museum. When we find out a group is coming to the area, we send the DVD to them."
Between January 2007 and March, Guedry said, 12,800 people paid to take the tour.
"We're projecting that in three years, we can bring in 30,000 people a year," he said.
On a recent weekday, Vicki Swepson and friend Crystal Swann, from Lake Jovita, toured the museum, then entered the adjoining 24-seat theater, where they watched a 15-minute documentary about Florida railroad pioneers Henry Plant and Henry Flagler.
"I wanted to do something local and thought the trolley tour was a good idea," Swepson said. "Our guide has been superb in explaining everything."
She said the documentary about "the two Henrys" was interesting, especially because "people had that kind of political and social control back then."
"It's interesting to learn about our state," she said.
Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.
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