History

ThePensacola and Atlantic Railroad was chartered on March 4, 1881 to connect Pensacola with the parts of Florida east of the Apalachicola River, straight across the sparsely-populated Panhandle. The railroad company completed its surveys and began full construction on June 1, 1881. Official ground breaking ceremonies in Pensacola on August 22, 1881 brought into focus the importance of the West Florida enterprise and its evident relationship with the expandingLouisville and Nashville Railroad. TheLouisville and Nashville Railroad was operating the originalAlabama and Florida Railroad and subsequentPensacola Railroad route into Pensacola from Flomaton Alabama, forty-four miles to the north.

ThePensacola and Atlantic Railroad was constructed in less than twoyears' time with different sections of the railroad being built simultaneouslyby different contractors. The first Pensacola and Atlantic locomotive arrived in Milton in May1882 by water and was placed in work train service constructing the railroad eastward from Milton.The first train over the newly constructed Escambia Bay Bridge arrived on August 15, 1882.

Upon completion of the Apalachicola River bridge west of Chattahoochee in February 1883, the river crossing at Sampson's landing was abandoned. Service from Pensacola to Jacksonville, Florida began the first week in May 1883 via connections with theFlorida Central and Western Railroad, laterSeaboardAir Line Railroad, at River Junction, Florida.

ThePensacola and Atlantic Railroad received financial backing from theLouisvilleand Nashville Railroad during construction and ceased operating as anindependent line on July 1, 1885 when it was incorporated into theLouisvilleand Nashville system. Ninety seven years later in 1982, theLouisvilleand Nashville Railroad merged with theSeaboard Coast Line Railroad, Atlantaand West Point Railroad, Georgia Railroad, Western Railway of Alabama, and Clinchfield Railroad toform theSeaboard System Railroad. In 1985, the Seaboard system and theChessie system merged to formCSXT Rail System.

When the Pensacola and Atlantic was constructedthrough Northwest Florida in 1881-1883 the Florida panhandle was sparsely populated.The only two areas that warranted a depot were Milton and Marianna, Florida.Other depots were quickly added as people moved in to settle the wild lands andtraffic began to increase. There were sixteen depots built in the first years.

Passenger service peaked in the 1920's with six trains a day calling at Milton. With the comingof the automobile and airplanes that were heavily subsidized by the government, passenger service started going into the red. Four trains survived until 1967when theLouisville and Nashville along with other railroads lost themail contracts.

The remnant of the streamliner "Gulf Wind", inaugurated in 1949 toreplace steam-powered heavy-weight cars, survived untilAmtrak'sformation.  Its last run was on April 30, 1971.

TheGulf Wind's final years saw just token service consisting ofone engine, one baggage car, one coach, and one sleeper with a diner between Jacksonville and Chattahoocheeonly. The service had been reduced to three times a week in an attempt by theLouisvilleand Nashville and theSeaboard Coast Line Railroad to cut costs andto help support the discontinuance petition filed with the ICC.

The Museum also commemorates the service to Northwest Florida of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, known as theFrisco.  The Frisco started service to Pensacola in 1927 after buying earlier logging railroadsand extending a line from Amory, Mississippi.  Through service was provided to Memphis, the Midwest, andthe west coast by the "Sunnyland" passenger trains and Frisco'sfamous "Fast Freight" trains.  The last passenger service to Pensacola was in 1955, and the passenger depot on the corner of Garden and Coyle streets was razed in the 1960's.

A Frisco freight locomotive was donated to the city of Pensacola and rests inthe median of Garden Street in front of theold depot site.  Freight service to Pensacola continuesthrough the Burlington Northern, which purchased the Frisco in 1980.  The track south of Flomaton,Alabama is now owned by the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway.

Beginning on April 4, 1993Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" providedthrough service acrossNorthwest Florida from Los Angeles, California to Miami,Florida via New Orleans, Louisiana, and Jacksonville, Florida with stops at Pensacola and Crestview. The "Sunset Limited" ended a twenty-two year hiatus in passenger service across theFlorida Panhandle.

In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed the main line along the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coastthus endingAmtrak's "Sunset Limited" and passenger service in North West Florida.

P.O. Box 770, Milton, FL, 32572  EMail:conductor@wfrm.org