Railfan Dad wants to see trains on non-park day

CrystalO8

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
We're planning a multi-generational trip in February 2021 and my railfan Dad is hoping to spend a non-park day checking out FL trains. Any tips or relevant experiences for a good spot for him?
 
Where are you traveling from?
We have taken the train from Boston several times and one time on the autotrain from Lorton VA.
It's a nice way to travel and is part of the vacation!
 
this is for a park day but does he know about: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/magic-behind-steam-trains-tour/

currently closed but should reopen .. I did this a couple of years ago and it was fun ... you get to see the maintenance building and get to be 'hands on' a locomotive

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for standard 'railfan stuff' heading to the Sanford depot of the Autotrain is a possibility. When it arrives and when it gets ready to depart there is a bit of switching that happens and you can see this from the parking lot w/out getting yelled at by the AMTRAK folks . . . trains are scheduled to arrive at 9AM and depart at 4PM but always subject to change

the Florida Railroad Museum is about 90 miles away in Parrish, off I-75 south of Tampa http://www.frrm.org/
 
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My son is a rail enthusiast, he really wants to go to Plant city. Plant City where the former depot is now a museum/welcome center. A fair amount of traffic and ATCS set up to show what's coming plus it is a museum. The part he likes the most is there rail fanning watch tower.
The Taft Yard is where CSX operations out of Orlando Area. It is located in the vicinity of the intersection of Sand Lake Rd (482) and Orange Ave (527). Intermodal yard is just south of there near the intersection of Orange Avenue & Landstreet Rd.
 


hmm ... never heard about this in Plant City https://www.willafordrailroadmuseum.com/aboutus

but I'd point out:

Across from the depot you will find the Train Viewing Platform. Trains magazine rated the viewing platform as one of the top 75 best places to view trains in the United States. You can Expect 15-20 trains max per 24-hours.

do the math . . . .

I don't know any good place to sit and watch TAFT Yard . . but he COULD go for a ride on SUNRAIL which would pass thru the yard . . .
 
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Not train spotting as such, but the Wilderness Lodge has a tour certain mornings at 9am which includes information about the Disney trains and of Walt Disney's enthusiasm for trains.
This is a free tour, with no booking required.
 



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