00:00For this video, I'm headed down to Miami to take you on a full tour of the Gold Coast
00:05Railroad Museum.
01:00For this travel review, I'm a bit conflicted.
01:08You see, I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, and I grew up with the Gold Coast Railroad
01:12Museum.
01:13But as an adult, I've traveled the country and been to just absolutely massive railroad
01:19museums in Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Illinois, and now the place doesn't quite
01:26hold up as I remembered it.
01:28So I've been going to Gold Coast Railroad Museum off and on for decades.
01:32I remember when it was originally located down by the Fort Lauderdale Airport, and then
01:37I think it was in the 1980s when it relocated to be right next to Metro Zoo in Miami.
01:43Now don't get me wrong, this is probably the best railroad museum in the entire state of
01:47Florida.
01:48It actually became the official railroad museum of Florida, I believe, in the early 90s.
01:52So even the state of Florida recognized it.
01:55There's really only one other major railroad museum in the entire state, and that one's
01:59located in Parrish, Florida.
02:01That one, I think, might have an edge over this one because they have excursions with
02:06real vintage trains, and they don't do that here at Gold Coast.
02:11So I've been to this museum probably a dozen times over the last 25 years, and my most
02:17recent visit was kind of depressing because the level of maintenance just wasn't there.
02:22And I realize it's difficult to keep up with a facility this large, and I think most of
02:26the staff here are volunteers, but the grounds look forlorn and kind of run down with a lot
02:32of mildew and dirt and debris on the sidewalks.
02:38Most of the rolling stock and trains were just kind of rusted out and definitely could
02:41use a fresh coat of paint in a lot of places.
02:44The only stuff that was in any kind of decent shape was under the overhang.
02:49A lot of the cars on the sidings and everything, they were really, really sad looking, worse
02:55than I can ever recall.
02:58Since my last visit, they apparently added some carnival flat rides, I guess to broaden
03:03their appeal to younger audiences, but you can tell they're just not keeping up with
03:07the whole property now because I think they've taken on more than they can handle.
03:11I think the core railroad museum is suffering because they're just trying to do too much.
03:16I think the bigger issue for this place too is, as a railroad museum, it's not that great.
03:22Once you've visited some of the bigger railroad museums up north, like Steamtown or the Railroad
03:28Museum of Pennsylvania, this one just looks small and sad.
03:33The main attraction here at the Gold Coast Museum is the Ferdinand Magellan, which is
03:37the private railcar of the President of the United States, and that's just not a really
03:43big draw for most people.
03:45When you hang out with railroad enthusiasts and model railroaders and everything, we always
03:49get excited about locomotives.
03:53It's always discussions about the big boys and the GG1s and the SD90 Max, and locomotives
04:01are what excite railroad enthusiasts.
04:03Rolling Stock never really does it for us.
04:05We don't be like, oh, look at that caboose.
04:07Hey, check out that amazing boxcar.
04:11That's not really a thing, and as an adult, that's kind of my biggest problem with this
04:14museum now, is they don't really have any impressive locomotives.
04:18There's nothing here to call home about.
04:21I mean, it's obvious that they're struggling financially.
04:23I mean, I pulled up and the parking lot was empty, and there really wasn't anybody in
04:27the entire museum the entire time I was here, and I was here during the peak tour season,
04:32so that's an issue.
04:35The other thing that I've noticed is the collection is basically stagnated.
04:39Last time I came in the 90s, they had pretty much the same locomotives and coaches here
04:43that they do now.
04:45They're not really rotating the stock.
04:47They really need something different and new.
04:51Maybe they should trade a piece with another museum somewhere, because the crowds just
04:57aren't coming to see any of this stuff anymore.
04:59So if you've never been to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, there's this long access
05:03road where you basically drive up to the attraction, and it's off to the right-hand side.
05:08If you keep going straight, that's where you get to Zoo Miami, you know, formerly known
05:12as the Metro Zoo.
05:15I remember thinking to myself as I was driving to this museum, what a stark contrast, because
05:20you could see the hundreds of cars parked in front of the zoo, and I had the only car
05:25in the parking lot for the railroad museum, so it's just depressing that nobody's interested
05:32in, I guess, the history of this area anymore, especially when it comes to railroading.
05:36So what's the bottom line for the Gold Coast Railroad Museum?
05:39It's okay.
05:40I would say if you're within a half hour to a 45 minute drive, it's probably worth a visit.
05:47If you have a huge train enthusiast in your family, you might be able to justify a slightly
05:52longer trip.
05:53The admission price is pretty spot on, and if you've never visited this place before,
05:57then you probably won't notice that it's kind of stagnated with its exhibits.
06:01However, I don't think I would go as far as recommending this particular place.
06:07I just think there's better railroad museums in Florida.
06:11I think the one in Parrish is probably superior to this because they actually have actual
06:16train excursions where you can ride the trains, and that little kiddy train just doesn't cut
06:21it over here.
06:22Well, that pretty much wraps up all my thoughts on the Gold Coast Railroad Museum.
06:26For the rest of this video, I'm just going to play a little music to complete the video
06:29tour.
11:00Thanks for joining me on this tour of the Gold Coast Railroad Museum.
11:20If you enjoyed this episode of Mike Evades the World, don't forget to click on that follow
11:24button above.
11:25See everyone next week on Daily Motion.
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