Railroad buffs open locomotive museum

As president of the Railroad Museum of South Florida, Jerry Ladner is just one of many railroad enthusiasts in the area who recently fulfilled a 14-year-long dream of opening an interpretive center dedicated to trains, railroads and education.

The nonprofit group recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony at Lakes Regional park in south Fort Myers to dedicate a 6,000-square-foot interpretive center that’s all about locomotives.

“We are finally where we wanted to be ... finally able to educate the public and show them everything we’ve had in storage this whole time,” said Ladner, who spent the last month getting the center ready for the public. “We have so much that people can’t imagine.”

Part of Ladner’s plans for the train center are to have displays and educational programs that will rotate every few months and showcase all the Railroad Museum has collected over the years.

In addition to providing a permanent home for the Railroad Museum, the center will add to the park’s existing and very popular train ride attraction and train village.

“We approached the county and told them to let us put a train ride in that would help us build an interpretive center in the future,” said Ladner.

The train ride was built in 1994. Cost of a ride is $2.

At first county officials were hesitant because they wanted the park to be about nature, Ladner said.

A survey was conducted and the train ride’s popularity prompted the county to further build on its train-themed area.

“The survey showed that 70 percent of the people came to the park for the train ... so we gave them $50,000 to start the building of the new center,” he said.

After plans were underway, Hurricane Charley destroyed some of the area, forcing the county to redesign it.

That’s when they committed to a $785,000 interpretive center, a $357,000 railroad-themed playground and addition of a renovated caboose to accompany the existing locomotive on site.

The train ride area will eventually feature brick pathways, street lamps and a redesigned concession stand.

When completed it will resemble the railroad heydays of downtown Fort Myers when the railroad industry had a significant influence on the city.

“It will work out great but for now it’s all about the train ride,” said Armando Ingratta, the lead engineer for the ride.

Ingratta drives the one and a half mile track that runs around the park.

He makes sure the train runs the way trains were run 40 years ago.

“You have to sound the horn when you near walkways as you go around. And we learn that from volunteers like Armando,” said Ladner.

The Lakes Regional Park Station and village are located at 7330 Gladiolus Drive in south Fort Myers.

The miniature train ride is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 1:45 p.m., Saturday and holidays from 10 until 3:45 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 3:45 p.m.

Interpretive center hours are the same as the train ride.

It costs $2 to ride the mile and a half track. The ride lasts about 15 to 20 minutes.

The new train-themed playground is covered to protect children from the sun and has benches for family and friends to watch children comfortably.

For more information, call 267-1905.