THE TWIN CITIES RAILROAD MUSEUM
cultivating and honoring the railroad’s
one hundred and fifty year legacy with the Twin Cities
By: Dr. Linda H. Bradford
A Sesquicentennial Celebration is always a meaningful time for commemoration. Such is the case when remembering how deeply ingrained the history of the railroad is in each fifty years of Fulton’s history:
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1859 -1909
With construction reaching Pontotoc (Fulton) in 1859 the railroad was a critical said by some to be a founding, part for the City of Fulton. Late 19th century rail and town prosperity led to a warm effusive description in a later Illinois Central Magazine article: “Fulton [is] a city of beautiful residences, bristling with many business enterprises, throbbing with commercial activities, pulsating with social life of a superb citizenship, nestles sun- kissed and God -favored at the intersections of two great lines of the Illinois central railroad…and ranks with the foremost of the cites of its size in the South.”
1909-1959
During the first half of the 20th century an impressive new depot was constructed, more than 30 passenger trains a day passed through; and Fulton became home to the second largest of the Illinois Central Headquarters, issuing paychecks for between 800 and 1100 workers. Of special note, one particularly important cargo starting in the 1920s was bananas. Fulton serviced and re-routed the required refrigerator cars and became known the banana capital of the nation.
1959-2009
The second half of the 20th century as a result of improved trucking, air travel, and air transport the railroad industry and it’s presence in Fulton experienced a slow gradual decline. The numbers of daily trains dropped and the Illinois Central Headquarters closed. In 1979, the old depot was torn down and in 1989, the downtown railroad tracks were removed. As well, in 1992, the famous Banana Festivals that began in 1962 honoring the railroads role in the banana industry, ended.
Even so, Fulton and it’s relationship with the railroad preservers and though, certainly not to the accustomed scale, hosting freight trains and two passenger trains a day- Fulton is still a railroad town, and is one of the few with passenger train services in the state.
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The one hundred and fifty years since Fulton Kentucky’s 1859 founding, ushered in many area changes. One of the most interesting is the new Twin Cities Railroad Museum. The museum was charted in 1994 with first officers: Charles Thompson, Beth McWhirt, Denise Woolf, and Milton Dean; and opened by James Cruce and Rupert Ainley in 2008 with a fevered dedication to cultivating and honoring the legacy of the contributions of the railroad to the Twin Cities’ community.
As noted on its website
The museum is designed to educate through displays and demonstrations, the role and effect of the railroads in the life of the people and businesses of the Fulton and South Fulton communities and related regional area.
The museum houses numerous displays and demonstrations of historical and current area trains including the Illinois Central and Canadian National lines. Also displayed at the museum are many items highlighting the history of the twin cities of Fulton, Kentucky and South Fulton, Tennessee – including fun items such as souvenirs of the annual Banana Festivals.
The collection of timetables, books, maps, history books, photos, railroad lanterns, switch keys, switch locks, uniforms, a handcar, a baggage cart, Tommy the Train, a depot bench, uniforms, model trains, and paintings is constantly growing. The museum will feature anything that has to do with railroad history. Artifact donations are welcomed and the museum is currently especially interested in dining car china and table settings.
The many artifacts are touching and fascinating reminders of days past but the heart of the museum is its people
Always a morning or afternoon well spent, on any give Fridays or Saturday, during museum season, visitors can find an assortment of museum staff and volunteers including a model train railroader and a photo curator. But most heart warming are the retired railroad resident storytellers who sit in a circle with open chairs for visitors who are welcome to come right in, sit right down and join right in. The stories are many but most include the railroad yards, huge freight trains, sleek passenger trains like the City of Miami, City of New Orleans, Panama Limited, and others; and stories of “walking” the long routes from Fulton to Chicago, Chicago to Miami, New Orleans and Memphis. Big, small, funny, and sad railroad stories that make you feel like you were right there when the escapade actually happened.
So while you are enjoying Fulton’s Sesquicentennial Celebration plan to come to the museum the following weekend to enjoy the role the railroad played in that celebration’s fascinating history. Tour the museum, enjoy Tommy the Train, sit in an authentic engineer’s simulator and perhaps sit in on a story set and find out how retired engineer Jones Gamblin came to be called “Skillet Eye!”
The Twin Cities Railroad Museum is open Friday and Saturday. 10 a.m to 4 p.m., or by appointment. There is no charge though donations are accepted. The museum is located in the South Fulton Municipal Complex at the cross streets of Broadway and Counce Drive, South Fulton, Tennessee. 731-479-2640. (www.tcrailroadmuseum.org).
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