Historic Jefferson Train Depot
History of the Jefferson
& Cypress Bayou Railway
The Jefferson &
Cypress Bayou has been a fixture in the community for more than
15 years. In the early 1980’s, a
committee was formed by the city to purchase the train from a
defunct amusement park in Florida.
In addition to moving the train itself from it’s location, the
committee were faced with the task of clearing the right-of-way
for the track, finding a supply of rail, ties, spikes, and ties,
and moving the original T&P depot to the railway’s property.
Eventually the rail was laid, the train was moved, and
operations commenced in 1987. The
city of Jefferson operated the train for about ten years before
the railway encountered financial problems and was put up for
sale. A series of individuals owned
the railway for the next few years and the train ran
sporadically during this period. In
the late ‘90’s, maintaining the locomotive and track became too
great a task for the owner and the train was shut down,
seemingly for good.
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