Polar Express, Thomas the Tank Engine victims of funding cuts

As artistic and cultural institutions brace for less funding following cuts by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum will see fewer trains in its station with significantly less funding, budget cuts many venues across Miami-Dade County face.

For Gold Coast, that means no Polar Express trains for Christmas, no Thomas the Tank Engine events, both of which are geared toward children and together account for 80% of the museum’s operating revenue.

The museum adjacent to Zoo Miami since 1956 has been preserving historical and antique trains and educating the public on the history and impact of these vehicles.

“We’re one of the smaller museums in Miami as well, so it’s a bigger hit than maybe someone with more independent or private funding. We don’t really have a lot of that,” said Nicole Espaillat, secretary of the museum’s board. “A majority of the funding that we get are from these few grants we have and our admissions, so it’s definitely taken a big hit, especially as we come up on our 40-year recertification, we’re also going through that. So, we have a lot of major repairs to do, a lot of hiring maintenance that needs to be done, programs that are on pause, so any funding that gets pulled away is pretty detrimental to us.”

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is just one of the 196 institutions in Miami-Dade going through funding cuts. Originally allotted $60,000, Ms. Espaillat considers the loss a significant blow at a critical time for museum recertification and its holiday season.

Located on a decommissioned naval base, the museum faces additional challenges as it works to bring itself back up to code in time, with a newly slashed budget taking away much-needed aid.

“We were already behind in trying to grow the institution, so this is a little more of a kick up in our plans,” said Ms. Espaillat.

One major cut, she says, is the annual Polar Express in December. Themed after the classic children’s book and its 2004 film adaptation, guests would normally enjoy hot chocolate, a live read-along of the original story, and a visit from Santa Claus as the Polar Express would take them to the North Pole. This year, however, the museum’s North Pole stop has been canceled, as the money that would have gone to staging the event has now been diverted to make necessary repairs.

Similarly, the Thomas the Tank Engine events geared towards children have also been cut.

“We just aren’t able to put on events right now,” said Ms. Espaillat. “We have a very, very, very small staff right now, I believe three or four paid employees. The rest are volunteer-run. Of course, in order to have programs, we need to hire people, so it’s affected our ability to staff properly. It’s affected our ability to host our more major ticketed events, which you need capital upfront to put those on.”

Moreover, she said, “It has affected our ability to run trains. A lot of our trains are diesel-run, and fuel is very expensive, especially when you’re working with these massive, large trains, so just the ability to get the trains moving and going … that has definitely affected how often we can run them. Our grounds are super large; all the maintenance, the landscaping, all that space in general has taken a hit.”

The majority of the museum’s operations are run by its volunteers, who drive the trains, lead tours, maintain the models and exhibits, and handle the museum’s marketing and public relations.

Like many institutions experiencing this budget crunch, another major priority has become community outreach and fundraising, with the museum appealing to private companies and foundations, including Amtrak, Brightline, CSX railway, the county Department of Transportation and Public Works, and the Miami Foundation to subsidize for the significant loss of revenue.

Likewise, the museum is working to gain the public attention, raising awareness on social media and encouraging members and visitors to donate, as well as aiming to draw in as big a crowd as possible to ensure the museum can be back to full operations by next year.

“I just really want people to understand that the museum is there for them as a community cultural institution that is in their neighborhood, which is where the majority of Miami residents live. A lot of people live down south and in Kendall,” said Ms. Espaillat.

“We’re on the zoo property, we’re accessible to the majority of families in Miami, and we would love to just bring awareness so they can come and enjoy the space.”