Trains operated between the towns of Mount Dora, Tavares, Eustis, Lake Jem, and Orlando.
Another added feature for the trip; for an additional cost, a passenger could eat dinner served in the railway's dome car.
Narrated by the conductor, passengers embarked on a 1.5 hour, ten mile round trip excursion between the towns of Mount Dora and Tavares.
Passengers could watch as the conductor and engineer maneuvered the train around the wye in preparation for the return trip to Mount Dora.
The Giggles and Bits Players presentation of Fat Louie's Pizza to Die For was the main play for the trip.
Once the train arrived in Orlando, the conductor escorted passengers two blocks to the Amway Arena for the game.
Trains departed Eustis for an all day excursion on the entire railroad, including a trip all the way into downtown Orlando.
The tracks that the Florida Rail Adventures trains traveled on were once part of three independent railroads that were built mostly in the 1880s.
The line was built 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge and its rails passed through Altoona, Umatilla and Ft. Mason before reaching Eustis, 27 miles, in 1880.
Construction continued southward through Tavares, reaching Lane Park on Big Lake Harris, 7.5 miles, in 1882-83.
The line originally served as a land bridge for the river and lake steamboats that provided transportation into the interior of Florida.
Passengers and freight could come down the St. Johns River on steamboats from Jacksonville and transfer to the railroad at Astor for ports on Lakes Eustis, Dora and Harris.
Lastly, the line from Ft. Mason to Leesburg, 15 miles, was abandoned in 1967 due to being redundant after the merger to form the SCL.
[2] The line was constructed to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) gauge and was immediately leased to the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway Company (JT&KW).
Construction began in Tavares in 1882 and the 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad gauge line reached Orlando, 32 miles, via Lake Jem, Zellwood, Plymouth and Apopka in 1884.
The TO&A also had financial difficulties after failing to pay interest on bonds and was sold at a public auction to The Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad Company (TFC&P) in 1891.
TFC&P was a fairly large system, reaching from Fernandina Beach to Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Ocala, Wildwood, Leesburg and Tavares.
TFC&P had financial difficulties as well and reorganized as Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad Company (FC&P) ("The" omitted from name) in 1893.
The Seaboard Air Line Railway bought controlling interest in the FC&P in 1900 and fully merged it into their system in 1903.
The three original railroads went through a series of bankruptcies, sales, and mergers, which brought them under one banner in 1967 as part of the Seaboard Coast Line.
CSX, being an extremely large rail system, could not operate branch lines efficiently and provide the personalized service that customers required.