Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, PA built the #143 in 1905. ACL #143 was a part of a large order of locomotives placed by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It is a 0-6-0 type, class E-4. The locomotive was used at various locations on the ACL system in the southeastern U.S. The 0-6-0-type switch engine was used to make up trains in rail yards and do local spotting of cars to industry.
In 1944, the #143 was sold to the American Agricultural and Chemical Company of Pierce, FL. There the locomotive was put to use in the phosphate mine industry hauling trains from the mines to the main line railroads. It finished its operational career in 1959. It was subsequently put on display outside the Company’s office in Pierce. From there it went to a short-lived tourist line in Trilby, FL. In 1974, the locomotive was donated to the Tampa Bay Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and moved to San Antonio, FL. In 1979, it was donated to a private citizen and moved to Tampa. The #143 was then acquired by the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum.
In 1992, the Florida Gulf Coast Museum was told to move the derelict locomotive from the storage site in Tampa. Lacking funds to move the #143, the FGCR offered the #143 to the newly established Railroad Museum of South Florida located in Ft. Myers. At a cost of $16,000, the #143 was loaded on to a truck trailer and hauled to Ft. Myers. For over two years the #143 was stored under roof at Dean Steel Buildings. It was relocated to the Railroad Museum of South Florida at the Lakes Park and Gulf Railroad Train Village in 1995.
