U.S. Sugar Corp.’s common carrier and private railroads could face new futures under a planned Florida Everglades restoration, as we reported in the September 2009 issue of Trains. Lets look back and see what the railroad looked like when steam reigned. These two photos show examples of steam power working the sugar cane lines. Also, download a roster of the diesel locomotives U.S. Sugar Corp. uses today.
August W. Schell Jr.
U.S. Sugar Corp. was one of the last south Florida steam bastions. A small fleet of former Florida East Coast Pacifics hauled sugar cane into the early 1960s. Two of the locomotives, Nos. 113 and 153, went to the nearby Gold Coast Railroad Museum and are on display there. In this view, No. 113 prepares for another season in 1962.
Nicholas P. Young
Another one, No. 148, went to New Jersey’s Black River & Western and is now stored near Creede, Colo., for another tourist railroad. In these scenes, No. 148 is in operation at Clewiston, Fla., in 1964 as part of a display.
Download U.S. Sugar’s diesel roster. And, for more about railroads and sugar cane in Florida, pick up the September issue of Trains!
