CLEWISTON, Fla. — Trains Magazine, U.S. Sugar, and FMW Solutions partnered Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 29-30, to provide an unforgettable experience for 60 enthusiasts who enjoyed the sights and sounds of U.S. Sugar’s restored 1920 Alco 4-6-2 No. 148 on both a replica cane train and a passenger train.
The event was the second public excursion at U.S. Sugar, following a Christmas train in December 2021. This was the first enthusiast event to take place at U.S. Sugar.
On Saturday No. 148 pulled 10 cane cars and three passenger cars from Clewiston, Fla., to Okeelanta on the 16-mile Cane Block. On Sunday, No. 148 pulled a dining car, baggage car, and privately-owned office car Georgia No. 300 from Clewiston to Palmdale, about 30 miles. Each day, the train paused to make multiple photo runbys.
“The folks at U.S. Sugar and FMW Solutions, which provides restoration and operations expertise to this railroad, put on a magnificent show of steam power,” Trains Editor Jim Wrinn says. “It fits into what we do. We love providing a great magazine, a fantastic website, documentary DVDs, and experiences like this for our customers.”
U.S. Sugar and FMW Solutions completed the restoration of No. 148 in time for the locomotive’s centennial in 2020, and the company has begun running selected public trips. The next outing for the locomotive is a four-day special for the American Association of Private Railroad Car Operators in April.
Photos, and video interviews gathered at this event will appear in a story in a forthcoming issue of Trains as well as a Kevin Gilliam documentary DVD about Pacific-type locomotives in history and today.
Trains is offering tickets on two photo charters this year, one in Oregon in March featuring Santa Maria Valley 2-6-2 No. 205 on the Albany & Eastern, and the other in November at Western Maryland Scenic with 2-6-6-2 No. 1309. A photo charter with 1309 next month has been sold out for months.
Details on the March event in Oregon are available here, while information on the fall 1309 event is available here.
