Steam & Excursion > A Sweet 4-6-2

Marion Post Wolcott framed this shot of United States Sugar Corporation Number 98 near Clewiston, Florida in February 1939 while documenting sugarcane harvesting for the FSA. Aside from the brakeman decorating the pilot not knowing to lay off the whites until after Memorial Day, it's hard to imagine United States Sugar acquiring this engine new for this kind of service, so the question to the steam knowledgeable is, where did they get it?
 
Be of good cheer,
—Mac

www.lowellamrine.com 

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They bought it from the Florida East Coast

Although using a light Pacific to haul sugar cane is an odd choice, it was apparently a matter of convenience when #98 and sister engines were found to be surplus by the FEC and sold in the 30's.

Number 148 was recently restored and returned to service by US Sugar.

http://sugarexpress.com/history/ 

A great video of a beautiful locomotive!

And white is allowed in Florida all year long!

And the Southern ran the 750.

Elesco Wrote:
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> Although using a light Pacific to haul sugar cane
> is an odd choice, it was apparently a matter of
> convenience when #98 and sister engines were found
> to be surplus by the FEC and sold in the 30's.
>
> Number 148 was recently restored and returned to
> service by US Sugar.
>
> http://sugarexpress.com/history/ 

Both St Helena and Lorraine gold mines in South Africa used former South African Rys. 4-6-2s for hauling ore from the mines to the processing plants.

Elesco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Although using a light Pacific to haul sugar cane
> is an odd choice, it was apparently a matter of
> convenience when #98 and sister engines were found
> to be surplus by the FEC and sold in the 30's.
>
> Number 148 was recently restored and returned to
> service by US Sugar.
>
> http://sugarexpress.com/history/ 

To expand a bit on this, while 4-6-2's may not have been ideal for freight, they were cheap, available, and Florida is flat. Some of FEC's Pacific's found their way to other shortlines.

FEC was primarily a passenger carrier. The Great Depression and the loss of its oversea railroad to Key West in the hurricane of 1935 was hard on the FEC. The decade of the 1930s saw FEC's locomotive fleet being cut in half. Besides the 4-6-2's. a number of 4-8-2's ended up all over the USA and south of the border in Mexico. 

I recall WP getting 4-8-2's from the FEC. 
—Mac

ts1457 Wrote:
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> a
> number of 4-8-2's ended up all over the USA and
> south of the border in Mexico. 

MacBeau Wrote:
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> I recall WP getting 4-8-2's from the FEC. 
> —Mac
>
> ts1457 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > a number of 4-8-2's ended up all over the USA and
> > south of the border in Mexico. 

I meant to add thanks for sharing a great picture.