Eastern Railroad Discussion > Fast Trains and Sugar Cane I

Having planned a trip to Florida for late March I was pleased to see Pittsburgh Mike's post a few weeks ago about his trip to the FEC and the cane fields. Though I've photographed the FEC a few times in the past the sugar cane fields would be new territory for me. It gave me some useful tips which I hope I put to good use.  So here's my take on a similar trip covering the FEC, Tri Rail, and the USSC operation around Lake Okeechobee.

1. FEC 819 leads train 107 across the San Sebastian River in St Augustine. The sun lights up the dome at Flagler College named after the founder of the FEC.
2. The next morning we catch northbound 226 with an LNG set crossing the San Sebastian.
3. We headed north and found the 905 local working at the Bayard Industrial Park.

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4. Monday evening we caught FEC 800, LNG 300, and GE 3000 leading the hot 101 train southbound over Crane Creek in downtown Melbourne, FL.
5. Early Tuesday morning another LNG set with 800/306/812 heads up 109 as it crosses the Saint Sebastian River in Roseland, FL.
6. A wide angle view from the same location emphasizes the reflection this morning

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7. After our photo at Roseland we headed back north to Melbourne and waited for northbound 210 crossing Crane Creek. This was our first good look at one of FEC's SD40-2s in the Champion scheme.
8. We found the Brightline facility in West Palm Beach and were graciously invited inside for a tour by the project director. This is the "Bright Pink" set that had arrived just a few days before our visit.
9. Then we headed off to Stuart to catch the afternoon 202 train. I'm standing on the sidewalk of the US 1 bridge over the tracks, Dixie Hwy, and the St Lucie River.

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This is the Florida I never saw. Amazing!
Great photos. My favorite is number 8 at the Brightline facility.
Bob

10. Later in the afternoon I'm at the north end of the US 1 bridge as train 101 heads into Stuart with another LNG set - 811/302/803. During our trip we saw all six of the tenders currently in service.
11. On Wednesday morning what someone called the "bucket list shot" is safely tucked away on my CF card as 109 crosses the St Lucie River on the Stuart Draw. This was our most interesting consist with an ES44C4, SD40-2, and a GP40 leading. The train had a long cut of loaded CSX hoppers in front of the usual mix of rock, IM, and general freight.
12. Since there would be a lull in FEC activity for a few hours we moved over to the West Palm Beach Tri Rail station. We got our first look at a Brookville BL36PH as it leads the southbound P625 train from Mangonia Park to Miami. Raymond Loewy is rolling over in his grave.

Part II later.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/17 19:14 by JayK.

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Great series and locations! Hope to catch a few of those scenes next week.

GREAT stuff...!!  Thanks for posting.

Thanks, Jim.       Christopher, Glenn 

Fantastic! The FEC doesn't disappoint. Really digging your shot selection. I've wanted to get a morning southbound at Roseland but the timing on the trains hasnt worked out for me yet. Maybe next year :-)

Posted from iPhone

Maybe next year it'll be Ferromex power!  :)

Well done.

KG

I'm not familiar with "LNG" terminology/technology.  Guessing it is some form of alternative fuel.  Educate me, please.

Grover Wrote:
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> I'm not familiar with "LNG"
> terminology/technology.  Guessing it is some form
> of alternative fuel.  Educate me, please.

Liquified Natural Gas
Several FEC 800 series engines are modified to run on a mixture of natural gas and conventional diesel fuel, or on 100% diesel fuel.
The LNG tenders are custom built to provide a supply of fuel, at least one round trip for two locomotives, from what I can tell
There are several white hoses on the ends of the tenders and locomotives  to supply the locomotives. When the tender is not in use, the hoses fold up against the walkway.
 

Here's a closer look at the complex piping on one of the LNG tenders.

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Daah!  For whatever reason, I "naturally" draw a blank when I see CNG, or in this case, LNG.  It's a senior thing!

An excellent photo on your "bucket list photo to get"
John

Really great shots, Jim.  I never had the opportunity to railfan the FEC or that part of Florida.  Thanks for posting this nice series.
GK

Really great photos but the days of seeing an all FEC consist may be over. We may start seeing Ferromex locomotives on that line and since Union Pacific owns 39% of Ferromex we may see those locomotives also. They just been assimilated. Resistance is fu-tile.:)

Grupo Mexico, partially owned by by UP, bought the FEC. They also happen to own Ferromex. I don't see any rationale for UP or Ferromex locomotives to suddenly appear on the FEC, which is a long way from either of the other two railroads. Breaking up the FEC ES44C4 fleet, that runs on a mix of diesel and LNG, wouldn't make much sense either. We shall see.

Given the relatively low amount of natural gas produced in Mexico, and the substantial amounts imported, I could see FerroMex as very interested in the FEC experiment with LNG.  I could also see FM getting into the pipeline and gas transfer business very quickly.

Mexico is a country gifted in natural resources and cursed with limited means to develop and distribute them.  Oil and natural gas are great examples of what happens when you allow a corrupt and incompetent monopoly (PEMEX, its unions, and the PRI) to choke energy transmissions for 75 years.