Eastern Railroad Discussion > A few Florida questions

I will be visiting Florida next week and after the kids fly back home from Orlando Thursday, my wife and I will be travelling around for a few days and I am hoping to photo document some activity in three areas Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning.   There's been  a lot of good info that I have gleaned from posts here and elsewhere and from prior visits, but I am looking for a little additional info on Plant City, the Sugar Cane ops below Lake Okeechobee, and St. Augustine.

PLANT CITY - We'll be here Friday morning - there was a recent post with trains operating through here, plus I also understand the Winston Yd. is back in use with several locals based there.  So on a typical weekday, what can I expect to see in the morning between Plant City and Winston.   Also, just east of the yard(s) in Tampa, there are two bridges crossing a canal or small river.  Any thoughts suggestions about photos on either of them.  I am guessing Amtrak crosses in and out of Tampa on the upper crossing/bridge.

US SUGAR operations - We are planning on staying in Clewiston Friday night - how much rail activity does US Sugar run on Saturdays?  Also, do the South Central Florida Express jobs to the CSX interchange at Sebring on the west side, and to the FEC interchange on the east side run on Saturdays?

ST. AUGUSTINE - We'll be staying overnight in St. Augustine Saturday night into Sunday morning.  I know during weekday mornings there are a couple north bound FEC road jobs that are good to shoot in St. Augustine.  Does one of them not run Saturday night/Sunday morning and what might I expect to see operate on a Sunday morning?

Appreciate any help anyone can give me.  Thanks
 

 

If you are at all interested in Sunrail in Orlando, just know they don’t run on weekends.
 

sscannella , you may have already seen them but Danny Harmon has a railfanning YouTube channel called, "Distant Signal."  Most of his videos are of rail fan sites in Florida, and some of them are specifically about the Sugar Cane operations and Plant City:

Plant City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5zJU_lmPgU
Sugar Cane Ops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZczGjzksaM

You may find some others of his that are helpful.

Please be sure to visit the Golden Triangle region in scenic Lake County and ride the Royal Palm Rail Experience.

Tickets available at www.TheFloridaTrain.com

A host of themed culinary departures are available this weekend!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/19 13:55 by Royal_Palm.

The US Sugar and SCFE engines are all the same now. They all are yellow and grey with USSC reporting marks. I cant remember if the Sebring turn and the Ft Pierce turn run on weekends but I know one of the mill locals does not. You should still see some cane trains though but this late in the season there may not be many. 

For Plant City, you should get Amtrak and a local on Friday but dont expect much by way of mainline freights. CSX operates far fewer trains than they used to down there. 

For FEC, Sunday is the quietest day on the railroad. Not much of anything runs southbound after dawn until 101 in the afternoon. 

RN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/19 16:18 by dal3294.

Regarding Plant City, try to be there in the morning or late afternoon. The Tampa-Waycross and Winston-Waycross freights usually roll throughbetween 8 and 10 and you can usually see the Tampa based local in the area as well. Around 3 or 4 Amtrak usually comes West in to Tampa and then comes out about 45 minutes later. After that clears, you’ll usually see the incoming stuff start to open up.

In all, be ready to have some long gaps at Plant City. If you want a good pastry and coffee, walk down the street to the Krazy Kup. It’s a great spot and above 300 feet from the diamond.

As for the bridges in Tampa, you can park at the southern bridge off 78th St. there’s a small dirt lot on the south side and a fence you can walk through (for fishing) if you want some low angle shots. The yard crews regularly pull out well across the bridge so you may get some GP40-3 shots. Also, in the early afternoon, if there are any empty unit trains ready to leave, they will usually pull out across the bridge with their power. These regularly have UP and CP units on the coal and ethanol trains.

Hope this helps. Enjoy Tampa.

Posted from iPhone

Be sure to reserve all your hotels, NOW, because the Daytona 500, Valentines Day, and other events are in Florida next week.

1. Just as you suspect it just the local roaming the main line mid morning, It's easy to follow because its never far from US 92.  Amtrak comes though around the same time. I've only seen unscheduled road trains in the morning. I'm not sure about what crosses the Diamond at plant city mid-morning.

2. Not sure about Saturday but they interchange with CSX and the FEC before noon. (the last time I delivered to that area 3 years ago!)  I'm not sure if they both run at the same time or one location every other day. 

3. FEC 2## is almost guaranteed to show up in St.Aug around 9am usually with EMD power. The remodeled/ rebranded Ponce Hotel is right beside track along the water with an excellent view.  Especially if its high tide, because the only the ballast is above water! I've never spent the night there! 101 comes southbound mid afternoon. not much daytime action this time of year on Sunday.

4. Get your hotels now! The places a you are going have very little train action during those times, so have a backup plan! You might have a better chance of seeing me friday or sunday hauling my EMP or Hub container around those areas.







 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/19 17:21 by flarails882.

Regarding Saint Augustine, Sunday is a far inferior day compared to Saturday. On Sunday morning you stand a decent chance of seeing FEC #218 from Fort Lauderdale after sunrise*, as well as #226 and #210 from Miami. But neither #218 nor #210 runs on Sunday, so all you're likely to get is #226.

*-When I was down there in mid-November, #218 showed up in St. A just before 0700 on a couple of different days. That was right after sunrise on those days and the sun wasn't really high enough to get good light.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/19 17:36 by toledopatch.