Eastern Railroad Discussion > Some FEC around St. Augustine

A few weeks ago I was visting the St. Augustine area. Now I've been there several times over the years and I've often noticed The Ponce hotel has a nice backyard for a railfan. So I stayed there for a night, I heard four trains pass during the night and the next morning I spent a little time on their deck that they had built overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway and of course the FEC. Included are three images of which the first two are southbound 103 with 809. I had traveled north of St, Augustine a few miles to intercept 103 along U.S. 1 then was able to get him again on The Ponce's deck.
The morning that I checked out a 905 local job that was on the heels of another 103 came rolling by.   Thanks for looking,  

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Nice pics!

Wonderful set.
Bob

In the third picture that's a nice shot GP40-2 # 416 which was built in 1974. When I worked for the FEC from 1982-1986 I remember riding that unit. We would have it a lot on what they used to call The Unit Train.Thanks posting it. 
Robert in Lagrande Oregon 

Agreed on The Ponce as hard to beat for a railfan.  And fans who haven't visited St. Augustine in a LONG time will recall that as the Comfort Inn... ;-p

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Mike Derrick

Great scenes.  Seems like a "perfect" railfan location, but one wonders if some of our alligator friends like to hang out there as well???

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Many alligators prefer fresh water, rather than brackish or salty water.

That said, any water (drainage swales, golf courses etc) in Florida may have gators.

A bicycle rider was attacked by a gator on a wilderness park trail in Stuart yesterday.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Many alligators prefer fresh water, rather than
> brackish or salty water.

The St. Augustine estuary is decidedly salty, too.

I've been there a bunch of times and have yet to see evidence of alligators -- including during several drone overflights away from the nearby roads.

I like Pics 2 and 3!!

In photos 1 & 2:

What is that car that follows the first locomotive?

The paint scheme suggests that it is part of the lash-up.  But I have never seen anything like it before.  Does it carry fuel?

Thanks.

Jckaufman Wrote:
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> In photos 1 & 2:
>
> What is that car that follows the first
> locomotive?
>
> The paint scheme suggests that it is part of the
> lash-up.  But I have never seen anything like it
> before.  Does it carry fuel?
>
> Thanks.

These locomotives are powered by Liquid Natural Gas. The container in the middle is the fuel tender.

Posted from iPhone

Thank you.

DJ-12 Wrote:
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> Jckaufman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In photos 1 & 2:
> >
> > What is that car that follows the first
> > locomotive?
> >
> > The paint scheme suggests that it is part of
> the
> > lash-up.  But I have never seen anything like
> it
> > before.  Does it carry fuel?
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> These locomotives are powered by Liquid Natural
> Gas. The container in the middle is the fuel
> tender.
>
> Posted from iPhone

srman Wrote:
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> A few weeks ago I was visting the St. Augustine
> area. Now I've been there several times over the
> years and I've often noticed The Ponce hotel has a
> nice backyard for a railfan. So I stayed there for
> a night, I heard four trains pass during the night
> and the next morning I spent a little time on
> their deck that they had built overlooking the
> Intercoastal Waterway and of course the FEC.
> Included are three images of which the first two
> are southbound 103 with 809. I had traveled north
> of St, Augustine a few miles to intercept 103
> along U.S. 1 then was able to get him again on The
> Ponce's deck.
> The morning that I checked out a 905 local job
> that was on the heels of another 103 came rolling
> by.   Thanks for looking,  

Posted from iPhone