U.S. Sugar

On the dates of January 29 and 30, 2022, we attended our first railroad photo charter that was hosted by Trains Magazine and the U.S. Sugar Corporation that was pulled by an over 100 year old steam locomotive no. 148. Most of the footage shown in this video is no. 148 doing photo runbys from the Okeelanta Mill to Clewiston, Florida. Unfortunately, we currently we don't have all of the footage from Sunday, January 30 so we decided to mainly focus on the footage from Saturday, January 29 and added in a few still photographs from Sunday's portion of the charter.
#148 is a 4-6-2 Pacific type built in 1920 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Richmond, Virginia for the Florida East Coast Railway. 148 pulled freight and passenger trains all around the FEC including the "Overseas Railroad" that went from Miami to Key West. The Overseas Railroad operated until in 1935 the Labor Day Hurricane partially destroyed many of the long viaducts, some of the remains of the original viaducts still exist today but are left in abandonment. Around the same time the Overseas Railroad was destroyed the FEC started to retire some of their 4-6-2 Pacifics but 148 continued to operate for the FEC until it was retired in 1952 but was sold to the U.S. Sugar Corporation shortly after. 148 operated for the U.S. Sugar until in 1969 it was sold to Sam Freeman. In 1971, Mr. Freeman operated 148 at the Black River and Western Railroad in Ringoes, New Jersey and pulled passenger trains from Ringoes to Flemington along with Great Western Railway 2-8-0 Consolidation no. 60. 148 also pulled some special trips around New Jersey until Freeman’s death in 1982 where 148 was sold to the Connecticut Valley Railroad Museum. In 1988, 148 was sold once again to a private party which resulted to 148 being transported to another owner in Michigan before she was sold once again to Monte Vista, Colorado in 2005. In 2016, 148 was purchased once again by the U.S. Sugar Corporation to be restored to operation and was moved to her new home in Clewiston, Florida. The restoration was completed on no. 148 in April of 2020 just in time for her 100th birthday.
The U.S. Sugar Corporation is one of the oldest continuously operating sugar companies in the United States and is the only sugar company in the U.S. that’s still powered by train to this day. The U.S. Sugar Corporation operates locomotive no. 148 on special occasions including revenue sugar cane trains or special passenger trains along the USSC route. Within the next few years or so the U.S. Sugar should have another operating steam locomotive which is another 4-6-2 Pacific known as Atlantic Coast Line no. 1504. 1504 was on display in Jacksonville, Florida until she was sold to the U.S. Sugar in the summer of 2021 and began work shortly after.
This photo charter was definitely worth our time and money and we hope to attend more photo charters in the near future, especially with Trains Magazine or U.S. Sugar. 148 has quickly became one of our favorite steam locomotives. We hope that you enjoyed this “sweet” video that we put together of our coverage with U.S. Sugar 148.
sugarexpress.com/
www.trains.com/trn/
0:00 Intro
0:12 Rogers Rd.
2:19 Diamond Near Rogers Rd.
3:14 Miami Canal Rd.
6:09 Okeelanta Mill (Eastbound)
8:23 Okeelanta Mill (Westbound)
10:41 Curve Near Okeelanta
12:44 Photographs from 1/30/22
13:15 Credits

[@anandkumarpurohit3735]

Nice capture . Fantastic sound. Beautiful footage and natural scenery.

[@Bluebonnet_W_3162]

That Powell 3 suits 148 very well, love the video and variety of shots! That title is also very clever, nice one, Ty!

[@ArkansasLocomotiveWorks]

Very charming vid Ty. Loved the stack talk.

[@TyTytheTrainGuy]

Thanks.

[@shane.3071]

Awesome video! I love the sounds of this engine.

[@TrainChamber]

Superb Video Ty! That whistle is amazing!

[@TyTytheTrainGuy]

Thanks Joe, it was a great sounding Powell 3 chime.

[@LouisianaRailProductions]

Finally getting around to watching this. Very glad to see your results came out great!

[@KeystoneRailProductions]

Nicely done Ty! Some of your best yet!

[@TyTytheTrainGuy]

Thanks Vince!

[@atsfevan0242]

Great video, it sure made my day.

[@DylanRailVids04]

Definitely need to see this pacific someday. Great work on the video bro!

[@TyTytheTrainGuy]

Thanks Dylan and yes you do need to 148 she’s a great little engine.

[@DylanRailVids04]

@@TyTytheTrainGuy hopefully someday 😅

[@zpw31]

Awesome video Ty!

[@TyTytheTrainGuy]

Thanks Zane.

[@ARMORSCREWS]

Sounds like Nevada Northern #40's whistle