Sugarcane Train Chase Winter 2018
Вставка
- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- I've lived in Florida my entire life, but have never seen the US Sugar operation in South Florida near the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. I spent a day down there in January with my friends Tolga, Rudy, Mike and Paul. Like nothing else in America.
Clean locomotives, no graffiti on the cars, upkeep on the rail bed is super; looks like a well maintained operation. Almost brings a tear to the eye. US Sugar should be proud.
Interesting comment..no graffiti on cars..eonder why ??
@@pickfairguy These cars likely don't sit in easy to reach areas. Plus you'd ahve to go out of your way to tag them. Cars on major raillines are easier to get to.
Also the best part is that there is no GE’s anywhere on this line.
@@pickfairguy Rural areas almost never see graffiti.
dan cooper that’s a little bigoted don’t you think? Why bring in race and ethnicity? Truly unnecessary. Some people also use graffiti as art btw.
Great Video. My family lived in Clewiston from 1960-1968. I was in elementary school. I remember the cane fields on fire and the black snow from the ash. The mill smell of burnt sugar. Both my parents worked at the hospital. The lake was great and the kids were a hoot. Everyone rode bicycles. The Movies every Saturday were packed. The Old South BBQ Ranch. Hurricane Donna. Went back in the mid-'80s it as I had expected did change.
This is great. I grew up in Clewiston and the USSC trains were a big part of my childhood. One of my earliest memories is watching (from my stroller!) a cane train lumbering along Aztec Avenue. Years later, when I was around 10, a friend of my mom's who worked at the mill SOMEHOW got permission to bring me into work and I spent one of the most glorious half-days of my life riding through the fields in a locomotive, even getting to control the throttle and blow the horn! This video definitely brings the memories back ... thanks for sharing.
That shot of the last train heading west into the sunset was one of the best train videos I have seen. Excellent.
That has GOT to be the most unique American railroad I have ever seen, Danny. Thanks so much for sharing it or I never would have known. By the way that was a GORGEOUS shot at the end with the last train rolling off into the sunset. Very cinematic.
That shot of the train going into the sunset was SPECTACULAR! Another great video DH!
Thanks Brylon, Yes, I got lucky on that one. It was a beautiful day.
@@distantsignal why does the united states sugar cane gp40 have a union pacific color
In watching this, I noticed at 9:55 it shows USSC GP40-2 #503 crossing a road. The 503 was our Boston & Maine GP40-2 #315, a locomotive I spent many hours in. We had 18 units in the 300-317 series. Once the lease ran out all 18 units went to HELM and them either in the lease fleet or sold outright. The USSC also has another one, their #504, our ex #312. Kind of nice to see the 315 in action!!
6:53 i love the sound of two horns blowing at once passing by
I had a wonderful time with you and the SFRM! This was definitely among my favorite railfanning outings. Excellent video, very well covered Danny! Glad to help show you around and thanks for taking the time to come down!
Could not have done it with out you, Tolga. We're definitely going again next season!
We thank you as well Tolga :)
Distant Signal hey have you seen my videos of the VR Valdosta Railway Clyattville Valdosta Switcher and I do have some videos of the GFRR in action I do plan on getting the ADM Valdosta yard Switcher and UTLX Valdosta Switcher
brickbuilder711 that’s awesome Tolga!
I also thank you as well Tolga. I saw your excellent video of this adventure a week or so ago. I've been waiting on this. Cheers, Dan
Great job on USSC rail ! Born and raised in Pahokee !. in the 50s the rr. ran exFEC light Pacific's ! great memories of that !
USSC is rebuilding Pacific # 148 ,as we speak ! FYI the original "cane cars" were modified " sugar beet cars" mainly wooden construction !...im thinking 36 or 38 feet ! Was told , now it's much cheaper to rebuild old cheap box cars ! God luck Mike Elliott
Excellent production as usual! Thanks for sharing.
Virtual Railfan Hi VR!!
I wish I knew why virtual railfan blocked me. Shortly after their site opened at LaGrange Ky I was telling a railfan some history about that line and then I discovered that I was blocked. I tried to find out why and so did a couple of my fans but to no avail.
Sorry to here that Jawtooth.
@@JawTooth that’s dumb, your channel is great
@@JawTooth that’s terrible Jaw tooth, hopefully it’s been resolved by now.
-RRR
I had the FANTASTIC opportunity of seeing this train in late October early November of 2020!! Forgot which month I saw it I saw the fancy steam locomotive!
9:47 K3LA is absolutely perfectly tuned
Been here a lot but now it's different- thanks for the publicity.
Another of the old haunts Danny. Thanks for the updated view! So glad you got to to see it. The night operations are wonderful to shoot as well. Before there was Sonny's they had some killer catfish joints all around the lake we use to fall into after a day of railfaning. That parting shot with the sun in the left hand corner of the shot was poetry. Bravo.
I hope to plan a big shoot down there next season. It's such an unusual and interesting place.
Looking forward to it! Hope to see you out west here some day. We will have a grand adventure planed if you do.
I remember as a reporter for the Waycross Journal-Herald being at the Waycross SCL shops when a GP7 was getting a nose cut before heading down here. GP7s were and are my favorite engines.
Great Vid as is the Norm. The "loadouts" are called Elevators. The Mill in Bryant wasn't torn down. It was disassembled and shipped to South America, somewhere I can't recall. When I left the Company right around the turn of the Century. The majority of the Cars were purpose built. The old cars from the '20's with the the mostly wooden doors were heightened back in the '80's. My Father did a bunch of them, when he worked for the Company @ the Bryant Mill.
I love the history that goes with all of these videos
6:53 Love the yellow on grey color scheme. Looks really good. :)
Woo-e those LEDs are bright!
LOVE that closing shot at 12:18. Thank you!
Thanks for the video. I lived there for 40 years and sure miss it. I remember when all of the cane cutting was done by hand. Workers were brought in from Jamaica and cut from January thru March. That was a backbreaking nasty job but it fed their families. Now it is done by machine.
Just great I'm a shut in and I really like to watch I am glad I found you thank you
Working the cane train was a highlight for the old head employees. Paid very well and was seasonal work. Nice to catch if you were in the right place.
Thanks. I learned about sugar cane and the big lake. Very helpful.
That New Cast P5 on 506 sounds really good!!!👍👍👍
Oh my that gp11 is a thing of beauty. Everything about it is perfect, especially that horn! Sounds of my childhood. . . thanks for this vid!
Danny, I really like your videos of unique operations. Well done, great play-by-play with tons of info as always!
Danny you really outdid your cinematography skills this time! What a great production on a -for me at least- little known railroad. It was nice to see clean locomotives, on well maintained track, and NO graffiti classic rolling stock. As others have already said-WELL DONE! A+++
I like your videos for the commentary and history you give. I'm from Pensacola and have driven through that area several times but never new the history of the area. thx
Another great video as always Danny. This is definitely an interesting shortline operation, it deserves more coverage. This is also an operation Florida railfans will want to keep an eye on as the railroad will be bringing back steam operations in the next couple of years in the form of Former Florida East Coast 4-6-2 Pacific type steam locomotive #148, which interestingly enough was once owned by US Sugar and once operated at this very location many years ago.
Yes, I've heard all about the big steam plans they have. That's gonna be interesting.
The final shot is spectacular Danny!!! A stunning sunset and one of the most interesting operations I've seen!! Thanks for another great video and I hope you have a nice Easter weekend!!!
loved the last minute or so of this video Danny..setting sun..train trundling down the line...just great editing..and gotta Give US Sugar praise for their impeccable engines..graffiti free cars..and maintained lines..rails..bridges...just a great video..
Do they have a working signal system?
When you’re talking about the condition on the railroad there’s a signal there.
I love driving through here...I typically see a local passing through Belle Glades around 1:30- 2:00 give or take. I also have caught them as far north as Lake Placid.
Like you Danny, I never covered USSC until Rudy took me out there one day this past November. It's definitely a different experience from being out along the mainlines.
On another note, I just finished watching today's episode of Trains and Locomotives on the RFD channel. Today was Herron Rail's 4-4-0 American Standard locomotives from 1998 and narrated by Danny Harmon. Extremely interesting, especially about the General. Unlike some of Herron Rail's videos, which appear disjointed and are composed of small portions of videos taken in the long ago, this one flowed rather smoothly with excellent informative commentary by Danny Harmon.
Wonderful,at the twilight's last gleaming the sugar train keep on rollin.
Ohh my . Just the BIG SKY view is an eye full & the horizon! Seeing a train coming many miles away! Good video and great view of the cane fields.
My moms home is just north of Sebring. I have seen them set the fields on fire. They drive a truck through the field with a torch shooting a flame. Its pretty cool to see. I've been wanting to film the sugar trains. Awesome video!
What a great video on the sugar trains!
Where I live in North QLD, Australia, we've got sugar railways as well. My local mill uses 2ft gauge (all except 1 mill use 2ft) and hauls 10 ton bins to carry the cane. The mill is located in the town and the trains can often be heard squealing around the tight corners. If you ever come to Australia, they are definitely worth checking out.
You must know every BBQ on the Eastern Seaboard :) Love you vids with the narration that most do not do. Thanks Danny
My word! Sir, you are so committed to this cause!! I’m a huge fan of your channel. Great videos but what makes you unique is your accompanying commentary. So makes them educational as well. In India, where I’m from, trains are the primary mode of people transportation as well. But here in the US, freight is the undisputed leader of the world.
Nice to have another Distant Signal video. Thanks for showing us an operation most of us will never see.
arguably some of the best, if not THE best, rail fanning videos around. very professionally done. excellent work.
Great sunset shot.
Kinda reminds me of Louisiana Delta Railroad in Southern Louisiana who handles alot of sugar cane in the winter months. Really cool area of Florida to railfan so thanks for the lift, Danny!
Danny, this is fantastic, I have been there a couple of times but several years ago when all the engines were Orange and Blue. Enjoyed this very much indeed.
Very interesting Danny! Here in Queensland, we have the largest Cane railway in the world, over 4000 km of 2 foot gauge track that feeds dozens on Mills. Queensland is the second largest sugar producer in the world and the narrow gauge trains carry over 30 million tonnes of cane per year! While it's cool to see large sugar trains like yours, have a look at some of North Queensland 's cane trains...they even have concrete ties and DPU's !!
Thanks for this different view of cane trains!
Cheers Gregg.
Hi Gregg! Any plans for you filming the cane trains of Queensland? US Sugar is about a two hour drive south of me here in Florida. Those fires get super hot when they burn. You can feel the heat a mile away on that flat, open ground. Cheers, Dan
Hi Danny,
Yes I have some older , standard definition footage of a trip I did about 8 yrs ago. ua-cam.com/video/o7E5jICKveU/v-deo.html Check out this one and the others on my playlist. You'll find heaps of other videos on Queensland Cane trains once you see mine. I love them and they are real work horse but so cute??.
Burning is getting a bit old fashion now, as it lowers the sugar content of the cane, but in some areas it is still necessary due to the moisture in the ground.
Cheers Gregg.
Many thanks, Gregg. Yeah, in researching this video, I learned that you guys down under are BIG sugar producers. Would love to come see them sometime.
You'e welcome Danny! The cane trains are great to watch and wind their way through fields, peoples yards and down streets. Probably the best rail fanning down here once you hve been spoilt by US railroads..LOL
Cheers Gregg.
The flat, featureless landscape reminds me a bit of the north end of Missabe Sub. closer to home in northern Minnesota. The line crosses a large bog with a bunch of iron ore related traffic and general freight, and these sugar cars almost remind me of the ore hoppers a bit
That’s a ton of action in one day! Excellent.
Wonderful look into USSC! Thank you. We live west of the fields and travel through often. We’ve seen the trains but never knew about the railroad system itself.
Those sugar cane fields remind me of the corn fields in North Central Illinois.
That last shot with the sunset and the tail of the train moving away is beautiful! Great job as usual!
I uploaded a train video today, but mine is missing the lovely entertaining and informative narration that yours always has...
Fantastic video. Great story. Thanks!
howdi. great coverege . i saw this morning a video featuring sugar cane trains , but in austrailia using 3 foot guage tracks insteand of 3 foot 8 and 1 /2 track. the locos seem more like tractors than locos , but some of the locos do look like regular locos . i m not used to seing desiel locos with side rods . again thanks for the coverege .
Danny, I'm a native Floridian and never realized that sugar cane operations were that big. Wish I was living in Florida but no longer. Anyway keep up the videos about the trains. Never knew that much about trains. I work as a system administrator so more into computers. Oh by the way go gators. Also War Eagle.
Ooh, that last one is the money shot... Paul, my friend Chazz, and I went down there the week before you came, but alas no trains in sight. Glad to see that at least one of us got it!
Brilliant video thanks for sharing
Spectacular ending to the video...off into the sunset.
Inspiring Florida railfanning. This is the Florida I grew up with. Bravo !
Great video Danny! As always. Very informative! That sunset shot at the end was spectacular!
Thanks very much, Richard!
I really liked your final shot of the cane going to the mill and toward the sunset. Sweet ! Sorry but I had to say it. I used to live down there and worked in agriculture and I have been in all the towns you mentioned, but I never paid any attention to the sugar cane trains. Now I am sorry that I missed out.
The horn on the back of the locomotive is a Leslie SR2M or LSR2M horn
Hi Danny - Great video covering an area of railroading unknown to many. I had no idea that the USSC's operations were so extensive. Thank you for capturing some great views to share with us! Mike
5 Star Review Always enjoy your videos & listening to someone intelligent.
Many thanks, Roy!
Great narratives like all your contributions. Thank you.
Danny good to see you back.
Hard case hearing a Leslie S2M on the long hood of that old Geep. Not often you hear those in the States, but every EMD or GE loco in NZ are equipped with those
Superb, beautiful country, the Royal Palms are glorious.
Danny if want to see a Great piece of Modern Ancient History. You should get over to the Northeastern side of the SCFE territory that used to be FEC line. There is a Bridge that is raised & lowered using Cables. It truly is a marvel of Engineering.
Very nicely done and produced. I was recently watching the Sugar Trains in Queensland, Australia on UA-cam. Unlike the Florida trains, these Aussie trains tend to be a bit older, smaller with some really dramatic backdrops.
My Dad retired from US Sugar in Pahokee and I had an uncle retire from the RR Dept as well at the Bryant Mill. As a youngster in my 20's I would sometimes work the Cane Dump closing rail car doors as they would exit the dump.
What a great video, Danny.
Interesting to compare this to the Western Sugar Beet harvest (esp. Southern Pacific). Thanks. Well done as usual, Danny.
I've chased the sugar trains in Queensland, Australia. Love those 2 foot gauge trains.
Fantastic narration and production values. Top notch! Thank you.
The sunset shot is amazing. Great work.
Very interesting stretch of railroad. Thanks for sharing another great video Danny.
Another good video thanks dan, I worked for a beet sugar company in the thumb of Michigan I moved cars of pulp and molasses with a GE 25 ton switcher and enjoyed every minute of that little engine.
Great video you and tolga did a great job
Another interesting video, Danny! I've been to Clewiston; but I missed the USSCS RR.
Always wondered about those tracks and trains when I visited Clewiston. Awesome stuff!
Fantastic video!!!!
Nice! I caught the 156 heritage engine! You can check it out now!
The last 2 sunset shots were awesome!! Great video.
man i love short lines keep it up
Pretty awesome video Danny! Thanks for sharing! Never seen a sugar cane operation and thanks to you, I have now!
First time for me too. Many thanks!
Great video, and amused by the comment about the roads being narrow -- you should see some of the narrow roads here in Dorset, UK!
Ha! Thanks. Can't imagine the narrow roads you folks over there still have. Many built by the Romans for ox carts. Would love to see it someday.
Very well constructed video. Excellent narration. Thanks for posting!
Being from Australia, I instantly assumed from the title that the sugarcane would be on the same 2ft NG that we have here in queensland..
Great video Danny! I would love to see u again like we did in Folkston! That one day when FEC power came through
Great video, Danny. I especially liked the "into the sunset" view at the end.
You need to come to Australia and see auger cane trains here
If anyone is visiting south Florida in the winter I highly recommend spending a day railfanning this operation.
very cool. awesome video and catches.
Awesome video and catches of the sugar trains and I enjoyed it alot!! 5 Stars to you Danny Harmon AKA +Distant Signal and to Tolga AKA +Brickbuilder711
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Distant Signal You are Welcome!!!
Sorry I missed you, I was in that area for the last 3 winters. I have lots of aerial footage of this area and specifically the train