Railfanning the US Sugar Corp's Private Railroad

Went down during wintertime to watch some operations of the USSC railroad in the midst of their peak season. Pretty fun and unique to watch, definitely got to go back, especially since the reactivation of their steam locomotive. Thanks for watching, and don't forget to like, comment and subscribe!

[@ryandavis7593]

The high headlights are my doing on the GP 11 locomotives. I had to do extensive rewire work in the short noses and it was convenient for me. The welders did a beautiful job on fixing the holes in the short noses. I also worked on GP 26 locomotives at the Cimerron Valley Railroad in Kansas. Before anyone says there is no such thing, look it up. These are also Peduka rebuilds. In Texas now continuing to work on old EMD locomotives. USS railroading was mostly fun but got way to political and Florida is not a fun place to live and work.

[@kenhanks9620]

Just to clarify USSC is sole owner of the railroad the majority of the operation is common carrier serving other customers as well. Only portions of line are private US Sugar faculties. Majority of line from Sebring bought from CSX but east of Lake Harbor to near FT Pierce leased from FEC. Keep up good work. I'm always up for anything related to FEC.

[@FloridaRailfan]

Gotcha thanks!

[@dalerockwell2226]

Me at 2'00" "What; molasses in covered hoppers??" LOL

[@FloridaRailfan]

Fun new thing ussc was trying!

[@schnauzahpowahz]

Another good'n. Ive been thru there cutting from Ft Myers to Vero, pretty land. Cane for miles and miles. Never saw a single consist tho. Nice catch on that gp11.

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thank you, if you ever get the chance you oughta stop by for the day!

[@mary-josnively7192]

Lots of great shots!

[@Steve-xf4uv]

I love this operation. Every trip to south Florida includes a railfan day at U.S.Sugar. Hoping to catch the steam train when I come this year. More on this line please !!

[@FloridaRailfan]

Cool! Definitely a good one to always check in on

[@edburns00]

I love this fact filled episode.

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thanks!

[@johnrockstone]

Thank you for a very interesting video!👍Road trip coming up to Clewiston soon!🙂

[@AWF284]

EACX is the reporting mark for East Coast Locomotive LLC

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thank you for the info

[@victordagostino7376]

Was amazed to find this sugar Cain Railroad. Still a few lines in Philippines near my family.

[@FloridaRailfan]

There are some neat sugar railroads in Australia as well, you got any videos of the ones in the Philippines? I’d love to see some…

[@TracksideSFL]

Great video!! That EACX GP15 belonged to East Coast Locomotive works and was there for about a year before it got transferred to Another Railroad in GA, it was great seeing it for a bit, had an amazing P3,

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thanks for the kind words. Certainly was a cool visitor to USSC, and thanks for informing me on EACX...never even heard of them...

[@TracksideSFL]

​@@FloridaRailfan No problem! Yeah it took a bit for me to find em too lol, Wish it was still around to document

[@whocares666xxx]

I am confused on the wheat as I do not know of any large scale wheat fields or consumers in that area of FL, All of the wheat grown in FL to my knowledge is in the north part by Gainesville and into the panhandle., I am pretty sure those covered hoppers are full of (or were full of ) fertilizer or bulk sugar. Also, the sugar cane cars are made from old boxcars but are up to date as the frame and the bogies were re done when the conversion happened. the one side of the cars also swings open for unloading.

[@FloridaRailfan]

Hoppers could have fertilizer, I wasn’t 100% sure on what they carried but that makes sense too. Really cool how USSC rebuilt their own cars

[@whocares666xxx]

@@FloridaRailfan If you ever want to Catch the FEC Stuart, FL, local, He runs on Tuesday and Thursday ending his day no later than 4. The time of day has been all over with all of the bright line construction however. The old Rinker cement (Cemex Now) still gets about 12 cars and has great access from the road and a side street to catch it and also the Ferrell Gas propane dealer you can be right next to Port Sewell siding as they shift the propane cars. Also the local has done some Brightline car spotting in the area with supplies at random times as part of the local job.

[@HueyRailfanning]

Nice! The GP11s are by far my favorite, the stretch between Clewiston and Bryant are generally the busiest spots.

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thank you!

[@trainlover123trainsrock]

@@FloridaRailfan That EACX unit had a CSXT plaque on it. Maybe that's a clue?

[@sandhispoor]

Cool.....by the way how wide are the rails here for the sugarcane-carrying train

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thank you! USSC operates on standard gauge track, 4' 8.5"

[@sandhispoor]

Thanks....

[@drewjl0]

Excellent video! I went to Clewiston for one of 148's runs, but haven't really gone out there to see the railroad itself at work. What is the peak time for action around that area and what days are usually good for it?

[@FloridaRailfan]

Thank you! I’m pretty sure action in the cane fields is 24/7, but only in the winter months. They also have a train from Clewiston - Ft Pierce and back leaving at 7/8am M-F, and then another M/W/F run from clewiston to Sebring and back leaving around the same time. I think their season is October - March, give or take

[@drewjl0]

Ah ok. Thanks for the info 👍🏻

[@FloridaRailfan]

For sure!

[@ryandavis7593]

Anytime is cane time except for about three months in the summertime. June, July and August are the slow time for active cane trains. I work for the locomotive maintenance for two years.

[@Runawayrack]

5:09 that is a former FEC GP15 I think

[@williejrailfan7323]

It’s actually a former CSX GP15