Framing40s
It Really Is 24/7
Night begins to settle in over the patchy clouds hovering over Clewiston, FL as townsfolk head out to attend their Saturday night weekend activities. On the south side of the city, however, the U.S. Sugar mill drones on in the background and train horns blare in the distance. It’s only January; there’s still plenty of weeks left until the season is over.
Up by the South Florida Central Express North Shops, a line of U.S. Sugar EMD’s idle away on a stub track tucked away after completing a long days’ work of hauling sugar cane around the city. #USSC405 [GP38-2] idles away closest to the switch to the SCFE mainline. The shop building lights shine off of the units impeccable yellow and gray paint, a truly unique scheme within Florida. All the while, an inbound SCFE cane job rolls by with USSC GP11 #310 hauling 22 loaded cane cars for the mill, it’s blinding LED lights rolling by the facility and idling geeps.
From what I’ve seen online, buffs who go visit the U.S. Sugar operations tend to stick around until the sun goes down. Night photography and videography can be tricky without the proper equipment at times. The one time I decided to stick around past sundown, January 21st, the day this long exposure was taken, I got to understand the scope of the sugar harvest operation; When people say “it’s a 24-hour operation” through the season, they aren’t kidding. Trains on both the USSC and SCFE continue running between the mill and loadouts all throughout the night. Hopefully I can capture more of the “dark side” of the operation in the near future, as much as a challenge it may be.
•
Clewiston, FL
SCFE Sebring Subdivision [North Shops]
Date: 01/21/2023 | 18:38
ID: [unknown]
Type: Loaded Cane
Direction: Eastbound
Car Count: 22
1. USSC GP11 #310
•
© Vicente Alonso 2023
It Really Is 24/7
Night begins to settle in over the patchy clouds hovering over Clewiston, FL as townsfolk head out to attend their Saturday night weekend activities. On the south side of the city, however, the U.S. Sugar mill drones on in the background and train horns blare in the distance. It’s only January; there’s still plenty of weeks left until the season is over.
Up by the South Florida Central Express North Shops, a line of U.S. Sugar EMD’s idle away on a stub track tucked away after completing a long days’ work of hauling sugar cane around the city. #USSC405 [GP38-2] idles away closest to the switch to the SCFE mainline. The shop building lights shine off of the units impeccable yellow and gray paint, a truly unique scheme within Florida. All the while, an inbound SCFE cane job rolls by with USSC GP11 #310 hauling 22 loaded cane cars for the mill, it’s blinding LED lights rolling by the facility and idling geeps.
From what I’ve seen online, buffs who go visit the U.S. Sugar operations tend to stick around until the sun goes down. Night photography and videography can be tricky without the proper equipment at times. The one time I decided to stick around past sundown, January 21st, the day this long exposure was taken, I got to understand the scope of the sugar harvest operation; When people say “it’s a 24-hour operation” through the season, they aren’t kidding. Trains on both the USSC and SCFE continue running between the mill and loadouts all throughout the night. Hopefully I can capture more of the “dark side” of the operation in the near future, as much as a challenge it may be.
•
Clewiston, FL
SCFE Sebring Subdivision [North Shops]
Date: 01/21/2023 | 18:38
ID: [unknown]
Type: Loaded Cane
Direction: Eastbound
Car Count: 22
1. USSC GP11 #310
•
© Vicente Alonso 2023