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For today's OFBEW (Older Fella Basic E unit Wedgie), we go down south to Florida to the first year that I had a 35mm camera. This was in August 1965 when the FEC still operated their own passenger service. In fact it was just after service was reinstated on August 2, 1965 during the long strike over unionization that lasted from 1963 to 1977. That strike was at times violent and I remember my Dad and Uncle talking about not wanting to be mistaken as anything other than picture takers. We were visiting an Uncle who had recently moved to Melbourne, FL. FEC passenger service would last until July 1968 when the trains were discontinued and the E9's were sold to Illinois Central. This one would become IC 2040 and survive into being leased to Amtrak until scrapping in 1981. The shot is making the southbound station stop in Melbourne.
Florida East Coast Railway local train number 906 has gathered up a cut of cars from the east storage tracks and is sitting on the East Main at about MP 345.3 of the Flagler Subdivision just north of the Griffin Road crossing. As soon as they complete their Class 1 broke test GP40-2s 428 and 418 (built new for the railroad in Aug. 1980 and Oct. 1974 respectively) will blast off for a sprint down to Hialeah Yard in Miami. The train is strung out through the tunnels beneath the taxiwway and runways 10R-28L at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Saturday December 28, 2024
Florida East Coasty Railway Northbound Intermodal Train 226 passes through Palmer Street in St. Augustine, FL.
the FEC 11 AM yard job picks up rock from a loadout owned by V&G. The rock is mined out of reach for any of the track layout FEC has in the area so they have to truck in the rock to this location to get it onto train cars.
The time for FEC EMDs to leave has come, with now 10 GEVOs active on the FEC, and 14 more to come, it is becoming increasingly rare to see an EMD lead.
Florida East Coast Railway Northbound Intermodal Train passes over San Sebastián River in St. Augustine, FL.
FEC 418 leads string of MOW cars south through Stuart. 920 will normally follow 109 south with local customer work but on this day it was nothing but MOW cars. While waiting for 109 and 920 to come south I was treated to Dolphins swimming in the calm morning waters.
Starting 2025 Right
Florida East Coast train #103 rolls by City Point with a pair of Champion painted SD40-2s. Theres only 7 active
SD40-2s on FEC's roster, so catching a pair of them is a treat.
FEC 713
FEC 711
FEC 101 crosses the St. Lucie River behind a matched set of "Champs". Given that this paint scheme is living on borrowed time (at least on the GEVOs), my fingers were crossed while waiting for 101 to appear. I was relieved to see a lot of orange and yellow enter the viewfinder. Success!
FEC 101:
FEC 807 ES44C4
Florida East Coast Railway train 105 rolls southbound over the Gulf Stream on the Boca Raton/Deerfield Beach city line
FEC 193 heads south through Palm Beach Gardens on a warm and humid morning with a rock train for Miami.
More from a visit to good friends from my Nebraska days, who had moved to this area after Albert retired from the BN. Quite the change, of course, but I recall that both Al and Sue had parents living down there. And Albert "A.J." characteristically became quickly familiar with the railroad scene, and both of them got me familiar with the local seafood scene...not a bad combination! Here is FEC southbound freight @1603 behind two GP40, GP9 (416....).
FEC DTN-13 pulls out of Florida Bulk on the Central Industrial Section, crossing NW 74 St. to reenter the mainline with 441 leading.
Good Friday
Florida East Coast Railway ran an extra southbound on Friday afternoon behind the 105 and as an added bonus, it had FEC 511 pulling the special load to Fort Pierce.
FEC 511 is one of three GP38-2s that have the "Going Places" logo on the long hood or as most railfans refer to this as the "Hurricane" logo. Either way, catching one leading is a nice treat.
Here, the 511 is creeping down the main at Scottsmoor where it will meet the 206 before continuing on to Fort Pierce. Even though this train had a restriction of 50 mph, chasing him was hard, There were multiple officers and deputies on the roads, construction zones and the typical Friday afternoon traffic.
FEC 511
Two days ago I came across a rather fine and rather rare 1960’s MGA two seater sports car in the car park at my local Tesco. Today it is the turn of my local Asda supermarket car park and another sports car, this time a 1980’s Porsche 944, C244 FEC. 5th March 2023.
The Porsche 944 was built between 1982 and 1991 with a revamped 944 model introduced in mid 1985 unofficially known as the 944 – 1985B and more significant updated models introduced in 1985 (944 Turbo), 1987 (944 S) 1989 (944 S2) and 1991 (944 Turbo Cabriolet).
C244 FEC is from the initial production run of 944’s and was first registered in August 1985.
Around 113,000 of the initial 944 version and the revamped 944 – 1985B were produced between 1982 and 1989 of which around 50% were exported to the United States of America.
As efficient and modernized the Florida East Coast had become since the troubled days of the '60s, there was little left of the "old heritage" on the property. One exception was this freight house, near the property but I don't believe it was being used by the railroad. Here's an FEC northbound freight @1453 by ex-FEC freight house with all hoppers with rock behind GP40, GP38 (411....). The railroad hauled lots of rock, for construction and highways; there was much demand for this materiel in south Florida's constantly growing business climate.
A trio of Florida East Coast's patched former Union Pacific SD40-2s roll south through Ojus interlocking with a rock train in Miami in 2006.
Florida East Coast has since undergone quite a series of changes in motive power and paint schemes.
Friday Flashback
Florida East Coast train #103 bends around the curves as it comes into Titusville.
FEC 703
FEC 441
A pair of pumpkins pull a snake of ethanol north on the SP line, after the train was interchanged to CSX from the FEC.
Train #123 hauls containers to the Crowley Maritime Corporation at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. This train usually passes through Stuart before dawn.