South Central Florida & US Sugars

In 1989 I was GM of the Louisiana & Delta and we were working with M. A. Patout, Patoutville, LA on the idea of a "cane train." Patout was very interested in using rail to bring harvested sugar cane to the mill for grinding. We knew that U. S. Sugars and the South Central Florida EXpress shortline railroad had a cane hauling operation. In fact, U. S. Sugars' policy at their mill in Clewiston, FL was that ALL sugar cane was transported by rail for grinding. Even if the sugar cane was grown in a field adjacent to the mill.

The other interesting thing was that U. S. Sugars had their own railroad they used for bringing cane from their fields.

I made 2 visits to Clewiston to meet with the mill, as well as the railroad managers and supervision. Although photography was not allowed in the area directly around the mill, I was able to take some pictures at transload sites and on the SCFE in the field. The scenes in this Gallery are a sampling of the images I took.

A note on an image. The picture taken of the SCFE southbound SECL crossing the Caloosahatchie River at Moore Haven was published on the front cover of Railway Age when that magazine honored SCFE as Shortline of the Year.