The latest news was from April and all of the “upcoming events” are in the past.

The "official word" I heard was that a steam powered cane train was planned for the last day of harvest, for May 27th or 28th, date subject to change. I also have not received any news from the newsletter about this. That is why I'm asking...

Not this one, which is today. It says that this is the end of the sugarcane harvest season.
https://sugarexpress.com/2021/05/end-of ... train-may/

Thank you, Mr PMC. I thought I must have missed something. NOW, did anybody get any nice pictures ??

PMC -

Unless I'm reading it wrong, this link appears to be for the 2021 season; not 2022.

Les

You're right, I wish they would update their website. They did run a photo shoot for Trains Magazine in January and there are some photos on their facebook page:

"February 3

We were thrilled to host Trains Magazine aboard their privately chartered trip last weekend! Photographers from around the country visited Clewiston and filmed and photographed steam locomotive No. 148 throughout the region. More public trips and outings are coming later in 2022. Sign up here to get notified: http://eepurl.com/hxqsvz " https://www.facebook.com/SugarExpressFL (Photos: Walter Scriptunas II)

Oh well. I AM signed up, but I guess none of us were notified, much less being notified in time to make arrangements to go see for ourselves. Since the cane trains are FREE and open to the public, I can't gripe, but just once I'd like to be there.

Mr PMC, THANK YOU for posting your beautiful photos.

I went back and put a photo credit in the post, they are actually from Walter Scriptunas II, a professional, and were posted to the Sugar Express facebook page, I am a terrible, untalented photographer and so mostly have never bothered.

Steam on October 1st and rare mileage trips coming in January:

https://sugarexpress.com/2022/09/rare-m ... f-harvest/

Neat! I haven't been to the Sonny's in Clewiston since 2003.

Yep - been working on the rare mileage trip for a year. U.S. Sugar and the Sugar Express have been great to work with, especially since this is new to them. They really want these trips to be a part of the community.
Please note that there are errors in the scheduled dates - we are meeting this afternoon to get things straight.
If you want the details and history about the various railroad lines, look up my book - The Railroads of U.S. Sugar - available lots of places.
Several passenger cars from the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum have been moved to Clewiston to provide more capacity for the train trips this fall and winter, so there should be plenty of seats.
Please buy a ticket or make a donation to one of the company's causes (Toys for Tots, as an example) even if all you do is chase. We are doing photo stops on the rare mileage trips well out of public range, so riding does have its photo rewards also.

Bart Jennings

Would there be any possibility that a nationwide rail strike could impact the events on October 1st ?? Just figured I should ask before buying my tickets. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Sammy, a strike on the major carriers and Class I railroads would not impact the October 1st trip.

US sugar is a privately owned and operated railroad in the USA. It only runs to help bring in the cane so to speak.

The railroads of U.S. Sugar are privately owned, but there is much more to it than just the sugar cane.

First, there is the South Central Florida Express, which owns ex-ACL trackage (Sebring to Clewiston to Okeelanta and Miami Canal) and leases FEC tracks (Miami Canal to MP 15.5 for freight service, on to Fort Pierce for interchange). This rail operation serves several dozen shippers, including competing sugar companies. They also move cane from some loaders on these lines.

The second railroad is the private rail operation that only serves the cane loaders and internal needs (mill switching, track maintenance, fertilizer movements, etc.) of U.S. Sugar. These lines have been expanded over the past few years, moving some Bryant cane off of the South Central Florida Express and onto the private lines.

Both operations use the same locomotive fleet, but the train crews are covered by different agreements and slightly different work rules. The public passenger trains operate on the tracks of South Central Florida Express.

If you want the history of the operations and descriptions of each route, check out my book The Railroads of U.S. Sugar.

Bart Jennings