My train chase after reaching Florida on vacation was First Coast Railroad in Fernadina Beach. I had heard it was snowing in Ohio on this day but there was no snow in Florida.
I caught the short line heading to the CSX interchange. The top photograph is crossing the Amelia River bridge. The middle image is just west of there while the bottom image was made in
Fernadina Beach of some other power tied down.
Conrad Yelvington is a stone industry with plants around central Florida much like Shelley Materials in Ohio.
ACL No. 100 was built for the Atlantic Coast Line in 1950. It is owned by a preservation group. Although I’m not clear which one, they restored it to its original paint. They have leased it for the past 20 years to Conrad Yelvington which currently uses it at its Gainesville, Florida, facility.
GP30 2105 which works at the Sanford, Florida, facility started life as Baltimore & Ohio No. 6933. It’s a long way from when it used to run through Akron.
Alco No. 2144 works at the Orlando, Florida, facility and I was unable to trace its heritage. CYXX No. 2112 is an EMD sw9 that switches the CSX interchange at Orlando. CYXX No. 292 is an Alco RS1 at Orlando
Day 1 of my Florida trip was highly productive. I got a total of four different Amtrak trains, one of those twice. I also bagged a Sunrail commuter train, a CSX local, various industrial and shoreline engines and two FEC trains. This is a picture of FEC train 101 crossing a bridge at Melbourne on Monday.
Last week I flew to Florida to help a friend drive back to Ohio. The first stop Saturday morning was the FEC family days train at St Augustine Florida.
Power was the two engines painted in the Susan G Komen find the cure for breast cancer scheme. The recently repainted St Augustine, an unnamed Observervation car and a generator car rounded out the consist.
Unfortunately due to time constraints I was only able to get some roster photos and not the train running.
Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon
Making a back-up move in Tavares, Florida.
While vacationing in Florida I caught one of the last trips of the Tavares Eustis & Gulf steam train, the Orange Blossom Cannonball.
TE&G No. 2, a Baldwin 2-6-0 built in 1907, powered these final trips the weekend of Jan. 27-28 2017.
This scenic railway used the tracks of the Florida Central short line. It started operation in 2011 and an increase in trackage rights fees caused it to shut down this month.
The equipment has been used in movies such as True Grit, Appaloosa, and 3:10 to Yuma, among others. It is owned by the Reader Railroad of Arkansas and will be returned there.
I was fortunate to be vacationing for these last trips.
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