Sugarcane Train Chase Winter 2018 

Clean locomotives, no graffiti on the cars, upkeep on the rail bed is super; looks like a well maintained operation. Almost brings a tear to the eye. US Sugar should be proud.

This is great. I grew up in Clewiston and the USSC trains were a big part of my childhood. One of my earliest memories is watching (from my stroller!) a cane train lumbering along Aztec Avenue. Years later, when I was around 10, a friend of my mom's who worked at the mill SOMEHOW got permission to bring me into work and I spent one of the most glorious half-days of my life riding through the fields in a locomotive, even getting to control the throttle and blow the horn! This video definitely brings the memories back ... thanks for sharing.

Excellent production as usual! Thanks for sharing.

That shot of the train going into the sunset was SPECTACULAR! Another great video DH!

That shot of the last train heading west into the sunset was one of the best train videos I have seen. Excellent.

That has GOT to be the most unique American railroad I have ever seen, Danny. Thanks so much for sharing it or I never would have known. By the way that was a GORGEOUS shot at the end with the last train rolling off into the sunset. Very cinematic.

I had a wonderful time with you and the SFRM! This was definitely among my favorite railfanning outings. Excellent video, very well covered Danny! Glad to help show you around and thanks for taking the time to come down!

6:53 i love the sound of two horns blowing at once passing by

Just great I'm a shut in and I really like to watch I am glad I found you thank you

Woo-e those LEDs are bright!

I would have to say that Louisiana gives Florida a good run for its money in the sugar industry . The American Sugar Cane League reported that Louisiana's sugarcane industry produced more than 2 million tons of raw sugar in 2022, ranking it as the No. 1 cane sugar producing state in the country for the first time. But , I guess I am a bit biased , as I grew up in Louisiana , and now live in the midst of sugar cane fields around the area . We are ranked somewhere between Florida and Texas . I really enjoy watching your videos , and have learned a lot . Thanks mu ch for all your efforts . Keep up your great work.

Danny, I really like your videos of unique operations. Well done, great play-by-play with tons of info as always!

In watching this, I noticed at 9:55 it shows USSC GP40-2 #503 crossing a road. The 503 was our Boston & Maine GP40-2 #315, a locomotive I spent many hours in. We had 18 units in the 300-317 series. Once the lease ran out all 18 units went to HELM and them either in the lease fleet or sold outright. The USSC also has another one, their #504, our ex #312. Kind of nice to see the 315 in action!!

9:47 K3LA is absolutely perfectly tuned

Another of the old haunts Danny. Thanks for the updated view! So glad you got to to see it. The night operations are wonderful to shoot as well. Before there was Sonny's they had some killer catfish joints all around the lake we use to fall into after a day of railfaning. That parting shot with the sun in the left hand corner of the shot was poetry. Bravo.

Great Video. My family lived in Clewiston from 1960-1968. I was in elementary school. I remember the cane fields on fire and the black snow from the ash. The mill smell of burnt sugar. Both my parents worked at the hospital. The lake was great and the kids were a hoot. Everyone rode bicycles. The Movies every Saturday were packed. The Old South BBQ Ranch. Hurricane Donna. Went back in the mid-'80s it as I had expected did change.

Great job on USSC rail ! Born and raised in Pahokee !. in the 50s the rr. ran exFEC light Pacific's ! great memories of that ! USSC is rebuilding Pacific # 148 ,as we speak ! FYI the original "cane cars" were modified " sugar beet cars" mainly wooden construction !...im thinking 36 or 38 feet ! Was told , now it's much cheaper to rebuild old cheap box cars ! God luck Mike Elliott

LOVE that closing shot at 12:18. Thank you!

Thanks for the video. I lived there for 40 years and sure miss it. I remember when all of the cane cutting was done by hand. Workers were brought in from Jamaica and cut from January thru March. That was a backbreaking nasty job but it fed their families. Now it is done by machine.

I remember as a reporter for the Waycross Journal-Herald being at the Waycross SCL shops when a GP7 was getting a nose cut before heading down here. GP7s were and are my favorite engines.

loved the last minute or so of this video Danny..setting sun..train trundling down the line...just great editing..and gotta Give US Sugar praise for their impeccable engines..graffiti free cars..and maintained lines..rails..bridges...just a great video..

I like your videos for the commentary and history you give. I'm from Pensacola and have driven through that area several times but never new the history of the area. thx

Danny you really outdid your cinematography skills this time! What a great production on a -for me at least- little known railroad. It was nice to see clean locomotives, on well maintained track, and NO graffiti classic rolling stock. As others have already said-WELL DONE! A+++

I had the FANTASTIC opportunity of seeing this train in late October early November of 2020!! Forgot which month I saw it I saw the fancy steam locomotive!

6:53 Love the yellow on grey color scheme. Looks really good. :)

My moms home is just north of Sebring. I have seen them set the fields on fire. They drive a truck through the field with a torch shooting a flame. Its pretty cool to see. I've been wanting to film the sugar trains. Awesome video!

Great Vid as is the Norm. The "loadouts" are called Elevators. The Mill in Bryant wasn't torn down. It was disassembled and shipped to South America, somewhere I can't recall. When I left the Company right around the turn of the Century. The majority of the Cars were purpose built. The old cars from the '20's with the the mostly wooden doors were heightened back in the '80's. My Father did a bunch of them, when he worked for the Company @ the Bryant Mill.

Another great video as always Danny. This is definitely an interesting shortline operation, it deserves more coverage. This is also an operation Florida railfans will want to keep an eye on as the railroad will be bringing back steam operations in the next couple of years in the form of Former Florida East Coast 4-6-2 Pacific type steam locomotive #148, which interestingly enough was once owned by US Sugar and once operated at this very location many years ago.

The final shot is spectacular Danny!!! A stunning sunset and one of the most interesting operations I've seen!! Thanks for another great video and I hope you have a nice Easter weekend!!!

Do they have a working signal system? When you’re talking about the condition on the railroad there’s a signal there.

Oh my that gp11 is a thing of beauty. Everything about it is perfect, especially that horn! Sounds of my childhood. . . thanks for this vid!

I love the history that goes with all of these videos

arguably some of the best, if not THE best, rail fanning videos around. very professionally done. excellent work.

That New Cast P5 on 506 sounds really good!!!👍👍👍

Very interesting Danny! Here in Queensland, we have the largest Cane railway in the world, over 4000 km of 2 foot gauge track that feeds dozens on Mills. Queensland is the second largest sugar producer in the world and the narrow gauge trains carry over 30 million tonnes of cane per year! While it's cool to see large sugar trains like yours, have a look at some of North Queensland 's cane trains...they even have concrete ties and DPU's !! Thanks for this different view of cane trains! Cheers Gregg.

Working the cane train was a highlight for the old head employees. Paid very well and was seasonal work. Nice to catch if you were in the right place.

Like you Danny, I never covered USSC until Rudy took me out there one day this past November. It's definitely a different experience from being out along the mainlines.

I uploaded a train video today, but mine is missing the lovely entertaining and informative narration that yours always has...

Thanks. I learned about sugar cane and the big lake. Very helpful.

Been here a lot but now it's different- thanks for the publicity.

You must know every BBQ on the Eastern Seaboard :) Love you vids with the narration that most do not do. Thanks Danny

My word! Sir, you are so committed to this cause!! I’m a huge fan of your channel. Great videos but what makes you unique is your accompanying commentary. So makes them educational as well. In India, where I’m from, trains are the primary mode of people transportation as well. But here in the US, freight is the undisputed leader of the world.

On another note, I just finished watching today's episode of Trains and Locomotives on the RFD channel. Today was Herron Rail's 4-4-0 American Standard locomotives from 1998 and narrated by Danny Harmon. Extremely interesting, especially about the General. Unlike some of Herron Rail's videos, which appear disjointed and are composed of small portions of videos taken in the long ago, this one flowed rather smoothly with excellent informative commentary by Danny Harmon.

Great video Danny! As always. Very informative! That sunset shot at the end was spectacular!

I love driving through here...I typically see a local passing through Belle Glades around 1:30- 2:00 give or take. I also have caught them as far north as Lake Placid.

5 Star Review Always enjoy your videos & listening to someone intelligent.

What a great video on the sugar trains!

Danny, this is fantastic, I have been there a couple of times but several years ago when all the engines were Orange and Blue. Enjoyed this very much indeed.

Great narratives like all your contributions. Thank you.

Wonderful,at the twilight's last gleaming the sugar train keep on rollin.

Ohh my . Just the BIG SKY view is an eye full & the horizon! Seeing a train coming many miles away! Good video and great view of the cane fields.

Where I live in North QLD, Australia, we've got sugar railways as well. My local mill uses 2ft gauge (all except 1 mill use 2ft) and hauls 10 ton bins to carry the cane. The mill is located in the town and the trains can often be heard squealing around the tight corners. If you ever come to Australia, they are definitely worth checking out.

Nice to have another Distant Signal video. Thanks for showing us an operation most of us will never see.

Great sunset shot.

Fantastic narration and production values. Top notch! Thank you.

That last shot with the sunset and the tail of the train moving away is beautiful! Great job as usual!

Danny, I'm a native Floridian and never realized that sugar cane operations were that big. Wish I was living in Florida but no longer. Anyway keep up the videos about the trains. Never knew that much about trains. I work as a system administrator so more into computers. Oh by the way go gators. Also War Eagle.

That’s a ton of action in one day! Excellent.

Wonderful look into USSC! Thank you. We live west of the fields and travel through often. We’ve seen the trains but never knew about the railroad system itself.

Another good video thanks dan, I worked for a beet sugar company in the thumb of Michigan I moved cars of pulp and molasses with a GE 25 ton switcher and enjoyed every minute of that little engine.

The flat, featureless landscape reminds me a bit of the north end of Missabe Sub. closer to home in northern Minnesota. The line crosses a large bog with a bunch of iron ore related traffic and general freight, and these sugar cars almost remind me of the ore hoppers a bit

howdi. great coverege . i saw this morning a video featuring sugar cane trains , but in austrailia using 3 foot guage tracks insteand of 3 foot 8 and 1 /2 track. the locos seem more like tractors than locos , but some of the locos do look like regular locos . i m not used to seing desiel locos with side rods . again thanks for the coverege .

Kinda reminds me of Louisiana Delta Railroad in Southern Louisiana who handles alot of sugar cane in the winter months. Really cool area of Florida to railfan so thanks for the lift, Danny!

Very nicely done and produced. I was recently watching the Sugar Trains in Queensland, Australia on RU-vid. Unlike the Florida trains, these Aussie trains tend to be a bit older, smaller with some really dramatic backdrops.

Inspiring Florida railfanning. This is the Florida I grew up with. Bravo !

Fantastic video. Great story. Thanks!

Danny good to see you back.

Excellent Video as always Danny!

Hi Danny - Great video covering an area of railroading unknown to many. I had no idea that the USSC's operations were so extensive. Thank you for capturing some great views to share with us! Mike

Brilliant video thanks for sharing

Danny if want to see a Great piece of Modern Ancient History. You should get over to the Northeastern side of the SCFE territory that used to be FEC line. There is a Bridge that is raised & lowered using Cables. It truly is a marvel of Engineering.

Superb, beautiful country, the Royal Palms are glorious.

Love the "documentary" format, excellent video

Ooh, that last one is the money shot... Paul, my friend Chazz, and I went down there the week before you came, but alas no trains in sight. Glad to see that at least one of us got it!

Amazing video! You should come and railfan the south end of the FEC again. The scene has changed significantly with Brightline now running. During rush hour nowadawys (3-8pm), we can see about 15 trains. It’s something you just have to come and see.

Interesting to compare this to the Western Sugar Beet harvest (esp. Southern Pacific). Thanks. Well done as usual, Danny.

Those sugar cane fields remind me of the corn fields in North Central Illinois.

Great video you and tolga did a great job

Spectacular ending to the video...off into the sunset.

I really liked your final shot of the cane going to the mill and toward the sunset. Sweet ! Sorry but I had to say it. I used to live down there and worked in agriculture and I have been in all the towns you mentioned, but I never paid any attention to the sugar cane trains. Now I am sorry that I missed out.

Awesome video and catches of the sugar trains and I enjoyed it alot!! 5 Stars to you Danny Harmon AKA +Distant Signal and to Tolga AKA +Brickbuilder711

Very well constructed video. Excellent narration. Thanks for posting!

Very interesting stretch of railroad. Thanks for sharing another great video Danny.

My Dad retired from US Sugar in Pahokee and I had an uncle retire from the RR Dept as well at the Bryant Mill. As a youngster in my 20's I would sometimes work the Cane Dump closing rail car doors as they would exit the dump.

I've chased the sugar trains in Queensland, Australia. Love those 2 foot gauge trains.

The last 2 sunset shots were awesome!! Great video.

Excellent as usual and nice to get to see operation I never had heard of! Cheers from Sweden!

What a great video, Danny.

Great video, and amused by the comment about the roads being narrow -- you should see some of the narrow roads here in Dorset, UK!

The sunset shot is amazing. Great work.

Always wondered about those tracks and trains when I visited Clewiston. Awesome stuff!

Awesome job on the coloring in this video, fun stuff!

Great video, Danny. I especially liked the "into the sunset" view at the end.

Hard case hearing a Leslie S2M on the long hood of that old Geep. Not often you hear those in the States, but every EMD or GE loco in NZ are equipped with those

Another interesting video, Danny! I've been to Clewiston; but I missed the USSCS RR.

Great video Danny! I would love to see u again like we did in Folkston! That one day when FEC power came through

Fantastic video!!!!

Pretty awesome video Danny! Thanks for sharing! Never seen a sugar cane operation and thanks to you, I have now!

Very cool video, love the shot at 10:57 of the train kicking up dirt as they bounce over the crossing. Any plans to come back, especially when they get 148 and the tourist operation going?

This, incidentally, is a very poor area of Florida. But it is interesting to see how the sugar system works. Lake Okeechobee (sp) is a very shallow lake and reportedly plagued by algae infestations, as are the rivers and canals leading out. Fun to watch this. Thanks.