Today's Train of Thought

Today's Train of thought was partially inspired by the earlier Iron Horse Roundup. Hurricanes, alligators, swarming mosquitoes, high humidity or invasive species of pythons notwithstanding, Florida remains a popular destination. The Florida East Coast railway operates entirely within the Sunshine State, from Jacksonville to North Miami [along the east coast, appropriately enough!]. In fact, the railway used to extend all the way to Key West but the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and the advent of US Route 1 was the end of the presence of any railroad on the Florida Keys.

But even without the line to Key West, there's still plenty of bridges and trestles on the present-day FEC. Sticking to the mainland, railpictures.net contributor Bob Pickering caught FEC SD70M-2 #101 and a trailing former Union Pacific SD40-2 crossing the Cane Creek Trestle in Melbourne, FL on Tax Day 2008 with a trademark palm tree prominently in the foreground and some intermodal freight in tow.