In the upcoming issue of TRAINS Magazine, author Scott Hartley highlights U.S. Sugar’s recent undertaking of restoring the No. 148 locomotive, which first served the farming region on the Florida East Coast rail lines 97 years ago.

Sweet redemption is coming soon for unpainted, disassembled, 97-year-old, Florida East Coast 4-6-2 No. 148 thanks to one-time owner U.S. Sugar Corp. The company bought the engine and will return it to operating condition in Florida after a decades-long retirement.

“Number 148 is a piece of our history, and we wanted to bring it home,” says Judy Sanchez, senior director of corporate communications and public affairs for U.S. Sugar. “We intend to restore number 148 to its former glory.”

Sanchez says that the restoration will take at least a year. The project will be done at U.S. Sugar’s Clewiston, Fla., locomotive shop using the company’s own skilled
workforce as well as contractors.

You can read the article in full here…