During the 1970s, No. 148 was sold again to New Jersey, where it served excursion service on the Black River and Western (BRW) and Morristown and Erie (ME) railroads. Between 1983 and 2005, the locomotive was sold multiple times to various different owners in Connecticut, Michigan, and Colorado who have attempted to restore No. 148 to operation but never succeeded.
No. 148 was the eighth member of ten 4-6-2 Light Pacific class 141 steam locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia in April 1920 for the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC).[2] Designed with 68 in (1,727 mm) driving wheels, No. 148 was capable enough to reach 70 mph (113 km/h).[1] The locomotive was assigned to haul passenger and freight trains on the FEC's Overseas Railroad between Miami and Key West, Florida until 1935 when the Labor Day Hurricane destroyed many of the route's long bridges and the FEC permanently closed it down due to the Great Depression.[3] During that time, the FEC began to retire most of their older 4-6-2 locomotives for scrap or selling them to other railroads in order to recoup their financial losses.[3][4][5] No. 148 remained in service with the FEC until June 1952, when it was sold to U.S. Sugar Corporation (USSC) in Clewiston, Florida, where it worked alongside its sister locomotives Nos. 98, 113, and 153 to haul sugarcane trains from the harvest field to USSC's sugarcane mills.[3][6][7]
Excursion service in New Jersey and changing ownerships
In late 2016, USSC CEO Robert H. Buker, Jr. reacquired the No. 148 locomotive and restored it to operating condition for use in excursion service as part of the new Sugar Express tourist passenger train running on the South Central Florida Express main line.[16][17][18] During the restoration work, which started in early 2017, No. 148 received a lot of fabrication work to its wheelset, crankpins, and bearing boxes.[19][20] Additionally, it was given a new front boiler course and smokebox, which were both completely welded.[7][21] No. 148's cab was equipped with a radio speaker system to allow the engineer and fireman communicating the train dispatcher.[1] The locomotive's firebox was also modified to burn recycled vegetable oil instead of bunker C oil.[22]
In April 2020, after an extensive restoration work with assistance from FMW Solutions, Steam Operations Corporation, and Continental Fabricators Inc, No. 148 moved under its own power for the first time in 43 years.[21][23] It began its first revenue service on that same year of May 28, pulling the last sugarcane train of USSC's 2019–2020 harvest season.[18] On October 1, 2020, No. 148 kickstarted USSC's 90th harvest season and was christened with a bottle of champagne by Buker's wife Barbara.[24] On December 12, 2020, U.S. Sugar went into partnership with the U.S. Marines and Toys for Tots organization, using No. 148 to haul the annual Santa Express train loaded with toys donated to children in Moore Haven, Clewiston, Belle Glade, and Port Mayaca.[25] A year later, No. 148 ran its first Sugar Express public excursion train, the Lake Placid Limited from Clewiston to Lake Placid, Florida and back.[26][27]
On January 29-30, 2022, USSC and Trains Magazine hosted a private photo charter of the No. 148 locomotive pulling passenger and freight consists.[28] On that same year of April 9-10, No. 148 pulled its second excursion train, the Moore Haven Meteor from Clewiston to Moore Haven and back.[29] On April 23-25, 2022, No. 148 hauled a consist of eight different heritage passenger cars for the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners' (AAPRCO) special Sugarland Limited train on a multi-day tour around the Lake Okeechobee counties.[30][31] No. 148 continued to pull more of USSC's scheduled Sugar Express excursions, including sponsorship from the Florida East Coast Railway Society.[32][33]
^During this time, the Strasburg Rail Road of Pennsylvania had considered acquiring and restoring No. 148 for use in their tourist operations, but they subsequently settled on Norfolk and Western 475, instead.[13]
