Vintage Motive Power on Freight - Florida Central

Let's take a trip to the past with an EMD GP30 built for the L&N in the early 1960's and a Clinchfield F7 built in the late 1940's lugging some loaded steel cars in the sunshine state.

Seeing this kind of power in freight service is rare, but seeing it on a modern mainline is a treat to witness. Here we chase L&N 1030 and Clinchfield 800 up the Florida Central with over 20 loaded steel flat cars from Orlando to Eustis. The two 567 equipped motors pull hard to get the tonnage over the line, and performed spectacularly. The sound of roaring EMD 2-stroke engines and a Leslie RS-5TRRO horn wakes up central Florida on a hot day in September.

L&N 1030 and Clinchfield 800 are both locomotives originating from the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum located out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Both of these locomotives can be seen pulling excursions for the Orlando & Northwestern Railway with trips departing Mount Dora and Tavares. L&N 1030 was the common freight power on the old line from Oak Ridge to Blair and pulled many excursions of the Secret City Scenic and provided the air for the Oak Ridge Horn Honk. Clinchfield 800 was restored to its as-delivered livery by CSX Transportation in Huntington, West Virginia and was featured in the lead of the 2017 Santa Train down the Clinchfield Railroad.

Enjoy!