FEC 3775 is in the south end of Fort Pierce yard, late 1989. To me, this was an incredible find, because I saw this car on a train in Pompano Beach a year earlier and was amazed to see anything left with the "Speedway to America's Playground" logo, and still in operation no less. This ventilated express box car was originally FEC #607 and was built in 1947 (Seth Bramson's Speedway to Sunshine has a picture of sister car #609, p.270).

FEC 3783 is a water tank maintainence of way car, photographed at the Delray Beach siding in 1988 (You can see the top of this car back on the start page). These cars are evidently used as a water source in work gang trains, as I've always found them in the consists (sometimes two tank cars together). They are contenders for the oldest equipment still in use on the Florida East Coast Railway, most of them are stencilled as "built 4-25" (1925) and in 1995 Seth Bramson personally confirmed my suspicion that these cars saw service over the Key West extension. They were relied on for fresh water supply to the Keys and later some were retained for use as MOW equipment.

FEC 3719 is one of my favorites, a very photogenic heavyweight former Rail Post Office. This scene was taken at the Boca Raton siding in 1989. This time the car was consisted with tank car #3356 and some tool boxcars, but another time I photographed it tied up with water cars #18031 and #3779, FEC#3753 (an express boxcar converted into some kind of personnel car), and three tool cars including #3776 and #3721. I seem to recall the built year was 1940 or 1945.

Interestingly, at least one car from the FEC's lightweight/streamlined fleet was retained along with the few heavyweights for maintainence of way use. Comparing it with old photos, I suspect this was originally a diner car. FEC #3766 was at the siding in Delray Beach in 1988 with tank car #3783 and tool car #3803. Here's a glimpse of the top of the car : )

On the left below is FEC #7181, photographed in the north end of Fort Pierce yard in 1988. I can only speculate what it is used for, I took the shot simply because it looked to be a very old car (it still has friction-journal trucks). Again, I failed to check for the data on it's age.
On the right its the same spot in June, 1997. FEC #3791 is an express boxcar still in the blue/grey paint. Notice #7181 not far off, it would seem that the car hasn't budged for nine years.

Though none of the FEC's first-generation diesels were preserved, an impressive number of the Railway's steam locomotives survived, most in service all over the country. Against the odds, FEC #113, along with her sister #153, was fated to be preserved and resides in her home state. #113 is a 4-6-2 'Pacific' type built in 1913, was sold to be scrapped around 1930, but in 1938 was sold to a sugar refinery, I suspect to the plant at Fellsmere. In the 1960's the refinery had donated #113 and #153 to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum south of Miami. This photo was taken in 1990, two years before Hurricane Andrew would demolish the museum's shelter and damage alot of its railroad equipment.