I love watching the cruise ships departing and this is a really well run cam with lots of great closeups.
Today, mixed in with the HUGE (Allure of the Seas) and smaller (Island Princess cruise ships) there was a much smaller l freighter. On deck were four large locomotives. I'm not good at telling types but they appeared to be fairly new diesels. They were all painted green with white diagonal stripes on the front and rear and a black top. The only identification was the block letters FURX on the cab in white. It appeared to have been drawn through with black spray paint. Anybody have a clue?
There was also a very nice small yacht as deck cargo. The ship was the BBC Alabama registered in St. John's.
Frank in still blustery SBA
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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First Union Rail, a rail leasing concern first started by First Union Bank (the guys with the splashy TV ads during the dot com bubble) and eventually acquired by Wells Fargo. Their AAR Reporting Mark is FURX
To draw a line through the reporting mark is the way rail equipment is identified as withdrawn from service; likely that locomotive is on its way to Big Daddy's sugar plantation wherever that may be.
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Thanks, Mr. Norman. The picture on the firstunionrail website is a variation of what I saw. And the Alabama certainly gets around. Now I'm wondering both where the locomotives were headed and who is getting that nice yacht!
Frank in still cool and blustery SBA
sbalax Member # 2801
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I did a little sleuthing and the last port for the Alabama before FLL was Houston and the next is Rio Grande. I'm thinking Brasil.
Frank in blustery and cold SBA (We have a light dusting of snow on the mountains behind town.)
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Here is more on the on the dry cargo vessel operator BBC Charters:
Brazil could be a very believable home for the former FURX locomotive you observed. From what little I know about the Brazilian rail system, some of it is Standard Gauge, and to North American clearance standards. Many US built locomotives are rostered.....and passenger trains are scarce.
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You got me hooked on that webcam, Frank. It really is a great one.
And speaking of cruises.....did you hear about the original "Sun Princess" ship that was used on "The Love Boat"? It was just sold for scrap for 3 million, so it will be broken down and dismantled any day now. I remember when that TV show was popular---the ship seemed so huge and luxurious! It's nothing compared to what's out there today.
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