The GE BQ23-7 was a model of diesel locomotive manufactured by General Electric , a variant of the B23-7 built between 1978 and 1979 (the 'Q' stood for "crew Q uarters"). It was mechanically identical to a regular B23-7, but equipped with an enlarged operating cab for accommodating the train crew, thus making a case for eliminating the caboose from the rear of freight trains. SCL no.5130-5139 were the only ones built. Following a practice dating back to ACL and SAL U30Bs of 1967, SCL's 10 BQ23-7s and 30 standard B23-7s were delivered riding on reconditioned Blomberg trucks from EMD trade-ins.
24-510: Only ten were built, all for the Seaboard Coast Line railroad, (originally no.5130–5139). CSX later inherited these locomotives, operating them into the late 1990s and early 2000s. None of these locomotives survive today. All were scrapped in 2001. This diesel locomotive-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Seaboard Coast Line The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad ( reporting mark SCL )
48-586: A second Juice Train began serving Cincinnati, Ohio . When CSX acquired part of Conrail in 1999, an all-CSX train began traveling to a new larger facility in Jersey City, New Jersey on the National Docks Secondary . Rolling stock also changed, including orange, white, and blue cars, some with innovative refrigeration . Designated "TPIX" they are custom-built to Tropicana's specification. The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) carries Tropicana cars from
72-545: A second processing facility in Fort Pierce, Florida . A reliable and economically viable transport mode, the Juice Trains are also a powerful mode of advertising, running ten trips each week to Jersey City and Cincinnati. Additional shipments with specially-equipped refrigerated cars currently travel 3,000 miles (4,800 km) by rail to California . Tropicana had its own GE 70-ton switcher locomotive, No. 98, to switch cars at
96-549: A shorter, and therefore lighter, fuel tank which proved ideal for light density lines. Most units of this type were assigned to the Carolinas. However, in 1978 the SCL decided not to purchase any more locomotives for local service on secondary mainlines and branchlines, instead aging GP7, GP9, and GP18 locomotives would be rebuilt into GP16 models at the Uceta shops. In the years leading up to
120-695: The Durham and Southern Railway from the Duke family in 1979. In 1978, SCL was approached by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) and entered negotiations for a potential transcontinental merger, with the L&N being used to connect the two railroads. In May of that year, then-SCL president Prime Osborn III personally called off the merger, but SCL still sold some of their stock to the SP. On November 1, 1980, CSX Corporation
144-493: The overhead wire with electric locomotives most of the way to Kearny, New Jersey . There have been more than a few changes over the years. Tropicana became the world's leading producer of branded fruit juices. In 1976, Conrail (CR) took over from Penn Central, with electrification discontinued in 1981. SCL became part of CSX Corporation (CSX) in 1980 and merged into Seaboard System Railroad (SBD) and then CSX Transportation , which also included RF&P by 1991. In 1997,
168-460: The 1,250 miles (2,010 km) route. The unit train consisted of 150 100- short-ton (89- long-ton ; 91 t ) insulated boxcars , fabricated in the Alexandria, Virginia shops of Fruit Growers Express . An additional 100 cars were incorporated into the fleet, and small mechanical refrigeration units were installed to keep temperatures consistent. Tropicana saved $ 40 million in fuel costs during
192-528: The 1967 merger, the newly created SCL network had 1,232 locomotives. The vast majority of the ACL roster contained EMD (Electro-Motive Division of General Motors ) locomotives in addition to some General Electric (GE) and Alco models as well as Baldwin switchers , while the SAL rostered mainly EMD and Alco diesels in addition to some GE models and Baldwin switchers. Both railroads had purchased new freight locomotives in
216-467: The 5 years leading up to the merger. Among the first new locomotives purchased by the Seaboard Coast Line were 28 GE U33B locomotives, acquired in 1967 and 1968. These were followed by 108 GE U36B locomotives between 1970 and 1972. From EMD, SCL purchased SD45 locomotives in 1968, with more to follow in 1971. SD45-2 locomotives were added in 1974. GP40 and GP40-2 locomotives were added to
240-553: The 60 car train was the equivalent of 250 trucks. Today it is no longer operated by SCL successor CSX Transportation , a victim of CSX’s PSR operating philosophy. Tropicana refrigerated boxcars are still transported between Florida and New Jersey, however they are now mixed in with Intermodal trains . In the past, the Juice Trains have been the focus of efficiency studies and awards as examples of how modern rail transportation can compete successfully against trucking and other modes to carry perishable products. Immediately following
264-598: The Amtrak era, many were renamed or combined with other services. The first expansion for the Seaboard Coast Line came in 1969 with the acquisition of the Piedmont and Northern Railway , which operated about 128 miles (206 km) in North and South Carolina. SCL would buy out the remaining shares and gain control of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) in 1971, and also bought
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#1732856050924288-691: The Seaboard in December 1986. Juice Train is the popular name for famous unit trains of Tropicana fresh orange juice operated by railroads in the United States . On June 7, 1970, beginning on Seaboard Coast Line railroad, a mile-long Tropicana Juice Train began carrying one million gallons of juice with one weekly round-trip from Bradenton, Florida to Kearny, New Jersey , in the New York City area. The trip spanned 1,250 miles (2,010 km) one way, and
312-622: The company's railroad subsidiaries being collectively known as the Family Lines System which consisted of the L&N, SCL, Clinchfield and West Point Routes. During this time, the railroads adopted the same paint schemes but continued to operate as separate railroads. In 1983, CSX combined the Family Lines System units as the Seaboard System Railroad and later CSX Transportation when the former Chessie units merged with
336-539: The creation of the Seaboard System in 1983, SCL began acquiring the next generation of locomotives from EMD and GE. These orders included GE B23-7 locomotives in 1978 and 1980, including the GE BQ23-7 variant, of which only 10 were built and all belonged to SCL. EMD GP38-2 units were added in 1979 and 1980, and 5 EMD GP40-2 locomotives also delivered in 1980. Six axle GE C30-7 and EMD SD40-2 units were added to
360-585: The first ten years of its operation. Starting out on Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) south of Tampa, Florida , the original used former Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) tracks. It crossed over to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) in Richmond, Virginia at pier 5 of the James River Bridge. At Potomac Yard , in Alexandria, Virginia , Penn Central Transportation (PC) took over and operated under
384-472: The fleet between 1968 and 1972 for use on through freights and other high priority freight trains. All former SAL locomotives ran for many years in the "Split-image" scheme, still in full SAL paint, but relettered and renumbered SCL. Two GP-7's 915 & 981 went from pure SAL to SCL Black without being in split-image and GP-7 944 and RS-3 1156 were never painted black, and retained their SAL paint until retired in 1976. The last operating SCL locomotive in SAL paint
408-507: The longstanding short-form names of these two major Southeastern railroads. For years, SAL had been popularly known as "Seaboard," while ACL was known as "the Coast Line." Prior to the creation of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the Seaboard Coast Line provided passenger service over much of its system, including local passenger trains on some lines. Local trains ended when the Amtrak era began. Although several named passenger trains survived through
432-700: The merger of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad . The combined system totaled 9,809 miles (15,786 km), the eighth largest in the United States at the time. The railroad had $ 1.2 billion in assets and revenue with a 54% market share of rail service in the Southeast , facing competition primarily from the Southern . The seemingly redundant name resulted from
456-460: The roster between 1979 and 1980. Juice Train " Juice Trains " (or "Orange Juice Trains") are the unit trains of Tropicana fresh orange juice operated by railroads in the United States . Tropicana Products was founded in 1947 in Bradenton, Florida by Anthony T. Rossi , an Italian immigrant, growing from 50 employees to over 3,000 in 2003. Early distribution of fresh orange juice
480-635: Was GP-40 1559, former SAL 644, and was repainted at Hamlet, NC in March 1976 according to records. There were former P&N locomotives that retained their P&N scheme from 1969 until 1977, only RS-3's 1250 & 1256 and S-4 230 ever were repainted SCL black. Gainesville Midland SD-40, retained its SAL paint until 1986 when it was repainted Seaboard System 8300, it had been SBD 0010 and 8300 in SAL style "split-image" for several years prior to that. SCL supplemented its local freight units with orders of GE U18B and EMD GP38-2 locomotives. Some U18B models contained
504-624: Was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lines to create the Seaboard System in 1983. At the end of 1970, SCL operated 9,230 miles of railroad, not including A&WP-Clinchfield-CN&L-GM-Georgia-L&N-Carrollton; that year it reported 31,293 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 512 million passenger-miles. The Seaboard Coast Line emerged on July 1, 1967, following
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#1732856050924528-424: Was by way of hand-delivered juice jars to nearby homes, but demand grew, especially in New York City . By 1957, the ship, S.S. Tropicana , was used and could hold up to 1.5 million US gallons (1.2 × 10 ^ imp gal; 5,700 m ) of juice to New York for its weekly delivery. The ship's last voyage was in 1961 when transportation shifted to truck and rail transport. In 1970, Tropicana orange juice
552-542: Was created as a holding company for the Family Lines and Chessie System Railroad . Effective January 1, 1983, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad became Seaboard System Railroad after a merger with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Clinchfield Railroad . For some years prior to this, the SCL and L&N had been under the common ownership of a holding company, Seaboard Coast Line Industries (SCLI),
576-414: Was shipped in bulk via insulated boxcars in one weekly round-trip from Florida to Kearny, New Jersey . By the following year, the company was operating two 60-car unit trains a week, each carrying around 1 million US gallons (0.83 × 10 ^ imp gal; 3,800 m ) of juice. On June 7, 1971, the "Great White Juice Train," the first unit train in the food industry, commenced service over
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