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(erielack) RE: President's Message

>From: "Harlan Hannah" <s2choochoo_@_bellsouth.net>
>To: "Walter Smith" <wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com>
>Subject: President's Message
>Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 13:40:54 -0400
>
>I need your input for June

Dear fellow members of the Florida East Coast Chapter of the National 
Railway Historical Society & others........

My wife and I returned from 2 weeks in the Keys recently which we spent 
mostly on the island of Marathon. As you know, this is at the North end of 
the Famous 7-Mile bridge constructed by the FEC (app. 1906-08). There's not 
much left of the Overseas Extension, but one cannot help but marvel at this 
massive remnant which is coming up on its' 100th anniversary.......(almost 
as old as my old TRI-RAIL road foreman of engines). For those of you who may 
pass that way, I'd like to recommend a visit to the old heavyweight 
passenger car that sits next to US 1 at the North end of the present bridge. 
They are a non-profit giftshop with lots of RR memorabilia and are dedicated 
to preserving the museum on Pigeon Key. Pigeon Key, slightly over 2 miles 
from the North end of the 7-mile bridge served as a supply center during the 
construction of the railroad and has many artifacts from that era. I 
purchased a full color map reproduction of the FEC at the turn of the last 
century. It was about $12.50 + tax & well worth it. The original is at the 
Flagler museum in WPB. It is about 14" wide & a yard or so long. I will 
bring it to the June meeting so members can see it.

While my wife & I were hoofing it across the old 7-mile bridge, we saw a 
huge loggerhead turtle surface on the west side of the brige & after a 
minute or so descend into the depths again.....NEAT.
The real action for the fishies is in the morning. We got up at 730 am & 
when just a few piers out saw a school of LARGE manta rays. There were 5 or 
6 & it looked like a formation of airplanes. we walked further & in some 
shallows noticed a 5 or 6 foot shark lazily swimming parallel to the bridge 
- - perhaps waiting for a careless tourist tio fall in. In another 1/2 mile we 
noticed another formation of rays & as we got close to Pigeon Key there was 
a school of BIG fish (8 or so) swimming in & out of a deep hole that had a 
dark blue color to the water & u couldn't see the bottom. Most of the depths 
are 10 - 20 feet & near Pigeon Key it shallows out - maybe 3 or 4 feet. With 
the sun at ur back as it is early in the a.m., you really can see pretty far 
down.

That was the fun part. We arrived back in Melbourne to find that our 
Allsnake (oops, I mean Allstate) agent of 30 years had cancelled our 
homeowners insurance. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
Our daughter told us she knows several people who got cancelled........they 
all turned in claims afer the hurricane. I guess it's OK to pay premiums, 
but don't ask for any help!

Moving along on the RR stuff - I began to think what it must have been like 
to run an engine on the overseas extension. All single track & dark 
(trainorder territory). Most of the crews of that era were quite familiar 
with this operation but it must have been lonesome on the islands with 
settlers few & far between. Let's see now...........leave Homestead & run 
accross the causeway over the swamps to Key Largo, then South on that big 
island to Tavernier (town at the South end). On to Plantation Key & then 
Matacumbe & Islamorada. A small station at the Long Key fishing camp & the 
Long Key viaduct then over Indian Key fill & onto Grassy Key & to Marathon 
where there was another small settlement & station. Most of you know there 
is NO natural freshwater on the keys and  the FEC had to haul tankcars of 
water for its' locomotives & people. Until recently there was a watertank at 
the North end of Marathon right at the edge of Vaca cut. It was an exact 
copy of the water tank near the Cocoa fire department and you could see the 
indentations of the boards from the concrete forms when it was poured (as 
you can at Cocoa). The FEC, like the Lackawanna, was enamored of concrete 
for everything. No termite damage there!!!!! I regret to report the dreaded 
developers have demolished the tank & there is now a dandy parking lot 
there.

Regards to all

Walter E. Smith
President, FEC Chapter/ N.R.H.S.

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