For the summer vacation of 1977, I talked my parents into a cross-country train trip from Kissimmee to Sacramento, via Chicago. My ultimate destination was Stockton, California. Why Stockton? Because the September, 1975 issue of Rail Classics magazine told me to! Literally. In the headline of the story!

I modeled the Santa Fe on my HO scale layout, and had somehow picked Stockton as the town my layout served. It was serendipity when I read the magazine story. My summer destination was set. My dad accompanied me, along with one of my friends, Joe, on this railfanning adventure. I'll save the details and photos from that trip for another post, but one of several highlights of the trip was to see the Stockton, Terminal and Eastern Railroad. The ST&E is a 25-mile short line railroad which started operation in 1908. It is one of two Stockton short lines featured in the Rail Classics article.

Written in ink as a place to visit, I instructed my dad we needed to stop by the ST&E office to say hello. Yes, two 14-year-old boys stopping in to say hello. I'm not really sure what I was expecting in doing so. Why would they even care about two kids from Florida? Well, surprises awaited.

Upon entering their office, Joe and I were greeted by Lorinda Navone. I don't recall the details of the conversation, but I am sure we told her about our trip across the country to visit her city and railroad. She told us to have a seat as she wanted us to meet someone. In short order, the vice-president of the railroad, Robert Barry, entered the lobby to say hello! 

He listened to our story and told us we might enjoy a book they had just published, The Slow Tired and Easy RR, a history of the railroad!

Whoa! Talk about a great surprise. But the surprises didn't stop there. Mr. Barry signed the book for me!

After meeting Mr. Barry, I would have left happy, but more was coming. Lorinda also signed the book for this 14 year old kid.

I read her words today and reflect on my life. I hope she'd be pleased that this small town kid went on to work for Amtrak, leave it to start his own company, marry a wonderful woman, raise a smart, sassy and loving daughter, and throughout it all, continues to share his love of trains with others. Words matter. Simple notes like this matter. Thank you, Lorinda.

But Lorinda wasn't through with us yet. She presented me a book of - get this - Stockton, Terminal and Eastern matchbooks! I love to collect matchbooks (well, at least I did years ago when they were common place).

Best of all, these were custom matchbooks, with my name embossed on them!

We left a short time later, and my dad was shocked when we got into the car with the book and matchbooks in hand. These are some of the great souvenirs - and memories - from this epic trip. Sometimes just saying hello and being curious can lead to unexpected surprises.

Almost 50 years later, which is incredibly difficult for me to accept, I still have the book, the matchbooks, and these wonderful memories of June 15, 1977 in a town far, far from home.

Thank you Mr. Barry. Thank you Miss Navone. And thank you Rail Classics writer Miles Moran for an article that inspired a fantastic summer vacation.

If you look back far enough, and closely enough, you'll usually find a family member that worked for a railroad. It's not really surprising, though. Railroads were the primary mover of both freight and passengers in the country until the 1960's, and employed hundreds of thousands of employees in hundreds of roles throughout their systems.

I know of three relatives who worked for the railroad, all on my mothers side of the family (Lupfer/Gilbert). I'll start with the one who seemed to do the most - and until recently knew about the least. Alexander McClure Lupfer was my great granduncle. Born in Blaine, Pennsylvania on September 17, 1855, he was the third of eight children of Samuel Lupfer and Matilda J. McClure. (Matilda was sister to Alexander McClure - who deserves his own blog post. Until then, visit Wikipedia to learn more about him.)

After Alexander McClure Lupfer earned an engineering degree from Lafayette College in 1880, he started his railroad career with the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railroad. He soon moved west and worked for other railroads until 1890 when he was hired by the Great Northern Railway, and worked for John F. Stevens, the railroad's Chief Engineer. (Mr. Stevens was later the Chief Engineer for the Panama Canal.)

Between 1890 and 1893, Alexander was the reconnaissance and location engineer during the construction of the switchback railroad line through the gap of the Cascade Mountains, now known as Stevens Pass, between Skykomish and Wenatchee, Washington.

James J. Hill, President of the Great Northern Railway, and often referred to as 'The Empire Builder,' visited the switchback construction site for at least one inspection, and I have little doubt that Alexander met Mr. Hill during his visit to see the progress on the rail line.

A few years after completing the switchback railroad, Alexander returned to Stevens Pass to help construct the original Cascade Tunnel, a 2.6 mile shortcut under the mountains which was completed in December, 1900. 

Later, he spent time in Montana relocating and constructing 69 miles of the Great Northern Railway west of Whitefish.

Alexander traveled to Spain with John F. Stevens in 1912 on a project for the Spanish rail system, became Chief Engineer for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad, and provided his expertise on many other projects that are covered in his obituary below.

Even with a list of accomplishments so long, there is another part of Alexander that intrigues me - and that is his legacy. While it's difficult to find mentions of him today, it was a different story a century ago. Thanks to the help of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, I received the map below of the Stevens Pass Switchbacks from 1893.

Stevens Pass Switchbacks

When closely examined, there are two items I find fascinating. First, flowing into the Tye River (named after William Tye, a surveyor for the Great Northern), is Lupfer Creek, flowing south to north down Cowboy Mountain. Did Alexander name the creek after himself, or was it named in his honor? 

Second, in the upper middle section of the map, a pack horse trail is shown as a dotted line. A spur to the left leads to 'Engineers Camp A. M. Lupfer.' This location overlooked the valley and switchback on the opposite slope.

Here's a link to download the full size PDF: Download Wilse 1894 -Stevens Pass

Stevens Pass Switchbacks Closeup with Lupfer Creek and Engineers Camp A. M. Lupfer indicated on map.

I was imagining what the view would have been from the engineers camp when I happened upon the photo below, which was likely taken from the camp. I checked with one of the archivists at the Great Northern Railway Historical Society and he verified the location and that of Lupfer Creek descending down and under the switchbacks. Stevens Pass is to the left of the photo.

A view of the Great Northern Railway switchbacks at Stevens Pass. Lupfer Creek, near center of photo, runs down the north slope of Cowboy Mountain and under the switchbacks. This view is likely from the Engineers Camp. Photo by A. B. Wilse, ca. 1899. Photograph retrieved from the Library of Congress.

I must thank Robert Kelly and Stuart Holmquist of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society for their assistance. Without the map provided by Mr. Kelly, I would have never known of my great granduncle's important role in the building of Stevens Pass. These photos have inspired me to dig deeper, and with the help of Messrs. Kelly and Holmquist, I'm learning even more about Alexander McClure Lupfer.

I'll end this post with his obituary, though it isn't the end of his story. More to come.

Alexander McClure Lupfer, September 17, 1855 - February 3, 1920

Thanks for reading.

Originally posted October 11, 2021
Updated July 25, 2023

The St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railway, built in 1888 by Hamilton Disston to serve his $350,000 sugar mill transported sugar, vegetables and citrus as well as passengers between Kissimmee and St. Cloud. It was built as a 3' narrow gauge railroad, but converted to standard gauge around the turn of the century.

Kissimmee station June 28, 1901. The St. Cloud and Sugar Belt track diverged to the right near the top of the photo. CFRHS Collection.

The route traveled from the Kissimmee station, where it connected with the South Florida Railroad and Florida Midland Railroad, east along today's Neptune Road before passing through downtown St. Cloud, a distance of 9 miles. The route grew another 4.34 miles when it was extended to Narcoossee, where a locomotive turntable was built for reversing the engines.

SCSB Route from Open Railway Map. Route in yellow. Spur in blue. Turntable in green. Click to enlarge.

Route Map in 1917. Personal collection.

St. Cloud Flyer, Sugar Belt RR, Kissimmee, FL. Florida Memory Photo.

ACL 4-4-0 #532 at the St. Cloud Depot, c. 1910, Ex-SF&W #223 and SFRR #23, Baldwin 1890. Florida Memory Photo.

Sugar Belt tracks departing Kissimmee and headed east (left) toward St. Cloud, circa 1925. Personal collection.

Sugar Belt tracks departing Kissimmee and headed east (right) toward St. Cloud. Personal collection.

Trestle east of Kissimmee with Idora Park in distance. Neptune Road now parallels this former line. Personal collection.

ACL Timetable Kissimmee to Narcoossee, 01MAY1916. CFRHS Collection.

 

Camp Idora Motor Court with Sugar Belt Railway in foreground. Road is now known as Neptune Road. Fisk collection.

Dual gauge Sugar Belt Railway, photo believed to be at St. Cloud during conversion from narrow gauge to standard gauge around 1896. Fisk collection.

At the St. Cloud Canal, located between Kissimmee and St. Cloud was Hamilton Disston's sugar mill. A spur line from Peghorn Junction (also known as St. Cloud Junction) to the mill provided rail access to move the sugar to Kissimmee and northern markets.

St. Cloud Sugar Mill in operation. Note railcars in distance. CFRHS collection.

SCSB 1889 Tariff. CFRHS Collection.

The line operated as the St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railway Company from 1888 to 1892, when it was leased to the South Florida Railroad Company before being merged into the company in 1893. It was sold to the Plant Investment Company that same year.

In 1902, it was sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which owned the line until it was abandoned in 1942 and scrapped shortly thereafter. The Bill Johnston Memorial Trail, which parallels Neptune Road follows some of the roadbed of the former rail line.

St. Cloud depot with ACL train car. CFRHS collection

In Narcoossee, the locomotive could be turned on a hand-pushed turntable, the remnants of which remain today behind the feed store on private property. There was also a station and water tower at the end of the line. The photo below shows the locomotive pulling the train in reverse direction, giving the impression that the turntable was either not utilized or out of service at the time of this photo.

Narcoossee Station 1902. Personal collection.

With decreasing passenger and freight, the final Atlantic Coast Line train traversed the line on September 29, 1941. The Veterans of the Foreign Wars Post 3227 purchased the building to use as their post headquarters in 1943, and remains their post to this day.

Last train to operate on the line was on September 29, 1941. Pictured at St. Cloud. Florida Memory photo.

St. Cloud Depot VFW Post 3227. VFW Post 3227 Photo.

St. Cloud Sugar Mill ruins. Personal collection.

There are few signs of the St. Cloud and Sugar Belt today, however three items remain; the St. Cloud Depot, ruins of the sugar mill located along the St. Cloud Canal, and the concrete base of the turntable in Narcoossee. My family was involved with the Disston operation, and used the Sugar Belt for shipping. I'll post those stories at another time.

If you have photos or information on the St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railroad or Hamilton Disston, I'd like to hear from you. Leave a comment below and I'll be in touch. Thanks for reading!

Sources:
Personal collection
Central Florida Railway Historical Society (CFRHS)
Fisk Collection
Florida Memory
VFW Post 3227
Open Railway Map

This video features plenty of old Kissimmee, from the Seaboard Coast Line depot on Dakin Avenue, to scenes of Broadway, but my favorite is the interview with Irlo Bronson, Sr., one of the few recordings of him that I've seen. While I grew up with his son's family, I never met the elder Mr. Bronson. Anyway, a great look at Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista and Windermere in the months prior to the opening of Walt Disney World.

If you remember Central Florida towns before Disney of saw something that brought back memories in this video, please leave a comment below. Thank you!

Source:
YouTube