South Central Florida Express, Inc. (originally known as the South Central Florida Railroad ) is a common carrier shortline railroad in southern Florida run by U.S. Sugar Corporation. Its trains operate from Sebring to Fort Pierce via Clewiston around the southern perimeter of Lake Okeechobee, and serves customers at 26 locations. With of track, the SCXF is the largest private agricultural railroad in the U.S. The railroad began operation in 1994 on tracks previously owned and operated by CSX Transportation; in 1998, operation expanded on to tracks leased from the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). In addition to the SCXF, U.S. Sugar has its own private tracks known as the U.S. Sugar Railroad , which consists of multiple branch lines connected to SCXF tracks. In 2021, the SCXF began operating the Sugar Express , a heritage tourist passenger train featuring a steam locomotive pulling historic passenger cars. Operation The South Central Florida Express (SCXF) is at its busiest during the main sugar harvest, which usually runs from October to March each year. U.S. Sugar is the only sugar company in the continental U.S. that transports sugarcane by rail. In addition to the SCXF, U.S. Sugar has its own private tracks known as the U.S. Sugar Railroad, which is made up of several branch lines running from SCXF tracks to sugar fields near Clewiston and Bryant. Unlike the SCXF, the USSC is not a common carrier and is not subject to Federal Railroad Administration regulations. Sugarcane harvested from fields along the line on the west and south sides of Lake Okeechobee is taken by rail in specially designed rail cars to U.S. Sugar's refinery in Clewiston for processing. The SCXF refers to these trains as "cane trains", which then take empty cars back out to the fields. On the east side of the lake, sugarcane is collected the same way and loaded cars are brought to Bryant Yard near Pahokee, where cars are combined on to longer trains before being sent to Clewiston. This movement of trains from Bryant to Clewiston is referred to as the Bryant Turn. Since the junction switch at the entrance to Bryant Yard is oriented north on the main line, Bryant Turn trains are backed out of the yard on to the main line before heading south and west to Clewiston. During harvest season, Bryant Turn trains can run as often as every four hours. Refined