Anyone out there modelling steam in Cuba? I guess today it would be steam in the sugar cane fields, haven’t heard of anyone using Cuba as a site for modelling, may be a great project.
It seems to me Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette had an article in the last year or so on Cuban railroading…or was it in Railfan & Railroad?? I remember it had a lot of good pictures, did look like an interesting modelling opportunity, especially in the larger scales.
Does the US State Department allow American modelers to model Cuban railroads? [%-)]
OOPS OOPS sorry
It looks like I have hit a political blunder, the forum members are staying away from a response by droves, hmmm, what other country is not in favor on this forum?
I wouldn’t read anything political into it. The lack of response probably answers your question about interest in modeling the area. I don’t model narrow guage myself so I don’t subscribe the the Gazette and can’t answer your question about the article.
I can say that I have seen very little if anything on any railroad south of the border. Occasionally we get some forum entries from South America, I recall.
So, any modeling of Cuban railroads would mean substantial research. But it would probably be a fertile modeling field for kitbashing, scratchbuilding and the like, with lots of atmosphere of smaller unique locomitives and lush Carribean scenery.
George V.
A similar type of railway activity to Cuba was also found operating in the sugar cane fields and pineapple plantations in Hawaii. Good historical information is available on the internet on this subject and it’s an exotic local - the same as Cuba.
If I was going to live for ever and in good health I think that I would possibly model one of these interesting locations: Cuba or Hawaii and also the SP servicing California’s, Cannery Row.
Meanwhile, the SAL running in Florida is about as exotic as I’m probably going to get in my alloted span on this orbe we call home.
Bruce[:)]
I visited Cuba this summer (Habana, Varadero, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Pinar, Santiago, Santana, etc…) I paid special attention to their RR system and posted some pictures here: http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/157630/1738554.aspx#1738554
Cubans have a special fealing for trains, specially since the railway have been their basic intemunicipal way of transportation since the revolution (interurban buses are almost inexistant, except for the “mules”, semi trailers adapted for passenger use). Their history also venerate trains, since one of the key events during the revolution against “Batista’s army” was the derailment of the “armored train” by Che Guevara at Santana. There is a monument there with some real boxcars scatered over a plaza representing the “derailment of the Armored Train”. A train full of soldiers heading to Santiago (where Fidel was fighting) was derailed by Che giving Fidel time and thus wining the second largest city of Cuba, Santiago, and starting a domino effect that resulted at the triunph of the “revolution”.
Trains are also escential for their main economical resource: sugar cane and rum. Trains are used allover the island to carry sugar cane to the “ingenios” where sugar is processed, or to the “destilerias” where rum is produced. Since the fall of the “Iron Wall” and the Soviets, Cuba’s sugar production have been reduced dramatically (Since the USSR was their main consumer) and many (almost 75% according to a local) of the “ingenios” were abandonded, reducing the rail operations to a minimum.
Most of Cuba’s main lines are “standard” gauge, built by americans during the 40’s and mainly the 50’s. Narrower gauges can be found at the sugar cane plantations where steamless (to minimize the risk of fire) were used to carry the cane to the main line or to a nearby “ingenio” or “destileria”. A few still survive aban
This is an amazing sight. Thank you!
A comment was made on the earlier Cuban thread that the hand rails were a “modernization”, perhaps to resemble N. American diesels. My guess is that is not so. To me, this looks like standard Russian steam loco design, also including the red painted rods and tender frame. Although the engine is N. American in origin, it is trimmed in the Russian style.
Yes, that picture was taken at Trinidad del Mar, amazingly, those engines still work as they did more than 50 years ago! This is not a ¨preserved¨ model or a turist atraction, she was switching for her everyday work.
Here´s a typical pullman hevyweight of the old days. This one is special, it was Castro´s ¨victory¨ coach. In this coach Castro went from Santiago to Habana after declaring the revolution victory. But those were the coaches used by the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba.
Here is a picture of the O scale layout at the Rum museum. Amazing, everything works! Even the little mills inside the warehouses work!!
