Standard Gauge Stompers

Diesels had been introduced to Cuban sugar Centrals in the 1940s and 1950s, with more coming from Russia after 1959. By the 1980s quite a lot of big Centrals worked diesels only, steam having been scrapped, dumped, kept in reserve or moved to other mills.

There were however places where it was still possible to see quite large steam locos stomping along on heavy trains. A cluster of Centrals around the city of Ciego de Avila in Camaguay Province provided a lot of steam activity in the late 1980s and into the early 2000s.

This section will look at activity on the tracks of four Centrals:

MINAZ 503 O G Ramirez (134 on map, formerly called Algodones), 18kms west of Ciego;

MINAZ 515 Ciro Redondo (148 on map, formerly called Moron), 21kms north of Ciego;

MINAZ 504 Ecuador (135 on map, formerly called Baragua), 17kms east of Ciego;

MINAZ 522 Venezuela (155 on map, formerly called Stewart), 11kms south of Ciego.

The four mills  had a total of around 650kms of track at their peak with their systems interconnected either directly or via the FCC  making it possible to transfer cane from one to another, which was useful cover in case of breakdowns or maintenance periods. These were not ramshackle operations with quaint old locos sedately puffing around a yard, they featured full on railroading.

Map -  Data within University of Florida Digital Collections.

Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), http://www.dloc.com

This area of Cuba is a great flat plain, ideal for the development in the early  twentieth century of large sugar cane growing areas which required big Centrals for processing. What it lacked in scenery was made up for by the high levels of activity.

CAL CIRO REDONDO

Ciro Redondo was a big mill with a distillery between Ciego and Moron with a fleet of eight basically identical Baldwin 2-8-0s built between 1919 and 1922 and a single Alco 2-8-0. The rail system was extensive, quoted in 1948/49 as 278 kms standard gauge. One year we spotted the smoke of a train obviously on the move and went to find it. We did eventually but only after driving thirty kilometres!

View of the yard at Ciro Redondo in 1998. Though much reduced from earlier years, there  was still steam activity, the loco depot can be seen on the left. As late as  2002, 1826 was observed shunting in the yard - this was the sole Alco 2-8-0.

1827 darkens the skies even with what looks like a train of empty wagons in 1990. To be fair, the crew might have opened the fuel tap when they saw us waiting to take a picture. Then again, Ciro's locos did emit a lot of smoke when working hard. With the oil burners turned on, the ground rumbled!

Some of Ciro's  Baldwins had a capped stack, others, like 1831 here, didn't. Numerous people are riding on the tender, not at all unusual in Cuba. Note the cattle feeding station adjacent to the line, supplied with sugar cane waste from a nearby acopio.

While the loco's smokebox displays the number 32. its official MINAZ number was 1832. This heavy train of 31 loaded cane cars plus caboose heads for the mill and passes a junction with an out of use signal, photo taken in 1993. At the same time, two more trains were coming in behind this one.

It was good to catch the only Alco in the fleet at work on 3 March 2002. The loco's works number is 62960 dated July 1921. 1826 receives the driver's attention before restarting its duty shunting hopper wagons. The yard at Pina is alongside the FCC's line from Moron to Ciego.

CAI ECUADOR

Another big mill plus a refinery. In 1948/49 it had 108 kms of standard gauge railroad with seven steam locos and a small Caterpillar diesel.

CAI Ecuador locos tended to throw out less black smoke than Ciro's but here 1821 is doing its best to copy Ciro. This was another Baldwin 2-8-0 dating from 1920 and retains its capped stack plus a nicely painted silver smokebox.

One year I was invited to drive 1821 for about five or six kms from its last pick up at an acopio named Jesus Menendez into and through the mill to the sidings, a great experience. The load was 26 full cane cars plus caboose. There was an awkward moment after we passed through the mill and curved round towards the sidings - I looked back at the train and, to my horror, the wagons had parted! About half the train was still coupled up and the other half was following. The mill driver motioned to keep going steadily and the back half caught up without a rough shunt occurring. Phew... It was not an unusual incident on cane lines, thanks to undulating track and less than perfect couplings.

1821 is ready to go off shed one overcast morning in March 1990, but the start of proceedings has been delayed by rain making the fields too wet for cane cutting machines to do their work, hence no immediate requirement for wagons at the acopios. Normally three or four steamers were kept busy. The shed was in the centre of the mill complex,so was visited with caution. The loco on the left is 1904.

Powerful Vulcan Iron Works 2-8-0 1904 is merely ambling along with a train of empties.

Doubleheaders weren't common, but  on 20 March 1992 1821 has failed with injector problems and is being towed in by 1649, a Baldwin 2-6-0 of 1919 which was also hauling the combined load of 42 full cane cars! Good job it was flat country.

As proved by the last picture 1649 was more than capable of working heavy trains but is spotted on this occasion  with a lesser load passing a small village with local kids looking on.

It is early evening on Saturday 3 March 2001. Vulcan Iron Works 2-6-0 1564 gets ready to shunt a recently arrived trainload of tankers complete with a caboose at the rear. The train had been worked in over the connection from Baragua on the Santa Clara - Santiago de Cuba main line by a diesel. 1564 was new to this Central in 1916, its number 1, so had been here for nigh on 85 years. It was still in use in 2002.

It was always satisfying to see MINAZ steam locos hauling trains other than cane cars and being on the FCC main lines. A Sunday afternoon working at Ecuador involved taking a train of bagged sugar to the main line connection at Baragua station on the FCC's Linea Central Este. 1821 performs the duty on 3 March 2002 with five boxcars in tow, returning tender-first with six. 1821 is depicted waiting at the junction to gain access to the FCC - first a  former Mexican Railways diesel 53018, a recent import to Cuba, passed through on a container train and then came the Santiago de Cuba - Moron passenger service with diesel 52669 before it was allowed to proceed.

The small platform in the foreground might be a stopping place for a carahata, a small railcar used for local services. Read this from 2018! https://havanatimes.org/features/cubas-rural-railway-network-its-plan-b-to-survive/

In the latter years of steam, there was some attempt to smarten up the appearance of locos as well as attract tourists. I have a note that the Second Festival of Steam took place at Moron from 14 to 16 December 2001 and seven locos from Ciro Redondo, Ecuador and Venezuela were in attendance. This appears to have been related to the creation of a museum with steam hauled trains at the closed mill of Patria O Muerte outside Moron where various locos were present in 2003 including 1564 in steam.

CAI VENEZUELA

This mill, mostly financed by British capital and built in 1906 by a British engineering company, was stated to be 'by far the largest mill in the world' in 1914. It was originally called Central  Stewart, with 200km plus of cane railway tracks in 1948/49, connected at Silveira to the FCC Jucaro - Moron line south of Ciego de Avila.

Busy patio (yard) at Venezuela in 1991 with three locos in view, it was a big operation. Notice the cabooses on the left, most trains that went any distance had one attached; the water column; the loco's oil trail on the near line.

Yard shunter was 1657, a neat Alco 4-6-0 from 1916, which was formerly Cuba Railroad No.239.

Alco 2-8-0 1825 was new in 1925 to another Central, being transferred here in more recent years.

Five Baldwin 2-8-0s also featured in the fleet. This one is 1742 seen in March 1999 crossing the FCC line on the flat at Pitajones, protected by a tall signal. 1742 was new here in 1920 as Cuba Cane Sugar Co no.16.

One more of the Baldwins, 1740, is reflected in a pool of water in 1993.

Again in March 1993, Baldwin 1739 comes through an avenue of  trees in Jaguayal on empties bound for La Gloria acopio.

Compared with the earlier picture, 1742 looks much better in March 2001, complete with a new longer tender and capped stack. Good to know that even at this late stage for steam power, attempts to make improvements were still being made.

The mill's power also included 1902, a big Vulcan Iron Works 2-8-0, making its way with half a load to a junction where it will leave these wagons and go down a branch to another acopio to collect about the same again, making a decent size train back to the Central.  This had not been a main line engine, though it was built for the Cuba Northern Railroad, their no.45, but not delivered.

CAI ORLANDO GONZALEZ RAMIREZ

This Central near Guayacanes west of Ciego always seemed efficient, clean and tidy. Visits over several years usually found the same three locos at work: Baldwin 2-6-0 1563; Alco Schenectady 4-6-0 1732; Alco Cooke 2-8-0 1837. The area of operations was more compact than other mills mentioned in this section, having 70 kms of railway including the patio (mill yard).

1563 shunts full wagons at the mill, while two more locos are further back on the left awaiting orders.

1732 looks good out on the line in 1999. By 2002  it had acquired an unattractive - in my opinion - green livery. The loco was ex Cuba Railroad no. 243.

1837 stomping back to the mill in the dying rays of the sun one evening in March 2002. 1837 was supplied new in 1920 to this mill then called Algodones.

1563 could stomp along as well, seen here in the middle of the street in Limones Palmero in 1998.

1732, pretending to be a 4-4-2, in the shed in 1993 for a very extensive overhaul. Must have been successful as it was still at work in 2002.

While 1732 wasn't available, the mill's other Alco 4-6-0 1736 was active, coming off shed as the locals look on. Another former main line engine it was Cuban Central Railroad no. 121.

In 2001 Vulcan Iron Works 2-8-0 1836 is propelling two oil tankers to the FCC connection at Guayacanes. 1836 acquired a dark blue livery, somewhat better than 1732's green repaint, in my opinion....

A diagrammatic map of the main Cuban railway system is here  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocarriles_de_Cuba#/media/File:Esquema_ferrocarril_cuba.png

More to come