Posted by Ariel Pevida Riding the Sugarland Express January 20 2002 CIENFUEGOS, Cuba -- Surrounded by fields of sugar cane, Despite sitting on hard seats--or having to stand--and the So close, so inaccessible, so enigmatic, Cuba has intrigued Add to this predictable list a less likely attraction: steam At the rest, we saw 27 steam locomotives, all made in The oldest steam locomotive we saw dated from 1903 and the
on 1/25/2002, 6:18 am
CUBA
The past is still on track for train buffs as the steam
locomotives of yesteryear chug on.
By KARL ZIMMERMANN
Special To The Los Angeles Times
under a sunset sky streaked with orange, the rails stretched
off into the distance. Along the narrow-gauge track rattled
a train of cars loaded with cane. At its head, two antique
steam locomotives, built in 1909 and 1920 in Philadelphia,
struggled to keep the train moving. At its hind end, aboard
primitive cabooses and flatcars with seats, 68 Americans
held on tight when the cars shuddered as they banged through
a switch leading to an acopio, or reload, where the cane was
chopped and transferred from truck to train. There another
locomotive panted softly, nudging cars into place to be
filled with short lengths of cane.
general lack of amenities, most of these American passengers
were happy to be riding the rails of Mal Tiempo, a sugar
mill (or central, as they're called in Cuba) in the
country's midsection.
a generation of Americans forbidden to travel here. The
island's mystique and its attractions are manifold. Beaches
and resorts. Mojitos, the rum, lime and mint concoctions
much favored by Ernest Hemingway that have become the year's
hot cocktail stateside. An accidental museum of American
automobiles from the '40s and '50s, most still running well.
The earthy, infectious music brought to our attention by the
movie "Buena Vista Social Club."
locomotives. For Americans who love trains and, in
particular, find steam locomotives charismatic, Cuba has
tantalized for decades as a paradise just out of reach. The
nation is like a museum of working American trains. The
faithful have known that for the annual zafra, or sugar
harvest, every February, a ragtag armada of locomotives
comes to life to haul Cuba's chief product and export from
fields to mills--and, to a lesser extent, to carry refined
sugar and molasses to customers, usually through an
interchange with the Cuban National Railways (the
Ferrocarriles de Cuba, or FCC). About 100 steam locomotives
are at work during the harvest--although the number drops
each year, despite the resourcefulness of mill mechanics.
America, of two gauges--standard (which run on 4-foot,
81/2-inch-wide tracks) and narrow (with tracks only 2 feet,
6 inches wide). For economy, several of the lines into the
fields were built in narrow gauge; lines from the mills
interchanging with the national railroads had to be
standard.
newest from 1925. The highlights were four mills where we
could climb aboard a train and ride: the Rafael Freyre, Mal
Tiempo, Cuba Libre and Venezuela. (
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