Virtual Railfan Tour of St. Kitts - 1975

On the west coast the trade winds blow strongly. Making this interesting tunnel for the trains.

At the Basseterre factory a string of cane cars is being pushed inside

Each car is unloaded separately.

Bagasse is the "straw" which is left after the juice has been extracted. I think most of it finished up being spread back on the fields but the railway kept a supply loaded on rail vehicles that could be used to fix track problems caused by washouts. In other parts of the world I have seen bagasse used to fire steam locomotives on cane railways (stay tuned)


The small Rustons were used around the factory sidings. Instead of getting into the cab it was more like putting it on!

The brake tenders were very important for controlling heavy trains. Brakes were only available on the locomotives and tenders.

The sandhouse provided much needed sand to help control wheel slip

No. 17 was a Whitcomb, complete with American style headlight and bell. Don't know if the bell was ever used

This Davenport, another American built locomotive had been out of use for some time.



 

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