St. Kitts Scenic Railway

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St. Kitts Scenic Railway
St. Kitts Scenic Railway
St. Kitts Scenic Railway
Route length: 29 km
Gauge : 762 mm ( narrow gauge )

The St. Kitts Scenic Railway is a 29 km (18 mile) long narrow gauge railway along the coastline of the Caribbean island of St. Kitts with a gauge of 762 mm (30  inches ).

history

Steam locomotive No. 3 Queen Mary at the opening of the sugar factory in 1912

The tracks were laid from 1912 to 1926 to bring sugar cane from the plantations to the then newly built sugar factory in Basseterre . The construction of the sugar factory was financed by a group of investors in 1912 in order to reduce processing costs and increase profitability through the economies of scale when the sugar price fell due to the growing of sugar beet around the world . The railway was in operation in the harvest season from February to June.

The private St. Kitts Scenic Railway has been using the route with tourist trains since January 28, 2003, based on a partnership between the government and a private company. Under the slogan "The Last Railway in the Caribbean - Last Railway in the West Indies", it demonstrates its aim of offering a historical look into the past, when sugar was still the main economic power of the island.

Rolling stock

Locomotives

The railway owns and operates three PKP class Lyd2 diesel-hydraulic locomotives from FAUR in Romania . The classification can be deciphered as follows:

  • L - narrow gauge locomotive
  • y - three axes (axis order C or 0-6-0 )
  • d - diesel
  • 2 - hydraulic drive.

The locomotives have a central driver's cab for both directions and completely overhauled Henschel diesel engines.

dare

The double-deck coaches were designed and built by Jeff Hamilton as a new development. The roof can be raised hydraulically to reveal an unobstructed view of nature, while the lower floor is more luxuriously equipped with air conditioning, padded rattan armchairs, toilets and paintings by local artists.

Web links

Commons : St. Kitts Scenic Railway  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ St. Kitts Scenic Railway Tour on www.stkittsscenicrailway.com (English).
  2. ↑ History of St. Kitts and the Sugar Train on www.stkittsscenicrailway.com (English).
  3. ↑ Andrew Goodwin, Stephen Goodwin, Dave Meller: The Lyd2 Page ( English ) October 14, 2003. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  4. ↑ a b Romanian diesel locomotives from Poland for the tourist railway in St. Kitts (Caribbean) on www.interlok.info
  5. ↑ Narrow gauge diesel locomotive L30H (Lyd2) on www.interlok.info

Coordinates: 17 ° 18 ′ 45.2 "  N , 62 ° 42 ′ 41.5"  W.