Trinidad Railway History 2009 Part 3
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2011
- This is part 3 of a 3 part TV interview about the history of Trinidad's railways.
Part 3 looks at:
- Listing of extant locomotives in Trinidad today
- The scrapping of almost everything between 1998-2005
- Visit with ex Caroni workers
- Railway paintings of David Moore
- Pointe-a-Pierre railway museum proposal
- TGR Bridge No95 at Pointe-a-Pierre
- The final days of the TGR
I have always felt that something should be done to record and preserve some part of the, once prolific but now defunct, rail network of Trinidad.
Trinidadians have lived with railways for over 150 years and fading evidence of this existence can still be seen today in many areas across the island. It is extraordinary that young people are largely unaware that trains once ran to almost every region of this country; the railways are, for example, responsible for the names of many places and roads, the locations of towns and villages, and some very recognizable landmarks.
In the summer of 2009 I was kindly offered the opportunity to give a lecture to the Citizens for Conservation (CFC) and the public on the subject of railways in Trinidad. The level of public interest was truly astonishing. My original intention had been to appeal to the national conscience to support the idea of preserving this part of our social and industrial heritage. I was very encouraged by the reception and feedback.
During this visit to Trinidad, I was also invited to appear on national television for a thirty minute interview. The TV interview was arranged by the Citizens for Conservation (CFC) of Trinidad and Tobago and is the subject of this presentation.
Full credit must go to WinTV in Chaguanas, central Trinidad, for making the original programme which featured some of my 1990 video footage. The interview was recorded on July 7th 2009. The television broadcast was made on the evening of July 25th 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago by WinTV's news extra programme.
In this new presentation, I have taken the programme a stage further by re-editing, adding photos and images, so as to better illustrate the topics discussed. Most of these new images did not appear on the original broadcast and are taken mostly from my private collection unless otherwise indicated.
Finally, I would like to personally thank the Trinidad and Tobago authorities responsible for saving the two surviving TGR locomotives. This is a great service to our nation. Credit must also be extended to the management at Caroni Limited (1975) for the their role in preserving locomotives from the sugar industry. Today there are no less than seven extant Caroni locomotives in Trinidad and we must try to save them all for future generations to enjoy.
I would like to recognise and thank the following people for their help, support and encouragement over the last two years. Without their contributions this feature would not have been possible:
Geoffrey MacLean, Roger Darsley, David Monckton, Jalaludin Khan, Victor Young On, Hans Boos, Allen Morrison, Stephen Dalla Costa, Clarion Charles, David Moore, George Deeby Thompson, Jackie Driscoll and Mr. Ramdeen from WinTV.
Special thanks to Nellon Hunte and the team at WinTV in 2009 when this recording was first made.
I hope that you enjoy this presentation.
Glen Beadon 2011. - Zábava
I found this to be quite interesting and informative. As a young boy growing up in Barrackpore, the Valley Line was part of our daily lives. We lived just across the road from the line, between the No.2 and No.3 scale yards, and I have so many fond memories of the trains passing by. Many times we would chase down the trains and jump up on the last carriage and ride on the back of it. When we heard the train coming, we would line up bottle caps and other items to get flattened by the train wheels. Ever so often, one or more of the carriages would get disconnected from the train (without the driver realizing it) and that would be our toy for the day... pushing the carriage up and down the tracks and riding it... thankfully there weren't many cars around at that time 😅
Thank you for sharing this information 😊
@galbeadon You're making me cry!
My Grandfather..Henry Agustus Gorden-French trained men to drive the trains in Trinidad & Tobago for 36 years.
I wish to add a photo of his work of service to the Trinidad Railway...and for the archives.
+bayswater melanie please send me an email at galbeadon@gmail.com I am very happy to help. I work closely with the Trinidad National Archives. Glen Beadon
@43022a thanks for your comments. I feel the same whenever I visit railways here in Britain, I'm always thinking of what could have been.Today a railway would have been very useful in Trinidad. At the height of the TGR in the 30s we had 120 miles of main and branch lines and about 40 miles of loops and sidings. This system provided a continuous link for several privately owned sugar railways, totalling about 400 miles of running lines and sidings. Now all gone. Where did you live in Trinidad?
@galbeadon You are performing a FANTASTIC educational as well as therapeutic service as I (and I daresay many others) am finally getting a measure of closure on what was heretofore a source of painful chagrin. Perhaps, with enough exposure, what you're attempting to present could provide the much-needed wake-up call to T/T consciouness and complacency.
Hello, is your Grandfather TGR Driver Fenwick Lord? I recently met him in Trinidad, back in March. He is a great man and we had a very good conversation about the Railways in Trinidad. Thanks for commenting.
@43022a
Oh, and by the way, what exactly was the Rio Claro turntable? all I can remember about the place was its incredible beauty.
@penedawn Agreed, more can be done, I have been heartened by recent events events in Trinidad. The lobby is growing & there is now a Trinidad Railway Heritage network providing hope for the future. If you would like to hear and see more about the railways of Trinidad, I invite you to watch my 3 part 2009 TV interview on the subject. To be found on my youtube channel or by searching 'Trinidad Railway History Parts 1, 2 & 3. Not to be confused with 'Trinidads lost railways parts 1 & 2'. Thank you
hi glen,do u have any photo or video on the woodford lodge sugar factory in chaguanas.
@galbeadon Hi Glen
Thanks to the info on your site I was able to finally track down exactly why the T.G.R was shut down and the rails subsequently torn up. I had always been faulting the T/T authorities for this as an example of post-colonial mismanagement when it actually all started with the British authorities and the pre-independence Jessop Report. I guess war-weary and financially-strapped Britain just wasn't prepared to continue funding this bit of expensive infrastructure, n'est-ce pas?
@43022a The turntable was a device used to turn the locomotives. The Rio Claro line could have been a top tourist attraction today. At the time it was seen as a burden on the Govt. purse.
@43022a T&T had many opportunities to bring back railways. Most of the TGR infrastructure remained in place until 1976 & in the 70s strong political debates for return of railways. Up until 1998 we still had a skilled railway labour force at Caroni. I remember calls for a reintroduction of a part of the railway by Minister of Agriculture Dr Reeza Mohammed in late 90s. Sadly, nothing came of all this.
Incidentally, Jamaica has recently reintroduced their passenger railway. Crying now? I am! :)
@43022a Part 2 - In 1956 the PNM arranged an excursion by rail to visit the countrys rail network. By then it was in a poor state. 800 people took part. PNM was initially opposed to the closure of the railway. In 1961 five new diesel locomotives arrived 12 new coaches and two modern diesel railcars. Indeed the PNM did try to revive the ailing TGR, it was our population who although wanted to keep it, would not use it. The 1963 Madory report makes for grim reading.
@galbeadon Hi Glen _ I lived in St. Augustine and took the train at Curepe "halt" to go to CIC in "tong". When I wanted to be bad I took the train to "south" or east to Rio Claro [really beautiful country] - forbidden territory as far as my ever-watchful parents were concerned - to "explore". When you're ready to publish, I'd be happy to contribute anecdotes that may help make my this vital heritage come alive for the younger generations. I still have vivid train dreams. Btw, were you a CIC boy?
11:25 - Black & White picture. My Granddad and Uncle Aubrey.
Very difficult to resurrect the rapid rail train station and services because T&T under going major economy crisis. Unsure what T&T economy will be like in next 30 years. God help T&T.
@43022a Also, where was the Opposition party on the issue? You would think they would've had a vested interest in preserving the railway since this was the chief means by which many of their less-advantaged constituents could gain access to the capital and it might've been vital to their local economies in the cane-harvesting/processing industry. Still, it strikes me as strange that such a drastic step was not taken elsewhere, e.g. India, East Africa. Was there any precedent for such folly?
@galbeadon Sorry, Glen, I remain unconvinced. It's one thing to shrink service, it's something else to eliminate it. In westcoast Canada, passenger rail service was shrunk drastically but the rails were kept. Years later, surface passenger rail service was revived to complement an elevated rapid rail service erected over the existing rails. So my real beef might well be with the ripping up of the rail infrastructure laid down with the sweat of our forbears - a tribute to our vibrant history.
Hello Glen
I'd love to collaborate with you on your T/T railways history project. I'm grateful to you for those rail pics. I live in Canada and often look wistfully at the local railyards, thinking back to when we had our own sophisticated railyards in POS. Canada hasn't torn up an inch of rail track, and apparently nowhere else in the world has this happened. Imo, Trinidad was a developed country with an extensive rail infrastructure, the loss of which led to the current crisis conditions.
@43022a Like most, I too once believed that it was our new independent T&T Govt. who wanted to get rid of a colonial railway system along with the era for which it stood. This was not so, Eric Williams wanted to keep railways, he often said that our roads could not take the pressure if the railways closed, and he was right. Following the "Jessop Report" in 1956 the T&T Govt. took another look in 1963, with the "Madory Report". Objective was to try to make railways viable. It did not happen.
Too bad someone in Government did not have a Vision, a Vision that we will not have enough Roads for all these vehicles. I was eleven years old when the Trains was demolished and I thought is'nt someone thinking of the future. Perhaps not.
@43022a The1960s was a time of change. The motor vehicle was taking over the developing world. Both the USA & UK closed their railways. In 1963 Trinidad had its Madory report & Britain at the same time had the Beeching report. Britain In 1913 had 23,440 route miles of railway lines. Following the Beeching report the system began to decline as lines were closed. After 1975, British Railways had shrunk to 12,000 miles.
Sadly, not even the opposition could make a case to save the railway.
@43022a Hello, I was not a CIC boy but my father was. Do you remember the turntable at Rio Claro? I would be very interested to hear your anecdotes, you can reach me at my email galbeadon@gmail.com and you can find my blog by searching "Trinidad railways galbeadon" on google.
@galbeadon Crying again!