Trinidad Railway History 2009 Part 1
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- This is part 1 of a 3 part TV interview about the history of Trinidad's railways.
Part 1 looks at:
- My memories of the railway
- Aspects of early railways in Trinidad
- Cipero Tramway
- Sugar railways and Government railway
- Why the railways died
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.
I completely enjoyed viewing these 3 part videos of the Railway System of Trinidad & Tobago
As a youngster in the 1940s to 1960s I lived in St. Augustine where the TGR Railway tracks ran behind our home. This is nostalgia for me. I was fortunate to see the many locomotives and carriages that ran frequently along these tracks as well as even travelling on them. During my early teen years I photographed many of the Steam and Diesel Engines as well as the coaches.Thanks to Win TV & Glen Beadon
Glen eat, sleep and dream railways. Happy he is putting together the history of rail in Trinidad
This is amazing to look back to what our country was truly once and the good old days wish it were again...thank u for this video
I am now 41yrs and worked almost 8 years at Brechin Castle in the factory B-grade Mechanic i had some great memories, of trains when i was a kid living in south t/dad... I now lived in NYC, like like 14 yrs later.... and Caroni still run in my blood.... the sugar industry open up so many things to the nation.... my visit early this yr was so filled with emotion when visiting the factory...... I am proud to see this clip, keep up the good work.....
Thank you so much for this. As a young teenager, uncle Fergie Ferguson of Dow Village took the train into PoS around 1964-65 to collect the friends and cousin of his young daughter which include me. He did this just so that we could experience riding on a train. Your video brings back precious memories of the trip and a lovely man.
Patricia Deaco
Thanks so much for this. By the first time I was in Trinidad (1974), the passenger railway was already gone. Living in Curepe, walking to UWI every day and crossing the old line, always regretted this excellent form of transport had been killed off.
Hello and thanks for commenting. It is a great pity that Trinidad no longer has a sugar industry. Hopefully there will some day be a sugar museum to visit at BC. It is being worked on as we speak. My hope is that more locomotives are saved. I am very pleased that this video brought back memories for you. I have others on Trinidad that you should watch. All are on CZcams.
Is there any documentation on the the train line in Valley line barrackpore?
as a child I did Ride on the train from Morvant to port-of-spain what a beautiful memory
Glen I hope you complete the book soon and if so please let us know. I would love to show my kids one day what the Trinidad train was all about
Thank you. Very interesting.
Thx for this information.It is refreshing my memory of d history of this island we live in.
Thanks for commenting. Curepe was one of the most important junctions on the Trinidad Government Railway. I lament the fact that none of the signal cabins (signal Boxes) were ever listed for preservation. We had so many including the Curepe box which have now all been demolished. Today only one box remains in all of Trinidad at Stanley Village near Saint Madeleine in south. Most of the TGR lines were taken up in 1976.
Glen Beadon takes for this video
Glen Beadon Greetings Glen, I am interested in photographing an old train in trinidad. Is there anywhere i can find the locations of train and railway relics in t&t?
Instead of going forward we going backwards we.. when will we as a ppl wake up boi...
Great old days in my home town
Wow 1839 the train truthly have a long history
Very informative
P.S I use to live close by couva where use to have railway tracks in cali bay there is war tower that still standing tall dont know how it dont have a history of that tower i wish you would check out and bring info memories closure
This is really great, thank you very much.
Lol. Trini white. It's nice to see someone trying to preserve our history.
Very informative.
Very cool series
i for 1 am most interested and grateful for your part you played in koryeeping this pace or Trinidad hist
A damn shame. When I used to travel south to San Fernando to do some of my PhD research at OWTU headquarters, I'd have loved the train rather than the over-ACed bus. Get off at round-about to climb up the hill, glasses all fogged, almost get hit by a car. LOL - tough times, but some of the best.
Hey Glen how are you? I hope you are doing well..I just wanted to know what route did the San Fernando train took when it left P.o.S ..I think it branched off some were in Curepe and passed some were close to U.W.I but were did it cross the highway exactly? What was the route to San Fernando? Please reply and thank you for all your hard work to keep the history of our railway alive.
@dasy1000 Hi, can you tell me more about what image you would like to use and what the documentry is about? Thanks
What a damn ass prime minister at that time to get rid of the railway.
My personal possessions of all the Steam & Diesel Engines,Coaches and Rail Cars that I photographed disappeared from my home quite mysteriously sometime in the 1970s I had photographs of most of the TGR Steam Engines, Nos 22, 24, 25 26 27 28 29,The Diesel Engines. Nos 52, 53 54 & 55 Also photographs of the Steam Coach as we called it. Photographs of the 2 pairs of British Rail Cars that were later introduced on the line. It hurts to have lost these photos. Would have been a great contribution.
I wish we have train again
Last train . . . to San Fernando
Last train . . . to San Fernando
And if you miss . . . this one
Tanty shop goh burn down so
Last Train . . . to San Fernando
Nice
@Comancheros1977 Hello Joel, just sent you an email. The steam locomotives you are asking about are No18 PICTON, No.19 TAROUBA and No.20 CEDARHILL. Did you live somewhere in Caroni? You must put up your VHS clips for us to see. Regards Glen
Glen Beadonj
Hi, I'm doing a short Docu. On TT...I'd like your permissioin to use a few snipets of your video to include. I will credit you of course for the footage.
thanks
@cwss4joe Hello and thanks for commenting. Please drop me an email at galbeadon@gmail.com, I would like to correspond with you about the railways in Trinidad. Have you seen my video of the last train to San Fernando? Look up "The Last Train to San Fernando 1965" on youtube and you will see No27 in action. I have some questions for you.
WOW
It's a shame they got rid of the railway system. I dont think we will ever have it in Trinidad again. the costs involved now to redo it all will be hundred of millions of US or maybe over a billion. Just running the line on a daily use will be a loss for the government.
I was once told it was because of Eric Williams that we no longer have the trains. He thought it was backward for our country. Sounds very ignorant to me. Does anyone know if thats true?
Really. I'm sure the pbr transports more people daily than a train would have
Its same mentality in Jamaica with the JLP (right wing) and exactly the same reasoning. The railway could employ thousands of people desperate for job and a means to provide for their family.
Yeah I heard that he recognized it was too slow and not efficient but also he wanted to increase employment via taxi maxis and expand the bus system .. that line. Out of pos was critical to the east west corridor transport . Stupid thinking but political in my view. Particularly as speed of train and carrying capacity improved significantly in the next decade . It should be noted that the privately owned Arima bus company he also closed down around 1965 and this Iheard from older persons was a political decision .
I want my homeland that raped us on and still do to at least have a road like theirs cctv police and army, politicians that aren’t corrupt inside out and much much more time to wake up economic development in the Caribbean islands
think what you like - closing them at all kicked a chance for *first world* status back.
I want my homeland that raped us on and still do to at least have a road like theirs cctv police and army, politicians that aren’t corrupt inside out and much much more time to wake up economic development in the Caribbean islands