St Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway BARBADOS 2019
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- BARBADOS RAILWAY THEN AND NOW - A BRIEF HISTORY
Following an absence of over 80 years, BARBADOS once again has a passenger railway.
The newly constructed ST NICHOLAS ABBEY HERITAGE RAILWAY opened on 21 January 2019.
This video was shot during my recent visit to Barbados between 27 February to 2 March 2017.
In 2017 Larry Warren, the owner of St Nicholas Abbey Plantation started construction of the St Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway. The new railway was built to a track gauge of 2ft 6 Inches (as was the erstwhile BGR).
The railway is now a major heritage attraction and it operates steam or diesel trains between the estate and the terminus at Cherry Tree Hill, a return run of just under 3 Kilometres in length. At Cherry Tree Hill passengers can participate in turning the locomotive on the turntable and then take in what I consider to be the best view in Barbados, looking down over the east cost.
The steam locomotive is a 0-4-4-0T ‘Mallet’ (articulated for the tight curves) built by Arnold-Jung of Germany in 1914 (works number 2279, formerly a tank engine). The engine originally worked on the Ceper Baru sugar mill in central Java, Indonesia. The mill closed in 1997.
Locomotive No.5 ‘Tjepper’ was rescued by the Statfold barn railway and shipped to the UK for preservation. In 2017 ‘Tjepper’ was sold to St Nicholas Abbey and rebuilt to working order at Statfold Engineering during 2018 (rebuild works number 651/2018). The newly restored engine now carries a tender and has been turned out in a smart blue livery. No.5 arrived at St Nicholas Abbey on 7 February 2019.
After an absence of over 80 years, the staccato bark of a steam locomotive charging a gradient may once again be experienced on the island.
Well done to the entire staff at the Railway and thanks for hosting me last week.
Glen Beadon 8 March 2019
It was a pleasure building the carriages for this
Very well done, those carriages are first class.
I just stumbled across this video😯 WOW! Glen, this is what we have to do back in Trinidad, we still have some existing infrastructure, and a few bits and pieces of the original north south route that can probably be restored & reinstated. What an amazing, nostalgic and ambitious project Barbados has endeavoured to create, I am extremely impressed👍
We have a long way to go in Trinidad if we could ever achieve the same which has been done in Barbados. I have been trying to get the message across to Trinidad now for almost 15 years. I agree, Trinidad has so much more to offer, but...
@@galbeadon Wishful thinking on my behalf I suppose, but the insane traffic situation alone, would merit having a rail re-introduced, however the foresight and ambition needed to execute such a project, may never come to pass.
I'm a Trini and desperately would like a return of rail - only gonna happen with noble leadership.
This is an amazing trip.. I went on it in August of 2019.. Best Birthday gift every..
Nothing like a ride on an island railroad on a cool afternoon in the Carribbean.
Wow Glen, it looks like the biggest N scale layout ever built (this is Luca btw)! And that must be the most daring turntable in history.. no mistakes allowed there. Super cute.
great video - super informative! and a little bit jealous that I missed the steam train, will have to go back!
You must return. The steam ride is out of this world. With that 1 in 33 gradient the engine is put through her paces and the sound is just superb, even better than in the video. Thanks for subscribing.
Such a shame for you that you're forced to return to Barbados :P
Superb Glen - a stunning film. And a great success story for a wonderful part of the world. Cheers! Dave.
Thank you Dave, much appreciated. I had a great time out there last week. Say, I'm now also on the look out for old photographs of the Barbados railway, just so you know. Cheers, Glen
No offence taken by some comments. In fact all comments are very welcome. St Nicholas Abbey are very aware of the impact of smoke from the engine and are working on several alternative fuels so as to reduce the impact of exhaust smoke. Progress has indeed been made and the situation only continues to improve. At the end of the day it is an authentic steam locomotive and the impact of its smoke exhaust, for historical reasons, is a very small compromise with little impact on this part of the island where the population is very small and the spaces are mostly open cane fields or forest. Go and see it and you will see what I mean, it is a wonderful little railway that captures the essence of the erstwhile Barbados Government Railway in so many ways.
Awesome work guys!! It all looks smashing!! :-) A great excuse to go to Barbados too!
Nice one mate, love your video. Lovely to see that little beast being put back to life. Wonderful job done by both the guys at Statfold Barn and St. Nicholas Abbey. Wish I could see it.
It's interesting to see part of an old railway restored on Barbados it will bring more tourists to Barbados. indeed it makes me want to go back to see this new Railway great Camera Work Glen.
What a handsome train
i went on dah already it was fun
How lovely! I’ll have to go (back-8th or 9th time) just to get a ride on the train!
Thanks for this video, i life and stay near ceper baru and Gondang baru sugar Mill on Klaten central Java, i remember this Loco working on line field, ceper baru sugar Mill
Hello Ekobudi, I am very pleased that you have been able to watch the video. I hope to return there soon to obtain more footage.
@@galbeadon thanks Mr , this remembering my childhood ini my village when the locomotive bring sugar cane from fields to Mill and many children put the sugar cane from this lorri/loco
Barbados is making some tourism cash - in another vid of yours Glen someone proposed the same for trinidad.
Hello Glen hope all is well with you. I very much enjoyed watching this video. Is the railway operational all year round?
If I was to ever do something like that I'll probably operate a steam and diesel powered tourist train in Fiji that'll circle around its main island where the capital Nadi is on the sugar cane train network with two steam locomotives acquired from Indonesia which'll be restored in the UK by Alan Keef, a narrow gauge main line diesel locomotive acquired in Poland or Romania, a small diesel shunter acquired from the Sugar Cane company working as a shop switcher and coaches manufactured in Romania.
They'll be a dining car serving Fiji Water, soda, Fijian food, fish & chips and desserts plus an observation car at the rear with free wi fi and recharge ports for people to charge their tablets and smartphones.
Water towers will be built for the steam locomotives to take on water which'll take on the fresh Fijian water.
Or I can acquire two steam locomotives in Indonesia, ship them to the UK to the Stanford Barn Railway to be overhauled and then shipped to Fiji plus have the enclosed air conditioned coaches manufactured in the UK by Stanford Barn Engineering and acquire Romanian made narrow gauge diesel locomotives which'll be overhauled in Romania.
Who manufactured the coaches for this railway?
All of the coaches were manufactured by Statfold barn Engineering at Tamworth in England.
And polluting the area. Who was the Einstein that came up with this one?
Someone who knows that one wood-burning steam locomotive releases pro-capita less CO2 than a diesel-powered tourist bus, without any dangerous pollutants such as NOx and particulate. Maybe no Einstein but probably smarter than most.
@@LO-xf2ho Thank you I stand corrected. Will this run from Bridgetown to the North? I used to live in St James.
@@skiprope536 it's a tourist attraction, not a commuter train. Also, the smoke might seem a bit dirtier but the island is looking to switch to completely renewable resources by 2030, including in the transportation sector, so the effects from this on the environment will be negligible compared to the reduction in pollution and improved air quality due to switching all buses and fleet vehicles to full electric.
@@TdotSoul A tourist attraction. So much for the beautiful beaches food and culture. Come to Barbados to ride the train. I have heard and seen it all.
@@skiprope536 No idea mate.. I barely know where Barbados is.. I am here because I love steam locos..