Trinidad Railway History 2009 Part 3

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.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Trinidad
• Railway
• History
• Part

[galbeadon]

@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]

@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.

[galbeadon]

@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]

@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?

[43022a]

@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.

[43022a]

@galbeadon Crying again!

[43022a]

@galbeadon You're making me cry!

[galbeadon]

@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.

[galbeadon]

@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]

@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.