A former local HS owner with the help of a German passport was able to
get into Cuba several times to photograph the last of the sugar cane
plantation railroads. He and several other German/world tourists were
given a fair amount of freedom to move about the country. Some of those
engines were very strangely modified, cobbled and doubtfully couldn't
pass a boiler inspection. I remember in one case they positioned a
worker on the pilot with a pail of sand, as the sanders no longer
functioned. As the engine waddled down the light trackage, he would
dish out a handful or two of the sand.
On every trip he saw their numbers rapidly decreasing, so he actually
purchased one. Unfortunately importing it into the country ran into a
problem with asbestos that was used on the hot pipes. It became too
expensive for a one man operation--besides what would one do with it.
I have heard rumors of a Garrett type engine that has been located in
one of the outside communities around Houston. Word is out that it will
be available for the National NG convention in a couple of years.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
Good afternoon!
We have a long time railroad enthusiast friend who went to CHINA
several years ago to see CHINESE steam. He reported that they were
making many steam engines surplus and avaiable for sale. They were
obviously used, so I suspect they went for more than their scrap value
or they would have been melted down to build new CHINESE Naval Vessels.
Bob McCarthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected]
*Sent:* Monday, August 27, 2012 11:02 AM
*Subject:* Re: {S-Scale List} Chinese Steam 1, Japanese cars 0
If this is a modern steamer from China, the question is raised: how
much would it cost to have a steam loco made in China and shipped to the
USA? I'm thinking about reproductions of iconic locomotives which are
now extinct, such as the Southern Railway Ps-4.
Fred T in Tennessee
