Locomotives on Cuba (3)

This is a remarkable account of locomotives in Cuba. The author’s father, William Thomas Jr., was sent to Cuba in 1917 by the American Locomotive Company to install portable marine boilers for island sugar mills. There was no railroad on the island at this time, but William saw an opportunity to exploit the demand for transportation between cities and towns, which he did by buying Cuba’s first six rail cars from Mexico. He built the 24-mile Cuban Railroad between Havana and Casablanca in 1921, which he sold to the Cuban government.