CHAPTER XXXII

RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN CUBA

Somewhat strange to relate, railroad building, insofar as it applied to Spanish territory, had its inception in Cuba, at a time when the Island was one of Spain’s colonial possessions. A few rich planters owning large properties at Guines, an exceptionally fertile district some forty miles from the capital, had kept in touch with experiments in railroad building and steam locomotives, as a new source of power in the commercial world, and for the purpose of trying out the practicability of this new means of transportation bought a steam railway locomotive, together with the necessary rails and equipment, for use in transporting sugar cane and other produce from one point to another on their own plantations. Besides this, the Nuevitas-Puerto Principe Railroad was the first public service steam railroad ever built on Spanish soil.

What is known as the United Railways of Havana may justly claim to be the father of public railway transportation in the Island, since the founders of the Company took advantage of the railway nucleus at Guines, and gradually extended the line through various private properties until it reached the city of Havana, while branches and connections were thrown out in other directions. With the consent of the Colonial Government, the entire property was later acquired at auction by an English Company and began business as the United Railways of Havana.

In 1886 the Company took over another short line known as the Alfonso XII Railroad, that had been built three years before. After various fusions and transfers, these properties were combined in one, with an initial capital of $16,875,196. The complete system of wharves and warehouses at Regla passed into the possession of the Company at the same time. Afterwards the short line connecting the city of Havana with the suburb of Marianao was absorbed, followed later by the taking over of the Cardenas and Jucaro Line.

In 1906 the Matanzas Railway was brought into the corporation, giving it at that time a combined length of 1127 kilometers, most of which was included in the Provinces of Havana and Matanzas. Later the United Railways were extended into the Province of Santa Clara as far east as La Esperanza, making in the year 1903, over the Cuban Central Railway, the much-desired connection with the Cuba Railroad to Santiago de Cuba and the Bay of Nipe. In 1907 the Western Railway of Havana, connecting the capital with Pinar del Rio, and the still further extension westward to the town of Guane, were brought under the control of the United Railways.

From Guane north and east a new North Shore Road for Pinar del Rio has been projected, which will circle around the western end of the Organ Mountains passing through the towns of Mantua, Dimas and La Esperanza, paralleling the Gulf Coast of the Province of Pinar del Rio until it reaches Bahia Honda, where it will connect with the western extension of the Havana Central now terminating at Guanajay. This projected line, which has been approved by Congress and the Railroad Commission, will pass through a comparatively undeveloped section of the Island, whose rich mineral zones and fertile agricultural lands between Bahia Honda and Guanajay have long suffered for lack of transportation. A very substantial subsidy which will materially assist in the construction of the road, may be considered as a guarantee of its early completion.

The new electric lines connecting Havana with Guanajay in the west, and Guines towards the southeast, were joined to the United Railways, and a magnificent railway terminal was built on the old Arsenal grounds, acquired from the Government. This is a splendid modern four-story building of brick, stone and steel, with two artistic towers reaching a height of 125 feet, making it one of the most imposing edifices in the City. From this station trains arrive and depart for every part of the Island.

The combined mileage at present operating under the control of the United Railways of Havana is 1,609 kilometers or 963 miles.

From the viewpoint of commercial progress and utility it may be safely stated that Sir William Van Horne, by building the much needed connecting link of railroad between the eastern terminus of the United Railways at Santa Clara and the two terminals of the Cuba Company’s road at Antilla on the north coast, and Santiago de Cuba on the south, conferred on this Island a greater benefit than any other one man in that realm of affairs.

Immediately after the American occupation of the Island, Sir William Van Horne visited Cuba, en route to Demarara, British Guiana, and got only as far as Cienfuegos, Cuba. He later rode over the rich country lying between Santa Clara and the city of Santiago de Cuba, and in his fertile brain was promptly visualized a line of railroad passing through the center of the three eastern and largest provinces of the Island, and terminating on the shore of the two finest bays of Oriente, connecting this by rail with the west portion of Cuba. The Foraker Resolutions prohibited the securing of a franchise for the building of such a railroad, and but little encouragement was given Sir William Van Horne, while a number of obstacles were presented, including difficulties in securing right of way for the proposed railroad, without the right of condemnation. Owners of properties that were practically inaccessible, and whose products could not be exported except at great cost, were seemingly blind to the advantages that would accrue to them from the construction of such a line. This big-brained pioneer, however, who had only recently built the Canadian Pacific across the plains and mountains of the North American Continent, did not hesitate a moment in undertaking and carrying out his project of connecting the capital of Cuba with the rich and undeveloped territory lying to the eastward. Where right of way was not granted willingly he bought the properties outright, and built his railroad practically over his own farms and fields, with but little local assistance and no land grants of any kind.

The Cuba Company’s line, including the branches contributary to it and under its direction, measures 717 miles. The main line begins at Santa Clara and passes through Placetas del Sur, Zaza del Medio, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Marti, Victoria de las Tunas, Cacocum, Alto Cedro and San Luis, to Santiago de Cuba, a distance of 573 kilometers. From Alto Cedro a line was built north to Antilla, 50 kilometers distant on Nipe Bay, whence the greater portion of the freight destined for northern markets is shipped directly to New York.

Of the numerous branch lines, beginning in the west, may be mentioned two that leave Placetas del Sur, one extending north to Placetas and through connections to the harbor of Caibarien; the other, built in a southerly direction, to the city of Trinidad on the south coast. From Zaza del Medio, in the Province of Santa Clara, a branch extends almost due south to Sancti Spiritus, and thence, through connections with the Sancti Spiritus Railroad to Zaza on the shore of the Caribbean. At Ciego de Avila, the Cuba Company’s road is crossed by what is known as the Jucaro & Moron Road, built many years ago as a military line through the center of the trocha, or barrier, intended to prevent insurrectionary troops passing from Camaguey into the western part of the Island. This short stretch of railway connects San Fernando on the north coast with Jucaro on the Caribbean.

At Camaguey, the old Camaguey and Nuevitas Road during many years had enjoyed a monopoly in the transportation of products to the coast. The Cuba Company absorbed and incorporated the road, securing thus a valuable adjunct to its system. The Bay of Nuevitas was not of sufficient depth to permit large vessels loading at the old wharves, so the Cuba Company extended the road five kilometers to Punta de Pastelillo, where sugar warehouses and wharves have been built, so that sugar from all the mills of central Camaguey can be delivered aboard ship, doing away with the old system of lightering out to deep water.

From Marti, 60 kilometers east of Camaguey on the main line, a southeastern extension was built across country to the City of Bayamo, in the southwestern center of the Province of Oriente, 127 kilometers distant. Another branch built from Manzanillo on the west coast of Bayamo, 56 kilometers in length, opened up a section of country previously inaccessible. From Bayamo a road parallel to the main line has been built east to San Luis, 98 kilometers, furnishing an exit for one of the richest sections of the Cauto Valley, and also for the rich mineral zones that lie on the southern slope of the Sierra Maestra Mountains. This line from Marti to San Luis passes through one continuous stretch of sugar cane fields, extending as far as the eye can reach, north and south, throughout its entire length.

From Cacocum a short line of 18 kilometers extends north to Holguin. Up to the completion of this connecting link, the city of Holguin, in north central Oriente, had been connected with the outside world only through the medium of a short road terminating at Gibara on the Atlantic coast, where coasting steamers stopped weekly.

A branch from Placetas del Sur to Casilda, 90 kilometers, is in process of construction. Another will connect the city of Camaguey with Santa Cruz del Sur on the Caribbean, 98 kilometers away. At San Luis connection is made with the Guantanamo & Western Railway, where passengers for the United States Naval Station on Guantanamo Bay, and the rich sugar districts lying north and west of the harbor, are transferred.

The Cuba system is equipped with 156 locomotives, 125 passenger coaches, 5013 freight cars, 70 baggage cars and 131 construction cars. In the harbors of Antilla and Nuevitas twelve steamers, tugs and launches are employed in making the various necessary transfers of material from one point to another. On the lines of the Cuba system and its branches are 30 sugar estates and mills, with nine new ones under construction. Daily trains connecting Havana with Santiago de Cuba leave the terminal station at 10.00 P.M., making the trip in about 24 hours.

With the completion of the Cuba Company’s lines, the interior of the Provinces of Oriente, Camaguey and much of Santa Clara were opened up to the commerce of the world for the first time. During the years that have elapsed since its completion, a large amount of valuable hard wood, cedar, mahogany, etc., growing along the line, have been cut and shipped to nearby seaports for export to the United States and other countries. With the building of this line, too, some of the richest lands of Cuba were rendered available for the production of sugar, and today a vast area is under cultivation in cane, and four hundred thousand tons or more of sugar, with the assistance of this road, was delivered each year to the Allies who were fighting in France and Belgium. Thus Sir William Van Home’s foresight enabled the Republic of Cuba to “do its bit” in a very practical way towards the furtherance of the cause of universal democracy.

No account of the Cuba Railroad would, however, be complete which failed to make mention of the part played in its construction and initial organization by Mr. R. G. Ward, of New York City, whose energy and industry, first as manager of construction and later as manager of operation, combined with the character of the men by whom he surrounded himself are generally recognized as having been potent if not dominant factors in determining the rapidity with which the original main line of that railroad, extending from Santa Clara to Santiago, was built, and the promptness and thoroughness with which it was put into operation. The importance of this achievement is emphasized, when it is taken into consideration that the entire line was located and built without the right of eminent domain, which necessitated the acquisition of practically the whole of the right of way through private negotiation. It is stated that the cross-ties and rails were placed by track-laying machines of his devising, which, with crews of less than one hundred men, could, and often did, lay down three miles of full-tied, full-spiked and full-bolted track per day per machine. He also is credited with having inaugurated the policy of employing Cubans or residents of Cuba, whenever it was possible to obtain them to do the work required. Rather than import telegraph operators needed to run the newly constructed railroad, he opened and operated, free of all cost or expense to the students, a School of Telegraphy, under the direction of Horace H. McGinty, through whose administration nearly one hundred operators were qualified for positions in less than six months. Sir William Van Horne, who himself was an expert railroad telegraph operator, regarded this as a “marvelous achievement, creditable alike to Mr. Ward, to Mr. McGinty, and to the character and capacity of the young Cuban students;” many of whom have since held good positions in Cuba, in Mexico and in the Argentine Republic.

The Cuba Central Road of the Province of Santa Clara occupies third place in commercial importance among Cuba’s system of railroads. This Company’s lines were built largely for the benefit of the older sugar estates of Santa Clara, located around Sagua la Grande, Remedios, Caribarien, Cienfuentes, Isabel de las Lajas, etc. The main line of the Cuba Central extends from Isabel de Sagua, a port on the north coast, almost due north to Cruces, a junction on the Cuba Road midway between Santa Clara and Cienfuegos.

Another important division of the line runs from Sagua east to the seaport of Caibarien, passing through Camajuani and Remedios. The Cuba Central lines, while public highways in every sense of the word, may be classed among the roads dedicated largely to the service of the sugar planters of Santa Clara.

Among the independent projected lines of Cuba, the North Shore Road, at present under construction at several different points in the Provinces of Camaguey and Santa Clara, is one of marked importance. This road has its western terminal at Caibarien, on the north shore of Santa Clara, whence it extends eastward, passing through an exceptionally rich valley that furnishes cane to some half-dozen large sugar mills, and continues eastward through Moron, in the Province of Camaguey. It parallels the north coast, extending eastward across the rich grazing lands of the Caunao River, and stretching out further eastward, traverses the virgin forests that lie between the Sierra de Cubitas and the Bays of Guanaja and Guajaba. Leaving the Cubitas slope, it crosses the Maximo and eventually reaches deep water anchorage on the shores of the western extension of Nuevitas Harbor.

This line is at present under construction from Nuevitas westward and from Moron both east and west. In the winter of 1918-19 the line was finished from the deep water terminal on Nuevitas Harbor as far west as the Maximo River. When completed it will pass through one of the richest agricultural and mineral sections of the Island.

From the crossing of the Maximo a branch line is being built around the eastern end of the Sierra de Cubitas in order to tap the rich Cubitas iron mines, whose deposits are waiting only transportation in order to contribute a large share of wealth to the prosperity of the Republic.