Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

[Magician]

Writing a term paypa about it tomorrow.
Any info and memories of it that you got would be appreciated greatly! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Anybody remember the Port Antonio line that a hurricane mash up in 76?

How full were the trains?

How much the fare was?

Were the roads less crowded with trucks then?

Where its stops were.

How often they ran?

How many cars?

How long it tek to reach?

Anything unu can come up with will help.

The project is about restarting the service, and all it entails.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[Englan Girl]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

sorry darling, I have no information that can help you, but I hope JA has a passenger rail system once again. Good luck with your paper

[Guest]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Afraid I can't help, but would love to read the completed paper. Are you going to post it when you're finished? Thanks

[Guest]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Jamaica's railway service was the first to be opened outside of Europe and North America. It was opened in November 1845. However, many farmers objected to this new endeavour as they said it would cause a shortage in the amount of fertilizers they would receive. You see, before the trains, mules and horses were the more popular means of transportation. Besides that fact, they also provided a very useful by-product, Manure.
Source

The first steam train in the United States was the "Sourbridge Lion," brought over from England by the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Railroad Company and was in operation in 1829. For a comparison, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. On the island of Jamaica, the Jamaica Railway Company built its first complete railroad in 1843.

Source

The railway network in Jamaica is the oldest in the British Commonwealth outside the United Kingdom. The main rail line runs a distance of 112.75 miles from Kingston to Montego Bay with a 12 mile branch line up to Linstead from Spanish Town.

In 1992 freight and passenger services were suspended by JRC owing to operating inefficiencies, growing costs, declining revenues and the subsequent inability to fund maintenance of railway assets. Currently only 57 miles of the network between Linstead and Williamsfield is in use resulting from a lease between JRC and Alcan. The latter are running freight trains for their mining and related operations. This section of the railway is popularly referred to as the Bauxite Corridor.

Source

Transportation and Communications
Jamaica's physical infrastructure developed primarily in response to the demands of the sugar and bauxite industries. The country's geography, especially its mountainous terrain, directly affected both the development of a transport network and integration of the economy. Because of the central corridor of mountains, the island's roads were generally divided between north and south, winding along the various ports on the island's coast. As late as the 1880s, it was still cheaper to send goods within Jamaica by sea rather than by land because of the mountains. Eventually, north-south roads were constructed, passing through the scenic heights of the rising interior. Although north-south roads improved island-wide transportation considerably, even in the 1980s a 198-kilometer drive from Montego Bay to Kingston required about 4 hours, compared with an air passage of only 20 minutes.

Jamaica contained over 12,360 kilometers of roads in the mid1980s ; of that total, nearly 40 percent were paved. Roads were originally built on the paths of least resistance, along the coastlines, rivers, and mountains. As such, winding, narrow, and mountainous roadways were common. Road maintenance presented a nagging political and economic problem, as the tropical sun and seasonal rains quickly deteriorated roads, making potholes common.

In 1985 there were over 70,400 certified vehicles on the road, of which 60 percent were cars, 33 percent trucks or buses, and 7 percent motorcycles. Many vehicles, especially in rural areas, operated unlicensed. Taxis, numerous in most major towns, were cheap and generally offered unmetered rates, frequently negotiated by the driver and passenger.

Bus service was most extensive in Kingston, where in 1985 the buses carried more than 247 million passengers. Bus service was divested from government ownership to ten franchises in Kingston during the 1980s; this move was widely perceived to have greatly improved efficiency. Nevertheless, private bus companies were criticized for pirating routes, not completing less popular routes, disregarding passenger comfort by overcrowding, and showing reluctance to transport lower fare passengers such as children and the handicapped. Almost all rural buses and many urban buses were mini-buses or mini-vans. In rural areas passengers on mini-buses entered and exited anywhere along a given route. Buses were typically overcrowded and in need of some repair. In addition, private charter buses were operated for the tourist industry.

Jamaica has the oldest colonial railroad in the world. Established in 1843 by the Jamaican Railway Company, the rail system was subsequently expanded, improved, and eventually sold to the government. The rail system covered 340 kilometers of tracks by the 1980s. The principal route was from Montego Bay to Kingston passing through the heart of rural Jamaica. In the 1950s and 1960s, bauxite companies built small, unconnected rail lines to their major ports at Discovery Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, and Port Kaiser. The rail system was run by the government-owned Jamaica Railway Corporation, which generally operated at a loss in the 1980s.

Extensive airfields existed for such a small country. These included two international airports--the Norman W. Manley International Airport at Kingston and the Donald Sangster Airport at Montego Bay--and scores of small airfields, both publicly and privately owned. Some small airfields were paved with asphalt or concrete, but most were grass airstrips. In the 1980s, the government was constantly closing clandestine airstrips used in marijuana trafficking, although these were frequently reopened illegally.

Source

TRAINS - A train runs two times a day between Kingston and Montego Bay, which is about a six-hour trip. Kingston telephone - 922-6620, Montego Bay telephone - 952-4842. Source

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/jm/Transportation

[Reggae plus]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

I do. I used to stay at a villa in Content [up from Redding/before Anchovie] and the train would chug past a couple of times a day heading in or out of Montego Bay. Watching the headlight peeping through the woods was very cool after dark.

It ran alongside the main road up where we turned off to head for our street. Occaisionally I'd walk out [15 min] and then sit and watch it up close as it passed by. An old steam locomotive...it was impressive to see and hear.

Moving goods and people to and from Kingston...and points in between...traffic was significantly less then. But before PJ came to power...there were alot fewer cars and trucks.

[Mrs. Gibbs]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Term paper???? You back in school?

[BlessedLadyOfZion]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Originally posted by Magic:
[qb] Writing a term paypa about it tomorrow. :help[/qb]

1976?? was I even born then.

I hope the paper is not due tomorrow..and yuh juss a ask fe help

Good luck though!!

(((magic)))

[Sinco01]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

I remember a little about that.
But bear in mind that was a long time ago for this memory.
When I was very young my Grandfather use to work on the railroad...later my Aunt (Grandfathers daughter) married a Station Master...so I was Around them a lot during my young days ... hopping..watching...enjoying.
Where I use to live in Porus the railway ran right through our property.
The ride to Kingston took about 2 hrs and I remember stops in Four Paths...May Pen ... Old Habour (this was the stop for shrimp and snacks) Spanish Town (change for the line to Port Antonio)
On this Port Antonio line I use to travel to Highgate ...some stops I remember were Linstead ... Bog Walk...Richmond...and the long tunnels
I do not remember much about the fares...but they were reasonable...at least cheaper than the bus....and the trips were quicker

I remember at least 4 passenger cars with a baggage car on the rear..one engine up front..unless it was a holiday and they were pulling extra cars then it would be 2 engines.

Those were the good days.
If I remember more..I'll post later

[Guest]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Railway Catastrophe at Kendal

September 1, 1957 represents a fateful date in the history of the Jamaica Railway Department. On that date at approximately 11:30 p.m., a train carrying some one thousand, six hundred (1600) excursionists derailed its tracks killing almost 200 persons and injuring about 500 others.

Photo

The day started out on a good note with members of the Holy Name Society of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Kingston, in addition to the usual freeloaders, being transported to Montego Bay where they had a big meeting and picnic. On the way back to Kingston that night many were to realize that they were experiencing their last train ride. Reports indicate that the return trip was rather chaotic with bad behaviour being displayed by some who were on board the train. One Ainsley McKenzie who survived the crash recalled that persons “switched the lights on and off and fiddled with the cords.” Others indicate, “ that some persons walked up and down the coaches drinking, cursing and making noise.”

It is said that the train was coming to a big bend in the line at considerable speed, when there was a ‘terrific jolting and swaying likened to an earthquake’. The driver shouted ‘We dead now! We dead now!’ He made three blasts of the whistle to indicate that something was wrong before he inevitably lost control. Eight of the twelve coaches were completely wrecked – one of the coaches, its superstructure razed to the flooring, remained on the lines and ran for about a hundred yards; of the remainder, five toppled into a gully beside the track, two remained in the cutting, one mounted its bank, the other being raised up so that its body came off the undercarriage and the front wheels were lifted off the line. The last two coaches remained undamaged. Most of the passengers of the four rear coaches escaped unharmed but for shock and minor injuries such as cuts and bruises. The remaining coaches were in utter shambles, with dead and injured inside and underneath them, survivors screaming, calling for help or crying the names of relatives or friends. It is claimed that vultures in the form of thieves could be seen going through pockets and removing jewellery from the dead bodies. An injured old man was reported to have said, ‘Wait nuh, me no dead yet’, as they tried to take his watch.

The Railway Commission of Enquiry that investigated the accident attributed it to a number of causes, not excluding mismanagement and negligence by a number of top officers. According to the Commission the immediate cause of the wreck was the accidental closure of an angle (brake) cock, which had been placed incorrectly. The Commissioners emphasized the fact that the general standard of brake equipment maintenance on the train was unsatisfactory. This called into question the integrity and honesty of the Acting General Manager, Mr. Magnus and his assistant. The Report submitted could not have been more blunt: “Mr. Magnus the Acting General Manager has shown by his conduct in procuring a false brake certificate, that he lacks the integrity which one must expect of an officer occupying that position…” It was also stated that the driver had been going too fast but that could have been attributed to the fact that the brakes were not in good working condition in the first place. In addition, the Report indicated that overcrowding was also a problem on the train, as each coach should have been carrying a maximum of eighty persons yet there were up to one hundred and thirty persons in some.

In 2001, a monument in the form of a cenotaph was erected at a new cemetery (La Caridad) in Spanish Town. Inscribed in the monument are the names of the victims who had suffered that terrible fate on the night of September 1, 1957.

References

The Daily Gleaner - September 3, 1957

Times Magazine - September 16, 1957

The Sunday Gleaner - May 11, 1958

“ - September 6, 1987

“ - September 6, 1992
The Daily Observer - January 23, 2001

--Prepared by
National Library of Jamaica

Source

[Sinco01]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Great photo..I wouldd love to make a copy of it because I think my Grandfather is in it.
He was one of the railway workers from Porus who went up the line to help in the rescue.
Maybe my Dad can pick him out.
I was very young when this happened..but it was always spoken about in hushed, reverent tones around our house.
Sometimes when the passenge trains go by, my Aunt and Grandmother would pray for their safety.

[7777]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

I remember some train that took us to the Arawak Museum in ja.as a school group. Was that it.? I remember it well because I didnt know that ja had a train. If so, that was the first train ride I ever took...

[showgirl]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

i remember taing the train with my mom when i was little, from clarendon to kingston........i had to wake up real early........but i do think it would help if they have that as a means of transportation now.....

[Magician]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

(((MissB)))
(((Sinco01)))
(((ReggaePlus)))
(((7777)))
(((showgirl)))
(((Stoligal)))
(((Englan Girl)))
(((LadyZ)))

Thanks! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] That's some real good info.
And the picture of the Kendal crash is so detailed!
Feel free to add anything when you remember.

Originally posted by MissB:
[qb] would love to read the completed paper. Are you going to post it when you're finished? Thanks [/qb]

It's probably gonna be too big to post. But I'll email it to you if you want when I'm done.

Originally posted by Stoligal:
[qb] Term paper???? You back in school? [/qb]

When I got my present job I finished my AS degree but never got a chance to finish the BS. So I'm taking online classes from last summer to finish up.

Originally posted by LadyZ:
[qb]I hope the paper is not due tomorrow..and yuh juss a ask fe help
[/qb]

LOL [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] Naa. It's not due til the 17th. But I'll be out of town working from tomorrow til the 16th.
So wanna get it done today and tomorrow.

[j-kid]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

Dem did have wan very bad train accident inna Jamaica, I think it was in di 50's, dat killed a lot of people. It was called Kendal-Crash. Maybe smaddi , memba di details.

[Sinco01]

Re: Anybody memba the TRAIN in JA ???

J-Kid see MissB link in this post