Steamizing

When I first started visiting Guatemala in 1968 the major passenger trains were all diesel. But the railroad had fallen onto hard times, and first the IRCA and then Fegua had no cash to purchase imported spare parts for the diesels. But the well equipped Guatemala City shops could repair or fabricate about anything needed for a steam engine. So one by one the diesels were set aside and steamers pulled out of retirement and returned to service. By March 1971 when this picture was taken, most of the trains were again steam hauled. No. 4, the daily passenger train from Tecun Uman to Guatemala City, has pulled into the yard at Escuintla and stopped short of the station to take on fuel oil. Impatient passengers have detrained and are walking to the platform. According to the schedule the train should have arrived at Escuilta at 1:56 p.m., but from the shadows I would guess it was running hours late. The steam engines, like the diesels, were largely worn out, and road failures were common. The reprieve for steam lasted only a few years, and by 1972 new diesels were arriving, paid for by the government. But even diesels were unable to turn the tide of truck competition on the parallel highways, and Fegua ceased operation in 1996. There was an attempt to revive the railway a few years later, but that is another story.



JBWX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2012 01:43PM by John West.