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The Stann Creek Railway was used from 1908 to 1938 as a long gauge
/ref>
After banana production was reduced to 5,000 stems a week in 1924 and the United Fruit Company ceased operations, the government procured two diesel shunting locomotives capable of handling the entire line at 8 mph (13 km/h).
From 1925, the United States based Tidewater Lumber Company used the railroad to transport mahogany wood from Middlesex to the Commerce Bight pier for shipment to the United States of America. After the decline of the timber industry in Stann Creek Valley in 1929, the railway was still used in the 1930s for passenger transport. The United Fruit Company used the Stann Creek Railway until 1937. The track was dismantled in 1938 and reused elsewhere in Belize and Jamaica.
''The Stann Creek Railway (1892–1938)''
on stanncreekvalley.weebly.com
narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
from Commerce Bight
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
to Middlesex in Belize.
Background
The British Honduras Syndicate opened amule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
-drawn railway in 1892 from its main office in Melinda
Melinda is a feminine given name.
Etymology
The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...
to Sacred Heart Church at the pier in Stann Creek Town, which proved to be useful.''The Stann Creek Railway (1892–1938).''/ref>
Construction
The route was built by the colonial government of British Honduras, with the help of Jamaican immigrant workers, for a well above budget total of BH $ 846,140 or about £ 123,000, or about€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
15 million, adjusted for inflation. It had a gauge of 3 feet (914 mm) and was opened in sections from 17 October 1908 to 31 March 1911. It took a detour through the banana plantations on Melinda Road and Old Mullins River Road. The bridges were designed as steel bridges with concrete foundations.
Operation
Four coal-fired steam locomotives were used for the operation. They were stationed at Hope Creek, at Mile 15, at Mile 21 and in Middlesex.
After banana production was reduced to 5,000 stems a week in 1924 and the United Fruit Company ceased operations, the government procured two diesel shunting locomotives capable of handling the entire line at 8 mph (13 km/h).
From 1925, the United States based Tidewater Lumber Company used the railroad to transport mahogany wood from Middlesex to the Commerce Bight pier for shipment to the United States of America. After the decline of the timber industry in Stann Creek Valley in 1929, the railway was still used in the 1930s for passenger transport. The United Fruit Company used the Stann Creek Railway until 1937. The track was dismantled in 1938 and reused elsewhere in Belize and Jamaica.
External links
''The Stann Creek Railway (1892–1938)''
on stanncreekvalley.weebly.com
References