ST. KITTS SCENIC RAILWAY - SEASON 7

Our postponed trip to the Caribbean started today with a drive to Chicago.  It is cold and rainy, and we were glad to check in to a motel near O'Hare.  Dinner turned out to have a railroad theme:  the establishment was in and old  deport that was used as a railway station in the Tom Mix movie days.  It was a short night, as were were up at 3:30 for the 6 AM flight.  It was the typical bus ride down to Miami, then we were finally off to St Kitts.  We were on an American carrier, so there was no food on the plane which is about the norm for flights these days.  Upon arrival, we had to get right to work.  We did a short standup with the man in charge of tourism, Senator Ricky Skerritt.  Dinner was in downtown Basseterre, which is the main town of the island.  The total population of St Kitts is only 35,000, with an additional 10,000 thrown in if you count the accompanying island of Nevis.  Sugar was king here until as late as 2005, when the government withdrew all subsidies.  The operation was so inefficient, that it immediately stopped, and put 1500 people out of work.  The island is just getting started on tourism.  It is a beautiful place, just awakening.  Our digs at the Ocean Terrace Inn are very nice.

After some much needed rest, we were out early to catch people disembarking from the cruise ships.  Unfortunately, our ride was a tad late due to a vehicle rental problem, so the ships arrival is something that will have to wait for another day.  The "cruisers" leave the ship, and are boarded onto buses for a short ride to the train station, which is close to the airport.  There they ride about halfway around the island for a span of about three hours.  The train only goes about 9 mph, so it’s a slow narrow gauge journey.  But the rum flows and the cane cookies make everyone pretty happy.  The history of the island and the railroad is told as the tour takes place.  At LaVallee, the passengers get off, and a second group climbs on to ride the train back..  While the railroad right of way does go completely around the island, the rest of the line is merely held open for future development.  The government owns the right of way, but the equipment is owned by the railway company.  They have a steam locomotive awaiting restoration, but the primary motive power are former Romania beet operation diesel electric locos.  The cars are brand new, and were built by Colorado Railcar just for this operation.  They are a shortened version of the Alaskan Railroad scenic cars, air conditioned and nicely appointed on the lower deck, and an open air viewing platform on top  in place of a dome. So after waiting a bit to get the car, we chased the train and got some good shots. There is no end of ocean background, cane fields, and small towns,  There are lots of friendly waving people along the line.  And you see wild goats and sheep, as well as an occasional pig.  There are plenty of remnants of the sugar plantocracy, although some of the old estates have been rebuilt into hotels and guest lodging.  There is a bit of American history here as well.  Alexander Hamilton was from Nevis, and Admiral Farragut courted and married his wife on that island.  The weather was mixed with some rain and sun.  The three mountains are high enough to block the Caribbean side from the Atlantic hurricanes, and at 4,000 feet will generate their own weather.  We rode train back and talked with some of the people from the cruise ship.  We did an interview with the president of the line, and headed into downtown to at least get people getting back on the boat.

This turned out to be a very humid day.  We started by stopping at some Carib Indian petroglyphs.  There aren't many of the original natives left in the area, and none on the island.  From there it was on to to Brimstone hill, which was the British guardian of the Caribbean.  It’s now an UNESCO Historic site and has had lots of restoration.  It is amazing the stories that we are hearing about the relevance of St Kitts to the US.  An example.  Theodore Roosevelt had a man servant on his private railroad car, which was a Wagner Palace car.  It seems that Teddy always asked for this gentleman.  Eventually the president was out of office, the train car attendant left the company and life moved on.  Roosevelt in his later years sailed to St Kitts because his wife’s grandfather had been involved in the defense of the island from the French and had been on Brimstone Hill.  When the former president arrived at the harbor of Port Zante, he was greeted by guards dressed in whites, the only automobile on the island, and the governor – his former railroad car attendant.  Teddy recognized him immediately and said that he had always wondered what had happened.  The president was driven around the island, US flags on the car flapping, and they climbed up to an overgrown Brimstone Hill.  We stopped at two restored plantations, Kate Spencer Galleries, now a private home, and the Ottley Plantation, a quiet hotel getaway.  We saw Thomas Warner's grave, the first governor of the island.  And right next to it, was the grave of Thomas Jefferson’s grandfather.  The day got late, so we headed back to the hotel.  This is a beautiful place, with black rocks, volcanic rock and surf.

One thing about the tropics:  morning comes on with a bang.  It's dark, grey, and then bright sun streaming through your windows.  It was sunny and hot again, although the humidity seems slightly less than yesterday.  We got to the train on time only to find that the few hotel passengers had bailed out of the trip.  So we did a false start, sprayed the engine, and did a standup with General Manager Thomas Williams.  John & Gail rode engine out to Christchurch (Mansion) Bridge, while our tourism handle (Dele) and I tried to find old photos of the sugar cane operation and train.  With such a small population, everyone knows everyone, so there are lots of people working on finding photos, but nothing yet.  We then headed for the narrow part and western part of the island for the Marriott (all 900 rooms) and beautiful beaches.  Unfortunately the area is being developed for housing, so I suggest you get here and see it uickly.  And we saw monkeys – finally.  Then it was back to Basseterre for lunch, shots of the city center and the hotel.  We are done for the day.  I hope the country can walk the line between tourism and unspoiled beauty and retain the old time feel.  In other words, no tacky tourist shops, or at least keep them in one area.

As today was our last chance to get people leaving the tour boats, we were up and out early with no breakfast.  We had ample time to watched the cruise ship Aurora (P&O Lines) dock with a load of British passengers.  The buses were loaded, moved out, and we beat them to station and saw them off load, and the train depart.  We chased both ways and got some good passing shots, with the last one from the rear of the pig pens of Cayon Bridge.  Lunch was downtown at BallyHoo again, with excellent fish cakes.  From their ewe went out to LaVallee and rode train on a return deadhead.  That gave us the opportunity to talk with some of the attendants.  One asked if America was like the movies she sees.  My answer was – it depends, but generally no.  All are curious about the United States and all hope to visit.  We are done.  We had dinner with a tourism rep at the hotel, where we were the only people in the restaurant.  Needless to say, service was excellent.  And the hostess was one of our friends from the train.