0-6-4 Steam Locomotives in Cuba

Class 5 (Locobase 12207)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 20 p. 60. Works number was 14941 in July 1896.

See Locobase 9931 for a description of the fortified railway this locomotive would have served. Although very similar to the 4, this engine had a few more tubes and a slightly larger firebox. Every square foot would have helped when one takes into account the details of the specification for the body of the #5:

"Cab to be armor-clad with steel plates 3/8" thick on and in front and a lining of ash. Doors and windows to have 3/8" steel shutters to slide over the glass pane when required. Shutters to have loopholes in cen [sic - probably center] to allow for firing in case of attack."

The 5 later operated on the Jucaro & San Fernando.

Class Moron (Locobase 9931)

Data from "Locomotives Recently Constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works", American Engineering & Railroading Journal, Volume 70, No 12 (December 1896), p. 340; see also "Some Interesting Locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works", Railway Review, Volume 36 (31 October 1896), p. 605; and DeGolyer, Volume 20, p. 60. Works number was 14507 in October 1895.

This little double-ender tank engine was delivered to the Military Engineers of Havana, then ruled by the Spanish government. with an armored cab with a steel door made of 3/8" (9.5 mm) plate and steel shutters of the same thickness for the windows. The shutters had loopholes for rifle-fire. The specification called for 90 1 3/4" tubes, but the news accounts report 94 tubes for slightly greater tube heating surface area and 5 sq ft (0.46 sq m) more in firebox heating surface area.. Tank capacity was to be sufficient for a 62-km (38.5 mile) run.

Locobase isn't sure, but believes that the Havana-based military engineer unit transferred the Moron to the Jucaro & San Fernando, a 37-mile (59.6 km) line that paralleled a line of fortifications known as La Trocha de Jucaro a Moron. This barrier divided the island in half.

Within 3 years, Spain conceded Cuba's independence after American forces landed and defeated the Empire's army and naval forces. A street railway -- Cia de Luz y Traccion Electrica Sancti Spiritos - bought the unusually arranged tank from the J&SF and later sold it to the Antiga Railway of Costa Rica.