Juragua Iron 2-6-0 Locomotives in Cuba

Class 35 (Locobase 13227)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 31, pp. 94, 202, Volume 32, p. 66. Works numbers were 32231 in November 1907, 32756 in April 1908, and 33240 in March 1909.

Locobase 11850 describes the earlier deliveries of small Moguls in the 1890s. This trio either supplemented the existing stud or replaced some of the original engines.

Class 4 (Locobase 11850)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 13, p. 80; Vol 14, p. 150. Works numbers were 8027 in July 1886, 8143 in September, 9280 in June 1888, 9472 in September, 9591in October, and 11519 in January 1891. Only the last bore a name: Eben F Barker.

Performance benchmarks for this class of good-sized Moguls for the skinny gauge included the ability to scale 2 7/10% (143 to the mile) grades and negotiate 30-deg curves. The design had a short, wide firebox - in fact, the width was greater than the length. The line was well-built and featured 56-lb/yard rail.

The Juragua Iron Company was the first American company to invest in mining in Cuba. Controlled by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation and after 1894, its subsidiary, the Juragua's interest was in exploiting the iron ore deposits in Santiago province in Cuba. For a full, contemporary description of the iron ore range, see James P Kimball, "The Iron Ore Range of the Santiago District of Cuba," The Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol 38 (27 December 1884), pp. 423. Its first shipment arrived in the US in 1884, having left the Sierra Maestre mines and traveled on the 17 1/2-mile railway to the port of Santiago.