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this video is aimed at giving you a general overview
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The Jamaican Railway System was the first railway open to traffic outside Europe and North America
and the second British colony after Canada
only 20 years after operations in the United Kingdom
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The train below
is a bauxite train located near the Noranda Bauxite Limited in Discover Bay, St Ann
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Here's a bit of history
up to the early 1840s
there were no railways in Jamaica
as the Jamaican Government did not have sufficient funds for this venture
Two English brothers Williams and David Smith
asked the Government to allow them to build the railway
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This was to become the first railway in the British West Indies
They began building the railway in 1844 under the name Railway Company
across the Liguanea Plains from Kingston to Spanish Town,
some 14 miles long
By late 1845 the railway was completed and was subsequently opened on November 21, 1845
by the governor Lord Elgin.
The first engine was called Projector and it was run on steam.
People lined the route cheered and waved as the train went by at a slow pace
"Projector" and "Patriot" were the first railway steam locomotive to be seen in Jamaica
These pioneer locomotives were followed shortly by others which were named
"Emancipation", "Perseverance" and "Success"
From its opening until 1879 the line was operated by the Jamaica Railway Company
owned by the Smith brothers
The government bought the railway company in 1879
and additional lines were added
Despite the many lines which had been laid, the north coast of the island had still not been reached
The government saw that they would not be able to pay for the laying of the lines across the mountains
Therefore, in 1890 they sold the company to the West Indian Improvement Company
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In 1894, an extension was built from Porus to Montego Bay
and in 1896 an extension through the banana,
cocoa, citrus and coconut districts of Saint Catherine,
Saint Mary and Portland was developed from Bog Walk to Port Antonio
The construction of these lines created a vast drain on the resources of the West Indian Improvement Company
and like the Smith brothers
they did not make the success of operating the railway as they had hoped
In 1898, the shareholders assumed control of the line,
finally defaulting to the government in April 1900
ending in the first phase of the railway history under private management
The total root mileage at this stage was almost 185 miles
Many new lines were laid after the Government took over
During the World War,
various engines were brought by the U.S. Transportation Corps.
The war also saw the construction of two new lines
a line from Bodles to the U.S. Naval Base at Port Esquivel
and a line from Logan's Junction near May Pen
to the U.S. Air Base at Port Simmonds now called Vernam Fields
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The discovery of bauxite deposits in the 1940s,
brought about the relative need to utilize railway
as the preferred mode of transporting the bauxite extract
to be processed and shipped
1958 saw the opening of a line from Linstead
along the site of the original Ewarton line
to Pleasant Farm Alcan Bauxite Works some two miles away from Ewarton
Special upper trains run from there to Port Esquivel via Spanish Town
At Kirkvine between Williamsfield and Kendal,
a spur line was constructed to the Alcan Kirkvine Alumina Works
Trains also ran from there to Port Esquivel.
From 1 May 1960, the Fort Simmonds line was closed and uprooted,
as the upper three miles of line had been taken over by Alcan Jamaica Limited,
which set about constructing a line from Woodside to Mocho area of Clarendon
to carry Bauxite to Rocky Point
At Jacob's Hut where the Montego Bay lines crossed the Mandeville Main Road,
the new lines met both
This crossing had already been the scene of many road / rail crashes,
and as a result, flashing lights and boom barriers were installed to protect the crossing
The Woodside to Rocky Point line owned by Alcan
but maintained and operated by the Jamaica Railway Corporation
was brought into use in July 1963
Apart from the Jamaica Railway Corporation lines,
there were also a number of other railway lines in the island
Leading among these was the Kaiser Bauxite Company Railroad
a standard gauge line running from the Bauxite mines at fellowship,
near Mandeville, to Kaiser's loading place at Port Kaise rnear Alligator Pond
In early 1966, the Jamaica Railway Society was formed
In october 1992, public rail transportation service finally seized operating in Jamaica
although bauxite industry continued to operate in parts using Jamaica Railway Corporation lines
Public passenger service resumed in the island for the first time since February 1992
when an inaugural train operated from May Pen to Linstead on April 16, 2011
The railway service has again proven to be inefficient and is therefore again on hold
The Jamaica Railways have two serious accidents:
On 30 July 1938 -
a passenger train was heading from Kingston to Montego bay
The engine jumped the rails at Balaclava and embedded itself into the mountainside
followed by coaches which were forced on from the rear
32 people died and over 70 were injured
On 1 September 1957
a diesel all train of 12 wooden carriages
leaves Kingston for Montego Bay
The outboard journey had 900 passengers on board,
correlating with the design limit of the 80 passengers per carriage
However, the return journey had 1600 passengers
loaded at 130 to 150 persons per carriage
including hundreds of members of the Holy Name Society of Saint Anne's Roman Catholic Church,
hundreds of pickpockets,
and their targets the tourists who made up one thousand of the total passenger loading
At 11:30 pm, near Kendal, Manchester
three shrilled whistle blast
signalled that the driver had lost control of the train, and it derailed minutes later at speed
200 people lost their lives,
and 700 sustained injuries in the worst transport disaster in Jamaica's history
and the second worst rail disaster in the world at the time.
The cause of the accident was determined to be the closure of an angled (correction) wheel brake cock,
with survivors suggesting that the pickpockets
had tampered with the brake while riding on the carriage platforms
Confidence in the rail service was shaken
and much looting and robbing of the dead and injured occurred.
The ensuing investigation found deficiency in the Jamaica Railway Corporation,
which resulted given its independence in 1960.
The Jamaica Railway Corporation still exists today.
It is responsible for management of the Jamaica Railway Corporation interests and property,
and maintaining its locomotives but not the role in stock
Today, a small section of the railway remains dedicated to bauxite mining,
an activity that has become one of Jamaica's leading foreign currency generators
You are now looking at Noranda Bauxite Limited
located in Discover Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica
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