After the morning summit and lunch, we were treated to a 1 1/2-hour relaxing tour of the countryside on board the
112-year-old vintage St. Kitts Scenic Railway Train. This train was used to transport sugar cane from the sugar plantations to the sugar mills for processing and eventually for export. Today, the “Last Railway in the West Indies” gives tourists a glimpse of the world of St. Kitts in the last century.
(References are from investment agencies and other websites)
By 1775, St. Kitts was the wealthiest of the British colonies, with around 200 sugar-producing estates. However, the introduction of the sugar beet and tough international market competition saw a rapid decline in market and demand, which eventually caused the demise of the sugar industry in St. Kitts and eventually in neighboring Caribbean islands as well.
A modern central sugar factory near the capital of SKN, Basseterre, was built in 1912 and completed in 1926, including the construction of a narrow gauge railway around the island to bring in cane from the outlying estates for processing. The railway ran seasonally from February to June for the annual sugar harvest, called “Crop.
Because of growing international competition using more advanced machineries in their sugar mills, St. Kitts lost its market and losses mounted. Then Prime Minister Denzil L. Douglas decisively announced that the industry would be closed at the end of the 2005 Crop. Sadly, they shut down the operations on July 31, 2005, bringing an end to over 350 years of sugar production on the island.
St. Kitts Scenic Railway continues to run for tourist excursions and proudly carries the national flag as the “Last Railway in the West Indies”, a reminder of a past when sugar ruled the island’s economy.
Someone is antok.
The wind was strong and the ride was shaky. I was afraid to drop my phone and lose my hat. A guy sitting next to me on the top deck said super celebrities, Rihanna, Beyonce, and even Princess Diana had ridden this same train. Hmmm. I wonder if that’s true. Not impossible, maybe.
