This province is named after the city of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba. This used to be a Russian submarine base during the days of the cold war. It is also known for the large concentration of sugar mills north of the city, around Cruces.
The majority of TU7E diesels working in this province were - and still are - found west of the city of Cienfuegos, so not in the area with the most sugar mills. For railfans looking for TU7s mill 416 is definitively the place to be (5 locos). But also CAI 403 still uses at least one TU7.
Mal Tiempo is situated 3 km east of Cruses. It is connected to the Cruces FCC-station via a standard gauge siding. However the cane was normally transported to the mill via the 762mm gauge network in the hills east of the mill. The narrow gauge was steam operated. But for shunting on the standard gauge and for moving wagons to and from Cruces station the mill had 2 class TU7E diesels. They were numbered 34044 and 34064 and worked here at least in 2000, 2001 and 2002. TU7E 34064 was under repair in 2002.
After the 2002 zafra the ng railway closed for regular traffic. But the mill remained open. The majority of cane for the mill arrived on the standard gauge behind diesel. In 2004 standard gauge transfers were worked by 37101 and an unidentified TU7 (presumably number 34044 or 34064).
CAI 406 Guillermo Moncada
This was the largest and most interesting mill with a dito 762mm-gauge railway system. It is situated 18km northwest of Cienfuegos. The mill is surrounded by tracks on all sides. A small depot existed on the back side of the mill.
Two lines started from the mill. One ran to the south, but it unclear how far. The other one - the 'main line' - first climbed uphill and after a 200-degree loop it passed the mill on the north side again. From here it ran straight to the west, passing two loading points and then crossing the FCC-line from Yaguaramas. Near the crossing, two lines branched off into the fields, one to the north and one to the south. The main line from the sugar mill continued its way to the west for at least 5 km. It probabaly ended somewhere near the village of Horquitas (21 km west of Guillermo Moncada).
The 1978 Atlas de Cuba shows the ng line running even further to the west, eventually reaching the Antonio Sánchez mill (CAI 409). By rail this is a distance of 45 km from Guillermo Moncada, in a straight line only 30 or so. There also used to be a branch from Horquitas to the south, ending at La Puntilla.
Already by 2000 a large part of network had been converted to dual gauge (762/1435mm). The standard gauge rails were connected to the FCC-line near FCC/MINAZ-crossing. It was probably planned to transport the cane from Guillermo Moncadas fields to other mills via the FCC standard gauge network. But the narrow gauge has remained in use as usal and no standard gauge trains have ever been noted.
The mill itself had no benifits from the standard gauge, because the dual gauge line ends not far from the mill. All tracks on the premisses were narrow gauge, including the installation where the cane wagons are unloaded on the transportation belt inside the mill. In fact, this was - as we see more often - the only way in which the mill can accept cane. Even lorries collection the cane from the fields could not unload directly at the mill. Instead they drove the a loading point immediately west of the mill, where the cane was loaded on narrow gauge wagons for the final few houndred metres. The full wagons at this loading point were used as a buffer. They could sometime stand here for some days before they are unloaded at the mill, depending on the available milling capacity.
Steam has been replaced here long time ago already, so only few railfans have visited the mill. Already in 1996 TU7E number 34081 was used here. And in 2000 four even TU7s were noted. Engines 34007 and 34045 still had a turquoise livery, 34003 was painted in the present-day orange livery. The fourth TU7E was also orange but had no number. This mght have been 34063 which was noted here in 2001. There is also a report of 34017 having worked here in 1997 and 2001 but
During a visit in 2003 TU7E 34007 was observed at the mill in a new orange livery. Another orange TU7E was half outside the shed. Its number was hardly visible. Most likely it was 34030 (ex-CAI 415). It's engine was started several times after an aparently unsuccesfull attempt to repair it.
34 007 awaits its next duty at the Guillermo Moncada mill on 6 March 2003. On the left the line running to the south (or is this nowadays only a yard for storing cane wagons?)
34 007 seen from the other side.
After the 2004-harvest the mill closed. By January 2005 all tracks had already been lifted. From the railway only the locomotive shed reamins. It seems only TU7 34003 has found new employment at the nearby Catorce the Julio mill. By 2005 at least 4 class TU7s were found dumped inside the shed, amongst which 34030.
This is one of the many mills around Cruces. It had a narrow gauge network to transport the cane from the fields to the mill and was connected to the FCC-network via a standard gauge siding. In 2000 TU7E 34062 from the nearby Martha Abreu mill (CAI 433) was noted here, collecting a wagon at the FCC-station and bringing it to the mill. Espartaco did not have TU7E diesels in its own fleet. After the Zafra of 2002 the mill closed.
This was probably the only working 762mm gauge sugar railway during the zafra of 2006, 2007 and even in 2008.
Catoce de Julio ('14th of July') is located in the hills between the city of Cienfuegos and the River Damuji. It is only a few kilometres away from the Guillermo Moncada mill (CAI 406). Already in 1835 a sugar mill was established here. Its chimney is the only thing remaining. Today's new mill is situated a few hundred metres south of the old one. Around the mill a small village evolved, which looks a bit like a film set for a western movie.
The mill posesses a 762mm gauge network. The cane wagons enter the mill in the northeast. Through the village a track leads to the small yard south of the mill. An open-air workshop is also found here.
About 1 km east of the mill an installation can be found where cane is reloaded from lorries or tractors into railway wagons. Apparently also this mill can only accept cane loaded in railway wagons.
The railway does not only run to and from the adjacent loading point. Nowadays there is also still a line running from the mill to the northeast. After 5 km it reaches the village of Ariza, where the line crosses the main road between Cienfuegos and Rodas. It continues some kilometres due north to a loading point. Even during the 2008 zafra this line was used.
According to 1978 Atlas de Cuba, there used to be a second line to the north. Via El Estero it ran to the FCC station of Batalla de Peralejo and from there further to the west, ending at Batey Nuevo. The Catorce de Julio - Batey Nuevo line was approximatley 40 km long.
The mill has used exclusively class TU7E diesels for many years (and thus has not been visisted by many railway enthusiasts looking for steam). In 1997 and 2000 three engines with numbers 34019, 34021 and 34055 were spotted in several duties. In 2003 also 34078 worked at the mill, making a total of 4 TU7s. And by 2005 also ex-Guillermo Moncada's 34003 had found new employment in Catorce de Julio. Nowadays all 5 locos are in excellent shape and have a fresh yellow-orange livery.
34078 at the loading point about 1 km east of the mill on 25 January 2005.
34078 with a train of sugar cane wagons on the railway crossing 1 km east of the mill on 25 January 2005.
34055 shunting full wagons towards the Catorce de Julio mill on 6 March 2003. The track on the left leads to the yard and the workshop on the south side of the complex.
A portrait of TU7E 34078 in its typical orange livery, which we also know from TU7s running in the former Soviet Union. As always there is no lack of personnel working in, on and around the loco...
This mill is situated 4 km west of Cruces had a 762 mm gauge railway. The line was dieselised in the early 1980s already. In 1994 the mill had 3 class TU7E in stock with MINAZ-numbers E34 001, E34 003 and E34 004. At least E34 003 was operational by then. Also a General Electric diesel from 1959 and a steam engine fitted with a diesel engine were in stock. The mill closed in the late 1990s. In 2000 two TU7E-s were found out of use at the depot, amongst which one partly dismantled. E34 003 has found new employment at the Guillermo Moncada mill (CAI 406).
Again, one of the many mill situated in the Cruces area. There were some standard gauge tracks here, connecting the mill to the FCC-network. The mill had one TU7E diesel in stock, numbered 34062.
In 2000 the mill did not work and its only class TU7E diesel had been lend to the nearby Espartaco mill. In 2002 it was used at Martha Abreu again, hauling intermills from the still closed mill to other mills nearby. This is the last time someone has heard anything from this locomotive. The mill is kept as a reserve and maybe the TU7 is kept in the shed for the same purpose.
