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Marcelo Salado Mill |
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No-one would dispute that Marcelo Salado Mill would have to be included in anybody's shortlist of essential mills to be visited by the first timer in Cuba. Situated a few kilometres east of the attractive historic town of Remedios, the mill has maintained some of the highest standards of steam operation on the island over a period of many years and even today the locomotives are turned out superbly. The mill relies on FCC main line trackage to gain access to all its loading points. There are occasional workings down the branch towards Dolores and frequent trips to nearby Limpopo. However, main interest centres on the further loading points which require trains to go via the main line to Remedios. For Jinaguayabo, trains have to reverse which means that the return working with fulls has to be made initially tender first. The furthest loading point at Refugio is served by a branch from Carolina. Either the dirt road here is not very good or the countryside is dull, for I have seen no pictures taken on this section. Instead photographers tend to concentrate on Remedios station and the run back to the mill from there which can either be a turkey shoot or a frantic chase depending on how the loco crew feels on the day. One recent major disappointment here has been the lack of line working by the Porta rebuild 1816. Its stay here was dogged by a series of minor problems and whatever the engineering ability of the staff, its high tender meant it was not really suitable for a mill where there are no wyes to turn a locomotive. |
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