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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Scottydog There are still steam locomotives in regular service in India. I am thinking of the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway. I also read recently that Cuba still uses steam during the sugar cane harvest and in fact had China renovate all their 70 year or more old locomotives. [/quote] I hate to say this, but most of the steam you're talking about is gone now. Indian Railways quite using steam in 2000. The Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway has also recently dieselized (I'm still fuming over this!!!!!!!). They're using some small diesels obtained from the Festiniog Ry. in Wales, but have changed the horns so that they sound like the whistle of the old steamers (like that makes a difference). The worst part is that the railway was recently declared a World Heritage Site just before they dieselized. This really angers me. They can probably kiss most of the tourism on the line goodbye now that steam's gone. Cuba's many sugar mills used steam for hauling cane which were mainly early American-built engines. There is some steam left, but it's hardly anything when compared to before. The engines would get worked during the Zafra (sugar harvest). The Zafra of 2003 was an absolute disaster for railfans (Zafra of 2002 still had lots and lots of steam). The reason for this is because international sugar prices dropped dramatically and as a result, over half of the sugar mills in Cuba closed. A very excellent site to check out for information on all the steam locomotives still running in the world today is http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/steam/internat.htm . It's by far the best site on the net for information in surviving steam, which there is actually a lot more of than most would think!
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