The Tren Blindado ( transl. Armoured train ) is a national monument, memorial park, and museum of the Cuban Revolution , located in the city of Santa Clara , Cuba. It was created by the Cuban sculptor José Delarra on the site of and in memory of the capture of an armoured train on 29 December 1958, during the Battle of Santa Clara .
18-608: The memorial is located on the Avenida Liberación in the Bengochea ward, just after the depot of Santa Clara station , nearby a level crossing. It lies between the Havana - Camagüey - Santiago rail line and the Cubanicay river. It consists of an open sculpture park, an obelisk dedicated to Che Guevara, and a monument representing the bulldozer used by Guevara and his soldiers to derail
36-450: A double track with signal boxes four minutes apart can allow up to 15 trains per hour in each direction safely, provided all the trains travel at the same speed. This hindrance on the capacity of a single track may be partly overcome by making the track one-way on alternate days. Long freight trains are a problem if the passing stretches are not long enough. Other disadvantages include the propagation of delays, since one delayed train on
54-406: A large wooden structure, burned to the ground in 1895, at that moment, it was rebuilt by Marta Abreu (benefactress of the city) and the city council decided to rename that building after her. This second building, a Colonial architecture structure of brick walls and red tiled roof, was again remodeled in 1925, for the one still standing, keeping the name of Marta Abreu. Due to that reason the station
72-559: A single track will also delay any train waiting for it to pass. Also, a single track does not have a "reserve" track that can allow a reduced capacity service to continue if one track is closed. If a single-track line is designed to be used by more than one train at a time, it must have passing loops (also called passing sidings or crossing loops ) at intervals along the line to allow trains running in different directions to pass each other. These consist of short stretches of double track, usually long enough to hold one train. The capacity of
90-606: A single-track line is determined by the number of passing loops. Passing loops may also be used to allow trains heading in the same direction at different speeds to overtake. In some circumstances on some isolated branch lines with a simple shuttle service (such as the Abbey Line in Great Britain or L202 railway in Croatia) a single-track line may work under the "one train working" principle without passing loops, where only one train
108-541: A single-track railway to double track is called duplication or doubling; converting double track to single track is known as singling. A double-track railway operating only a single track is known as single-line working . Kirkby railway station (until 1977) and Ormskirk railway station (until 1970) were double-track railway , when they were converted into single-track railway with cross-platform interchange . Building bike trails on rail corridors has occurred in limited examples; however, developing rail rights of way for
126-399: A suburban train connecting "Santa Clara" to the other city station (Santa Clara Universidad, 22°26′19″N 79°54′06″W / 22.43863°N 79.90157°W / 22.43863; -79.90157 ), serving the "Marta Abreu" University . Single track (rail) A single-track railway is a railway where trains traveling in both directions share the same track. Single track
144-421: Is allowed on the line at a time. On single-track lines with passing loops, measures must be taken to ensure that only one train in one direction can use a stretch of single track at a time, as head-on collisions are a particular risk. Some form of signalling system is required. In traditional British practice (and countries using British practice), single-track lines were operated using a token system where
162-528: Is also known as Estación Marta Abreu ( Santa Clara Marta Abreu ). Santa Clara station has a large one-floor building in Spanish Colonial style . It counts 6 tracks , one of which is terminal (the nr. 6), and the nr. 5 is not served by any platform. Just after the level crossing is located the main shed , and another one is 100 m in the north, on the line to Camajuaní and the University . Close to
180-486: Is owned by the state company Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FFCC) and is located in front of Parque de los Mártires (Martyrs Park). It is one of the most important stations of Cuba and, along with Havana Central , Santiago and Camagüey , is a network's divisional headquarters. Opened in 1860 as part of the Cienfuegos-Villa Clara railroad and named Paradero Villa Clara (Villa Clara station). The first building,
198-521: Is served by several long-distance trains linking almost the whole island as the flagship Tren Francés (French Train) Havana - Camagüey - Santiago . Other long-distance trains, principally departing/ending at Havana Central , link Santa Clara to Holguín , Guantánamo , Bayamo , Manzanillo , Matanzas , Ciego de Ávila , Las Tunas and other cities. There are some inter-regional trains to Cienfuegos , Sancti Spíritus , Morón and Nuevitas , some regionals to Caibarién and Sagua la Grande , and
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#1732868707355216-451: Is usually found on lesser-used rail lines, often branch lines , where the level of traffic is not high enough to justify the cost of constructing and maintaining a second track . Single track is significantly cheaper to build and maintain, but has operational and safety disadvantages. For example, a single-track line that takes 15 minutes to travel through would have capacity for only two trains per hour in each direction safely. By contrast,
234-478: The early days of railways in North America it was common to rely upon simple timetable operation where operators knew where a train was scheduled to be at a particular time, and so would not enter a single-track stretch when they were not scheduled to. This generally worked but was inflexible and inefficient. It was improved with the invention of the telegraph and the ability to issue train orders . Converting
252-459: The foot of the Loma del Capiro hill. Three days later eighteen guerrillas under the command of Ernesto "Che" Guevara attacked the train. When the officers tried to move the train to a better position, Guevara derailed the train by bulldozing 30 meters of track. After several hours of fierce combat, the guerrillas captured the weapons and ammunition. The officers finally surrendered in the evening. Many of
270-533: The main depot and just side the line to Camagüey, is located the Tren Blindado ( armoured train ) memorial of the Battle of Santa Clara . All the lines serving the station, included the main one (Havana-Camagüey-Santiago), are not electrified and have a single track . Only the route to Esperanza (10 km, toward Havana) has a double track , due to the usage of the second rail for the line to Cienfuegos. The station
288-489: The rebels befriended and fraternized with the soldiers they had been fighting only hours before. The events surrounding the Tren Blindado have been depicted in at least two major-studio films: [REDACTED] Media related to Tren Blindado at Wikimedia Commons Santa Clara railway station (Cuba) Santa Clara is the main railway station of the city of Santa Clara , seat of Villa Clara Province , Cuba . It
306-584: The train driver had to be in possession of a token in order to enter a stretch of single track. Because there was only one unique token issued at any one time for each stretch of single track, it was impossible for more than one train to be on it at a time. This method is still used on some minor lines but in the longest single-track lines in Britain (e.g. the Highlands of Scotland) this has been superseded by radio communication, known as Radio Electronic Token Block . In
324-727: The train. The derailed cars are used as the rooms of the museum. The capture of the train followed the conquest of the whole of Santa Clara. Due to this final victory, the city is still called the "city of the heroic guerrillas". After Fidel Castro captured Santa Clara, Batista wanted to bring about a turning point in the battle and the war. In an attempt to defeat the revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro, he sent an armored train from Havana on 23 December 1958. The large train had two diesel locomotives and seventeen four-axle freight cars and U.S.-made personnel carriers . The train carried 373 armed soldiers, ammunition, and provisions for two months. The next day it reached Santa Clara and stopped at
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