Once again Captain John LeCato has given us material to tweak our curiosity.  Found among his photos were these of an abandoned railroad station and car on the Island of Bermuda.  Mrs. LeCato does not know the history of the photos and the handwriting on the back of the photos is that of an unknown individual.  It may be a shock to someone someday to stumble upon this website and see their photo as they stand in the entrance to the station displaying their own Bermudas and a nice set of legs hanging below them!

          Keith Forbes, the main source for the information printed here, has identified the station as most likely that of Ferry Reach, St. George's Parish.


          The Bermuda Railway System has an interesting history. Its passenger service began on November 1, 1931.  It was a joyful day except for the first casualty claimed on that maiden trip when a passenger lost his footing and tumbled down an embankment, later dying from his injuries. 
         
         The track ran along the very edge of the coastline of Bermuda, providing beautiful scenery for passengers but causing construction of the numerous trestles and bridges needed to traverse such a terrain to be exposed to the elements thus allowing rotting of the timbers to be a maintainance nightmare. It holds the record as the most costly railway construction per mile anywhere in the world. The train became known as "The Old Rattle and Shake."  The line ran from Sandys Parish in the west to St. George's Parish in the east. 

          From 1931 to 1946 the railway was the only form of public transportation available to locals and visitors.  Automobiles were not allowed until 1939 for the military and 1948 for locals.  The railway finally became too expensive and it was closed in 1947.  It was not until 1980 that the track was converted to walking and biking trails running almost the entire length of Bermuda.  Today transportation on the island is mainly by motor bikes, taxis and buses and the cars that are limited to one per family.

          It is of interest that one American family, that of  Vincent Astor (son of John Astor), maintained a residence on Bermuda, "Ferry Reach", and built a 2 ft narrow gauge railway, using a Baldwin steam locomotive to transport visitors over the 850 ft. from the docks where they landed back to the Astor residence.   A 1938 article in Time Magazine tells of the Astor's 4 ton electrically driven passenger car that seated six and ran over five acres of tax free soil.   Shown below are the remains of the Baldwin steam locomotive after 25 years of neglect.
         




Resources:
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Forbes, Keith Archibald, Bermuda's Railway Trail
Cloutman, Ed, Clock Hunting in Bermuda 1
Time Magazine, 1938 Railroader