Summer vacation in the hot month of August was difficult for a boy like Tomasito, who is restless and creative; and despite the high temperatures he wanted to go out and see the world of his city. For this reason, a family friend recommended a trip on rails, with the certainty of leaving him amazed.
This is how mom, grandmother and Tomás de Armas Hidalgo went to the Railway Museum and began a journey through time, which now every week the 9-year-old wants to repeat. According to what he tells us, with very bright eyes, he wants to be innovative and there are many locomotives that one day he will be able to repair.
Tomasito’s tour
Together with a group of other children of different ages, all with high expectations and eager to enter, he begins the guided tour of the Museum.
After the welcome on board, in this journey through 5 imaginary stations, you will find history, traditions, uniforms, objects and terms related to the system and technology dedicated to learning -through games and digital billboards.
First stop in the oldest car that circulated in Cuba, the Pullman, American invoice, comfort, elegance and bunk beds included.
We advance to the book car, with equal elegance and modernity. Important personalities of the time traveled in these wagons.
Next stop at the railway station. There, a mural of honor distinguishes workers who marked important moments in the future of this important means of transportation.
We advance and we will find images of the different Diesel locomotives used in the country, cruises and signals, a special place to the memory of the railway worker movement; with a section for Mario Aróstegui Recio, who was a railway worker and the first son of this land to pay with his blood for the clandestine fight against the dictator Fulgencio Batista.
In the center of another track, a beautiful model stands out, dedicated to the first steam locomotive, which circulated in the Camagüey – Nuevitas section.
Tomasito is very attentive to the explanations. He asks the guide when he can take photos of him on the Russian locomotive (52689) and popularly called “Guano house”, due to the shape of its upper front edges.
With his mommy’s cell phone in hand, he takes the photo and continues on his journey. He doesn’t want to miss anything.
On His Way Back
Before finishing the tour, the specialist offers a walk along the platform, which at its ends holds as attractions the sculpture tribute to the lineman and the inspection of watches, with different time zones in the world.
In front is the yard of steam locomotives that worked in various sugar mills and we have arrived at the return station. The whistle blows, the journey in the time line that unites the birth of the railway in the city and its current operation has ended.
But Tomasito wants more photos and to enter the patio to see the machines up close. He doesn’t stop asking.
“Come on, son, it’s already late,” says his grandmother. “I’m leaving if I can come back soon and bring my brother Kevin”: that’s his condition.
This was the experience of several children who attended the Railway Museum this summer, who, grateful for this trip on the rails of time, wish to return soon.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
