“The Last Train To San Fernando” – The Event, The Song and The Myth.
Most people will tell you that San Fernando’s last service train was hauled by engine TGR No11 which today is on display at Harris Promenade, San Fernando. This is incorrect.
The very last train, as this short video reveals, was the service which departed platform 1, Port of Spain railway station on Monday August 30th 1965 at 5:12pm (it was 37 minutes late, scheduled to depart at 4:35pm)
The Locomotive which hauled the last service train was TGR (Trinidad Government Railway) Engine No27, which was a member of the 21 Class 4-6-0 locomotives.
This train really was the very last passenger train to San Fernando.
Over the years both the event and the song – “The Last Train to San Fernando” – have become a part of Trinidad folklore, although largely through myth rather than fact…view video below..
It has always been highly amusing to me that almost every photograph which appears in Trinidad relating to the railways inevitably carries the caption ‘The Last Train to San Fernando’. Perhaps in reality, metaphorically referring to the train in the song (Dorathy’s ultimatum?) and not the real historic event. And both are quite different.
Even more amusing is the misunderstanding, both locally and internationally, about the true meaning of the song and who exactly wrote it.
First of all there is no doubt, despite what many believe, that the song is about the City of San Fernando in Trinidad and not San Fernando in Colorado, USA or anywhere else. As a native of San Fernando myself, the song has always intrigued me, just as the railways have.
The song became a huge international hit by American Johnny Duncan in 1957. Johnny Duncan’s producer was Dennis Preston who had a Caribbean wife. She had apparently first drawn the song to Preston’s attention. It was claimed that the original song was written by the “Duke of Iron” (Real name was Cecil Anderson) but my information reveals that “Duke of Iron” was a West Indian performer in the USA who frequently performed “Last train” making it very popular abroad. He was not the original composer.
Michael Anthony’s book “Glimpses of Trinidad and Tobago” published in the early 1970s indicates that “Last Train” was composed by MIGHTY SPITFIRE (local Trinidad Calypsonian, whose real name was Carlton Joseph Gumbs) in the 1940s as — “a celebration of a late night stay in Port of Spain rather than the allusion to the closing of the San Fernando line”.
I then came across a listing of Calypso Monarch competition winners, over the years, where I found the song listed as the 1950 winner, composed by the MIGHTY DICTATOR (Real name was Kenny St Bernard).
As already indicated above, the closure of the line to San Fernando occurred in 1965, a full 15 years after the song won the 1950 Monarch Competition. So, to me, Michael Anthony seemed to be spot on with his information. In any case, one only has to listen carefully to the lyric to establish that the song has nothing to do with the closure of the San Fernando line at all.
Nevertheless, over the years it has certainly taken on a symbolic significance almost becoming the remembrance anthem for the closure of the Railway to San Fernando. Perhaps, justifiably so because it is fabled to have been played by guitarist as the “Last Train to San Fernando” pulled out of Port of Spain in 1965.
In conclusion, the locomotive which hauled the very last passenger train is something which was forgotten about for many years. At the time it was paid little attention being regarded as just another “train”.
The very last service train to San Fernando was hauled by Locomotive No 27 with three steel body coaches and two TGR brake vans in tow.
Locomotive No27, was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (works number 63091) of Canada in 1921. The locomotive has been immortalised by David Moore in his (April) 1976 painting at San Fernando railway station.
No 27 spent her final years quietly rusting away at St Joseph along with 12 other TGR locomotives abandoned there in 1968 when the railways perished.
Now, thanks to many people who have been instrumental in gathering historic information about the Railways of Trinidad (so listed in the video) we can now enjoy the event and the song in one, discarding the myth.
The event was captured on video by the national film unit and I have included other relevant footage and photographs to complete the story so far.
Hopefully more of this delightful material will surface in future. I do hope that you enjoy this as much as I have.
….. Glen Beadon September 2011
Comments
It has recently been circulated that ‘Last Train to San Fernando’ was originally sung by a relative on my mother’s side. In the country side he was commonly known as Henry Johnson – the Mighty Spitfire. I am seeing the original recording done by Carlton Joseph Gumbs. I don’t know if this is the same and one person but research should be properly done to set the record straight. My mother doesn’t remember if Henry went by another name but if he did the world should know his popular country name. She’s not sure if he was the composer of the song,and it definitely wasn’t written for the discontinuance of T and T railroad.