Home
Ondas del Lago
Contributed Content
Steve Sleightholm
Steve's Venezuela Memoirs
Lago Petroleum Locomotive
Steve Sleightholm's Venezuela Memoirs
Lago Petroleum Locomotive
Way back before most of you VOB'rs existed including yours truly, my
grandfather went to Venezuela to work for Lago Petroleum Corporation, alias
Creole Pet. Corp. He was an Englishman who came to the US in 1904 following a
stint in the Boer War. By training he was a bonefide Master Machinist and he got
his first job working for a major railroad service hub in Sparks, Nevada.
Well, from there he worked in the oil fields in Tampico, Mexico and then
eventually ended up in Lagunillas in 1926 or thereabouts. At that time, there
were no real roads between Lagunillas and La Salina. Cabimas and Lagunillas were
backward villages.
As the company continued to expand the oilfields, there was a need to develop
reliable land transportation between the two production camps and that's where
Granddad William's experience was brought to bear. He built a small steam
locomotive engine which ran on a narrow gauge track that the company had laid
between the two camps. The tracks ultimately ended up at the docks of the two
production areas.
When I was about 5 or 6 years old which was oh, about 1948 or 1949, while on one
of our many hunting trips with Dad and Mom behind La Salina, we used to take a
monte road that crossed the remnants of the rail bed that ran between the two
camps where there still existed old narrow gauge track and old abandoned wood
power poles that followed the track. Dad always repeated the story of his father
building the locomotive and how employees used to ride the train as it ran
through the monte between the camps. Dad said it was not unusual for the
locomotive to somehow be dislodged from the track and that everyone would have
to get off and work to put the engine back on the tracks.
This is a bit of history of which very few people are aware of and I do not
believe there are any other photos in existence of the locomotive. I have just
two old black and whites that Dad took. In one of the photos he is standing next
to the locomotive with grandfather.
These are the two photos of the narrow-gauge, small working locomotive mentioned
above that was built by Steve's grandfather Williams to transport men and
supplies between the La Salina harbor and the Lagunillas harbor. This engine and
rail line were built sometime in the late 1920's or early 1930's.
Although Steve isn't sure how long it was in service, it was extensively used
until the Carretera Nacional was finally built.
The above photo shows Steve's grandfather sitting in the cab
with Steve's father standing to his left. Note the interesting gravity feed tank
mounted on the roof of the engine cab.
Another photo of the locomotive from another angle with
Steve's grandfather on the left with his foot on the engine and the engineer
standing next to him.
Previous
Page Next Page
Index
