Trucks in Cuba

Last month my wife and I spent 2 weeks in Cuba covering around 1200klm on a tour in a Mini Bus.

The country has an eclectic mix of old and new trucks with some early 50's trucks still earning their keep as either trucks or "busses" for the masses.

The roads are pretty poor and populated by anything from a 3 wheeled pushbike carry a few hundred kilos of goods, to ox and horse drawn carts, tractors towing trailers and trucks and cars that will drive an both sides of the road regardless of wether it's a blind bend or a straight section.

I took a few photos of trucks etc. and thought they may be of interest.







This truck just delivered around 60 School kids to a Cathedrall as part of a day out. They were standing and hanging out the back!





Never seen a VW truck before and I assume it's a MAN re-badged.



I figure the yellow truck could carry around 80 people!





Hi Ho HI Ho it's off to work we go.



This Ford had broken down and the driver was sitting on the road with no warning to oncoming traffic.





This orange Ford belonged to the Electricity Authority.









They had thousands of Tatung busses.







Never seen a Hino like this one.





This one was in a museum that had a mix of cars and trucks from Rolls Royce to racecars and trucks.



This old tractor had been re-engine with a Mercedes Benz diesel but the starter wouldn't fit within the bell-housing so they park it on a hill and clutch start it. It also has a total loss cooling system by the water on the ground.



Some of the trucks I have no idea of their make or model so some of you experts may be able to identify them.

Interesting stuff, thanks Zuffen.
All the older Yank Trucks seem to have later model axles with a wider track under them too.

Thanks for the great piccy's Zuffen .. looks like you and Luvvy had a great time ....

...there's something in that lot for everyone.... what a fascinating transport scene it must be!....cheers mate

Great pics there, Zuffen. I might have to visit Cuba one day. Its almost like a time warp...

I'll have to check; AFAIK mine are up already. It is a fascinating country. It is well known for mid 1950s USA time warp: some private, most now taxis. They have been reengined with something modern, but I am not sure of the source. The next wave was Russian, but that boom died in the mid 1990s. The latest wave is Chinese. Various specialist groups go there (railway and agriculture). It is an immensely friendly country; having a working Spanish vocabulary is an advantage. Australians have no restrictions re entry, but usually have to travel via Mexico to avoid USA restrictions. There are direct flights from Canada and Europe. Although the sugar industry has contracted (less Russia market), sugar is still important. Surviving mills use old technology. A Queenslander could feel right at home in the scenery, the climate and the industry. Getting around isn't for first timers: congested trains and buses. My railway friends used to hire cars, and had no troubles, so it does pay to go with a mate. The situation re accommodation and restaurants has eased, so getting a bed and a meal is now relatively easy.
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Cam,

I'd also noticed the wide axles.

Owning one of these early trucks (or cars) meant you can't legally sell it but you can hand it down to you children. For this reason they are very much like grandfathers axe.

I figure they have used axles out of written off trucks to keep them running.

The trucks all seem to use diesel engines and blow lovely black clouds of smoke!

There's a sugar town called Central Australia which has some locos and carriages. We went there and took a few photos so I didn't only go to Cuba I also went to Central Australia.

On the train front the Cuban Government purchased some second hand French trains to use. They ran for about 3 months and broke down so they are back to using there old trains which I understand are fairly horrific to travel on. The track is laid in (about) 10 metre sections with a joint on each rail so the train rocks from side to side and up and down at each joint.

On the car front I notice the old Yankee cars had been mostly re-engine with diesels and blew smoke like the trucks.

One interesting thing was to see independent front suspension replaced by beam axles (ala Gasser cars) yet other cars has disc brakes on the front, others discs on the rear only (would make things interesting) and some had four wheel discs.

We had a great time visiting Mexico, Panama (had to cross the country via the canal) and Jamaica.

Don't put off going to Cuba too long or it will have caught up with the rest of the world.

There are heaps of Geely cars running around and Hyundia have sold tens of thousands of cars there.

It seems that I haven't put up any of my truck/taxi photos: just horses/bullocks, at:
< www.hcvc.com.au/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1357433827/84#84> ;
Now to find and post my photo at Central Australia. The term 'Central' is brief for sugar central, ie a mill.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

My daughter spent 2 weeks in Cuba in 2012.She took some photos of old cars and trucks for me. Her friends and her hired a taxi and driver who took them across Cuba. bThe taxi was a 1955 Chev station wagon and the driver was proud of the fact it still had a Chev engine. He said a lot of the old cars had been fitted with Russian engines. He also told them that some of the heavier trucks were ex Russian military trucks recabbed with older American cabs. Rob.

I noticed that all the trucks with "Bus" bodies have Taxi on the windscreen.
Almost looks like they have put the old cabs on a later chassis.

Looks like a pretty high rainfall place too, were there many rusty ones about?

...i looked at that early chain drive Mack and wondered if it was one of the Panama Canal construction survivors....