Railways in the

Bahamas

The remains of the old railway line on Cat Island run into the sea.

Some time in the 19th century a railway was constructed on Cat Island in the Bahamas to carry produce from a plantation near Old Bight to the seashore for loading into boats. The nature of the produce is unclear from available online sources, but it is known that both sisal and cotton were being grown on the island at that time.

The plantations stopped working in the early 20th century and the railway was abandoned. However, it is recorded that most of the rails remained in place until World War II, when they were recovered by British military forces to provide scrap metal for armaments production. A few lengths near the seashore were left and these are still visible, depending upon the state of the tide. A sign marks the location of the original trackbed.

© 2017-2019 Glyn Williams
Image © Danny King, Cat Island, Bahamas