St. Maarten
RAILROAD - SMRR
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The SMRR ( St. Maarten
Railroad ) started in
1928 as a freight carrier for harvested salt from the Great Salt Pond
to the Philipsburg and Marigot Ports for export shipment worldwide.
The railroad was bankrupt in 1967 when salt harvesting stopped on the
northern French side. The Dutch side had previously ceased operations in 1949.
The P&D Railroad is a Tourist Line
established on the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten in 2012. With one
track we will circle the St. Maarten Salt Pond with seven stops.
P&D Railroad "Salt Pond Route" - Station No. Stops
1 Philipsburg Bobby's Marina
2 Philipsburg Town Pier/shopping
3 Philipsburg Great Bay
4 Mary's Fancy
5 Madame's Estate
6 Over the Pond
7 Guana Bay
We are going to start operating with one 40-ton switcher and three
passenger cars. As a large part of our tourists come from the New York
- Pennsylvania area we will run a NJ Central RR "Comet" car, a LIRR
Double Decker and a Pennsylvania RR parlor/observation car. We
are working on obtaining a GG1. As we do not have overhead wiring the
plan is to install a diesel generator to power the traction motors.
Once the GG1 is operational, we will use the switcher to pull fright
cars and will expand the route to include a siding.
The average distance between each stop is 1 ½ miles to 2 miles apart.
At a speed of 15 miles per hour we figure 15 minutes between stops,
thus the entire Salt Pond Route will be a 90- minute ride.
As we are interested in reading, trains and history we acquired the
abandoned St. Maarten Railroad, reporting mark SMRR to label rolling
stock. Player Development sits on top of the old SMRR rail yard. We are in
the process of restoring some of the yard, as the tracks were never
ripped up just covered with sand from the harbor dredging project.
Once the track is uncovered, we want to restart the salt water
evaporating plant and have the school vocational program run the salt
production. They will be able to sell salt products to the tourists
and run their own export business. |
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SMRR
ROLLING STOCK |
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 MOW
Dept. Riley returns newly acquired SMRR hopper
to the rails carrying its first salt load. |

NYA Operation Lifesaver boxcar #8302 barge loaded for export. |

LIRR Speeder K-Line Lionel #6-22139 at Philipsburg
Town Pier
(Stop 2) Station. September 12, 2022 |

SMRR gondola carrying its first salt load.
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CANFOR USEX #2102 reefer with return
export sugar cane loads |

The local Fuel Dealer receiving another tank car. |

SMRR #644-1251 ex-C&O double door boxcar
ex-Automobile
Auto Rack equipped |
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Lionel Xmas Car #19938 passing the Machine Shop |
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SMRR INDUSTRIES & FACILITIES |
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PI Tower - Pond Island |

SMRR Station - 10/16/2023 |

SMRR Freight Warehouse - 10/16/2023 |

TYCO #933 forklift freight station |

SMRR Piggyback loading
Freight Mgr. Roger 10/03/2022 |

Cats were in the garbage cans again! |

SMRR LIONEL layout 1/27/2023 |

SMRR Salt Pond harvesting operations |

SMRR scrap yard 1/27/2023 |
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ACTIVITIES |

Don Patterson, from Canada, worked for Fairbanks and designed speeders
and later High-Rail trucks. This was a presentation on the use of MOW
equipment. March 12, 2019 |

The crew were given a photo assignment from Mr. Joey to take a
picture of their train models; August 11, 2022. Left to right
Kemarnie age 7, Riley age 13, Aloyel age 15, and Cory age 8. |
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M7 Announcement 1111 Off-Peak train to Penn Station, NY Conductor
Steve
Bell |

Conductor Roger announces the SMRR 7:30am Local

Riley hunts for GG-1 horns
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Yard A Hump- Sunnnyside, NY - PRR-GG1 c.1971+
GG-1 horn

A southbound Conrail high-speed GG1-powered freight at the Bel Air
Avenue crossing, Aberdeen, MD, 8-13-1977. The locomotives in this
recording were Nos. 4860-4841-4894. Photo taken in 1976, showing
another southbound GG1-powered freight at the same location.
Photo/Video/Info: YouTube: boboperafan |
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