This was first published in April but I missed it. Clipped from a Cuban news site and translated with Google translator. The full story is here: https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1649004579_38564.html

A locomotive declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation disappears in Sancti Spíritus
The official Cuban press attributes the disappearance of the locomotive to the abandonment of the state entities in charge of its care.

The state newspaper denounced the disappearance of a steam locomotive that had the title of State Heritage of the Nation due to the abandonment of the state entities in charge of its care in the town of Jatibonico, Sancti Spíritus.

According to the local press outlet, the entities in charge of preserving locomotive No. 1363 were the Ministry of Transportation , the AZCUBA company, and the National Council of Cultural Heritage (CNPC) .

Despite how evident the disappearance of a locomotive is, it was not the state directors who noticed its absence, but rather an AZCUBA worker who raised the alarm when he did not see the iron mass.

According to Escambray, the residents of the area comment that it was dismembered in just over three days , after those responsible for the bus base where it was located decided so, alleging that it "occupied space and did not fulfill any objective."

Do yourself a favor, and don't look too closely at South Africa now.

How very Port-Arthurish.

Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to a couple of electrics...

Too bad. Wonder what make/model of loco it was? Wish some of those steam locos down there could be recovered to here.

Here is the info page at Steamlocomotive.info

https://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocom ... play=19256

That really IS a pity --- not only was she a real oddball gauge (27 3/4"), but she had at least one crosshead water pump.

I'm not surprised one bit.
Not too long ago, there was a Baldwin 3-foot gauge ten-wheeler that could have been a sister of the ET&WNC locos in a class just like it in Cuba, just sitting around.
The moment that Gingos started showing interest, the torches came out, and that was that.

When I recovered the tenders of the SVRy articulateds from Guatemala 32 years ago, my friends in the government railway administration advised me that we could get a steam locomotive out of Cuba by first shipping it to Guatemala, then making up the paperwork to indicate it was being shipped from there to the USA. This was before the amendment to the Guatemalan constitution declaring steam locomotives to be part of "national patrimony", but it was during the economic embargo of Cuba. The locomotive you mention was being sought after by a well known (but nameless) equipment broker/restoration contractor, who contacted me about it. The problem was that he expected to use my money instead of his own, and he wanted me to take all the risk, but in the end he expected to own 100% of the locomotive. What happened ?? Here's a hint --- I may be crazy, but I'm not dumb....

They say there is one born every minute - glad you weren't the one.

The pity of it is that this engine, and other choice examples, coulda/shoulda/woulda been rescued.

Exactly. Wish somebody would sneak those two big Mikes out of there. I'm sure someone would use them...

You know, I always thought that the Rogers 2-4-0 with 4 wheel slope back tender at Fructurosa Rodriguez was pretty sexy. But a fella can only play the cards he's holding --- One reason I bought Audrey is that she looked like something you'd find in the weeds behind a Cuban sugar mill, and if she had been, the experts would all have been wanting to bring her back to the USA. But since she's always flown the Stars & Stripes, nobody much paid her any mind.

At this point in time, I believe the best chance anybody has of preserving any of the steam treasures in Cuba would be to help the good folks who live there and are trying to do the right thing with the deck stacked against them.