In this Aug. 26, 2015 photo, a boy rides next to the engineer of an electric Hershey train in the Casablanca municipality of Havana, Cuba. The conductor slowed the train down to avoid hitting a shepherd's flock of goats grazing along the tracks. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) - From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see.
Goats graze alongside tracks in the countryside, forcing trains to brake to avoid hitting them. Old American sedans line up at a crossing while locomotives pass. Horse-drawn carts cross the rails after a train has gone by.
A boy hitches a ride home from school with a train's engineer. A man on horseback rides alongside tracks that used to carry tons of sugar from Cuba's now withered sugar industry. A young man boards with goats to sell in Havana.
While the island is slowly modernizing its rail system, mistreatment and theft of railway property by the people it was built to serve ensure it remains the slowest way to get around already slow-moving Cuba.
The trip from Havana to Santiago, 475 miles (765 kilometers) to the east, takes an average of 15 hours, if the train doesn't break down. A slightly more reliable train with air conditioning currently is not running while it undergoes repairs.
On the way from one end of the country to the other, families chat and try to catch a few minutes of sleep stretched out between rattling seats. The train's rocking lulls children to sleep under the eye of adult relatives. Men stand next to an open train door, chatting.
At their peak, Cuban trains featured dining cars and other high-end services. Today, refreshment comes from the vendors who board at many stations offering cold sandwiches and soft drinks. Snacks are also sold outside.
Cuba became the first Latin American country with a train system in the mid-19th century when colonial Spain began connecting Havana with the sugar-growing regions outside the capital. The network grew to 5,600 miles of rails crisscrossing the island before the system fell into disrepair. It suffered along with much of the country's infrastructure when the Soviet Union's collapse cut Cuba off from the subsidies that Moscow had pumped into its economy. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo made it hard to get parts.
Trains connecting Cuba's capital with the former chocolate company town of Hershey in Matanzas province are filled with tourists who pay less than 50 cents for the trip as the island floods with visitors after the declaration of detente with the United States.
As for the route between Santiago and Havana, Cubans pay a little more than $1 to shuttle goods or visit faraway family. Visiting foreigners are charged $30 for the same trip.
In this Aug. 28, 2015 photo, a train that departed Santiago de Cuba arrives at sunrise to Havana, Cuba. Cubans pay a little more than $1 to shuttle goods or visit faraway family, between the capital and Santiago. Visiting foreigners are charged $30 for the same trip. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a girl sleeps on a moving train with her family as they travel from Santiago de Cuba, to Santa Clara, in the Holguin province of Cuba. While the island is slowly modernizing its rail system, it remains the slowest way to get around already slow-moving Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this Oct. 11, 2015 photo, a train wagon made to look like a bus, moves along the tracks on the outskirts of Trinidad, Cuba. This train, known as a "train auto motor," moves passengers to and from the outskirts of the city. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a working cowboy travels by train to Santa Clara to participate in a rodeo, as the train moves through the province of Holguin, Cuba. From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a man looks at a tank being transported on a paused cargo train, as he travels by train through the province of Holguin, Cuba. The train system suffered along with much of the countryâs infrastructure when the Soviet Unionâs collapse cut Cuba off from the subsidies that Moscow had pumped into its economy. Currently, a longstanding U.S. trade embargo makes it hard to get parts. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a street vendor sells homemade sweets to travelers at a train station in the Ciego de Avila province in Cuba. At their peak, Cuban trains featured dining cars and other high-end services. Today, refreshment comes from the vendors who board at many stations offering cold sandwiches and soft drinks. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 26, 2015 photo, a young man boards the electric Hershey train with two live goats at the Hershey train station in Cuba. He's traveling to Casablanca, a municipality in Havana where he'll sell his livestock. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, tools that belong to a train maintenance worker sit alongside the tracks before the start of his work day in San Luis, near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 26, 2015 photo, a train conductor walks from car to car, collecting passenger tickets on the electric Hershey train as it travels toward the Casablanca municipality of Havana, Cuba. Trains connecting Cubaâs capital with the former chocolate company town of Hershey in Matanzas province are filled with tourists who pay less than 50 cents for the trip as the island floods with visitors after the declaration of detente with the United States. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this Oct. 12, 2015 photo, a family on a horse-drawn carriage crosses the train tracks that connect Trinidad with the "Valle de los Ingenios," or Valley of the Sugar Mills, in Cuba. After decades of neglect due to the fall of the sugar industry, dozens of empty mills remain standing in this valley that was once part of the booming sugar industry in the 19th century, when plantation owners used slave labor. In 1988 the area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a commuter puts his feet up in a train traveling from Santiago de Cuba to Santa Clara, in the province of Holguin, Cuba. The trip from Havana to Santiago, 475 miles (765 kilometers) to the east, takes an average of 15 hours, if the train doesnât break down. A slightly more reliable train with air conditioning currently is not running while it undergoes repairs. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, passengers pass the time chatting on the landing of a train car as a farmer rides his horse alongside the tracks in the province of Holguin in Cuba. Cuba became the first Latin American country with a train system in the mid-19th century when colonial Spain began connecting Havana with the sugar-growing regions outside the capital. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a train passenger looks out at the countryside between Ciego de Avila and Santa Clara, Cuba. While the island is slowly modernizing its rail system, it remains the slowest way to get around already slow-moving Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a cowboy wearing a U.S.A. belt buckle smokes on the landing of a train car as he travels to a rodeo in the province of Holguin, Cuba. From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 26, 2015 photo, antique American cars wait for an electric Hershey train to pass through the Casablanca municipality of Havana, Cuba. The train connects Casablanca to the city of Matanzas. In 1916 the Corporation of Pennsylvania Hershey built a network of electric railways to transport their products and workers to the Hershey sugar factory, just east of the capital. Two of the electric train lines are still running, between the former town of Hershey that connects with Matanzas and Casablanca. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, a woman who just got off the train uses the tracks to cross a bridge after arriving to her destination in the province of Holguin, Cuba. Cuba became the first Latin American country with a train system in the mid-19th century, with the network growing to 5,600 miles of rails crisscrossing the island before the system fell into disrepair. Currently, a longstanding U.S. trade embargo makes it hard to get parts. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
In this March 23, 2015 photo, an off-duty police officer travels with his family to Santa Clara during a long trip through the province of Holguin in Cuba. From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press