Basse-Terre is the western and larger of the two main islands of the Frenchoverseas department of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. The capital of Guadeloupe, also called Basse-Terre, is located on the island. The eastern main island is called Grande-Terre. As Saint Marie and Honoré, Basse-Terre and the town of Deshaies in the northwest of the island have been the main filming and setting locations for the British-French dramedytelevision seriesDeath in Paradise since 2011.
This island is of volcanic origin, with the Grande Découverte–Soufrière volcanic complex (GDS) on Basse-Terre said to be 200,000 years old. The complex is still classified as active with its 1467 m high La Soufrière. Around this volcanic complex, the outgassing sulfur vapors created a forest-free zone, which is unique on the otherwise heavily forested island.
The transport of sugar cane to the Bologne sugar factory and rum distillery was difficult before the construction of roads due to the topography of Basse-Terre, as the island is criss-crossed by numerous ravines, which made it difficult to create a coherent and continuous rail network, as was the case with the factories Grande-Terre was common, made impossible. The cost of this would have been unaffordable due to the numerous structures that would have been required. carriages would also not have been suitable for transporting sugar cane due to the topography.
Therefore, around 1880, it was necessary to consider an original transport system that was unique in Guadeloupe: in order to collect the sugar cane from Baillif, a meter-gauge railway ran from the settlement of Campry to the settlement of La Coulisse, 1300 m away, where there was a weighbridge for the deliveries was located. From there an 800 m long material cable car led the sugar cane to the loading station on the right bank of the Rivière des Pères. To collect the sugar cane from Saint-Claude, a 1600 m long Decauville railway with a track gauge of 500 mm ran from the settlement of Mont-Carmel to the scales of Beauvallon, from where the sugar cane was transported via a 400 m long material cableway to the station on the Rivière des Pères. There, another 1,300 m long meter-gauge track connected the loading station with the sugar factory and rum distillery. To ship the products, another section of track connected the factory to the berth 400 m away, from where the sugar and rum were brought by sea to the port of Basse-Terre.
