The capture of the train followed the conquest of the whole of Santa Clara. Due to this final victory, the city is still called the "city of the heroic guerrillas". After
Fidel Castro captured Santa Clara,
Batista wanted to bring about a turning point in the battle and the war. In an attempt to defeat the revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro, he sent an armored train from
Havana on 23 December 1958. The large train had two
diesel locomotives and seventeen four-axle freight cars and U.S.-made
personnel carriers. The train carried 373 armed soldiers, ammunition, and provisions for two months. The next day it reached Santa Clara and stopped at the foot of the
Loma del Capiro hill. Three days later eighteen guerrillas under the command of
Ernesto "Che" Guevara attacked the train. When the officers tried to move the train to a better position, Guevara derailed the train by bulldozing 30 meters of track. After several hours of fierce combat, the guerrillas captured the weapons and ammunition. The officers finally surrendered in the evening. Many of the rebels befriended and fraternized with the soldiers they had been fighting only hours before. ==Gallery==