Steam in Chile, December 2001

Ian Thomson, Santiago, reports:

As of mid December, 2001, the operating (recent, current, forthcoming and possible) Steam Scene in Chile is as described below. The summary is ordered from north to south.

1.    Baquedano. Ferronor keeps meter gauged Baldwin type W 2-8-2 No. 3511 (BLW 56479, from 1923) under lock and key in a shed at the Baquedano locomotive depot, around 60 km north east of Antofagasta. It is capable of moving itself and was last operated under its own steam in February 2001. Other locomotives of the same type (Nos. 3501, 3518, 3535 and 3573) are housed, in a decrepit state, in the roundhouse. Their sorry condition is largely due to a complete lack of interest shown in the roundhouse and its content, which make up a National Monument, by successive local Mayors from the latter 1980s onwards. The present Mayoress hopes to make the roundhouse the center piece of a new municipal park.

2.    Antofagasta. The FCAB intends to restore to an operational condition a meter gauged type 34, North British built, 2-8-4T. The two on display in the old Station in Antofagasta (No. 34, NB 23563, and No. 36, NB 23565, both from 1927) will each contribute components. Missing parts will be manufactured, using technical drawings recently discovered in an underground office of the erstwhile Mejillones workshop.

3.    Copiapó. The Atacama University gave thoughts to repairing the 1850 vintage, standard gauged, Norris built 4-4-0 named "Copiapó", and requested a feasibility study from the University of Colorado. The corresponding report is awaiting final approval but is presumed to have concluded that the repair is totally impractical. The locomotive, minus tender, is displayed in the grounds of the University, in Copiapó.

4.    ACCPF. From 1985 to 1995, the ACCPF (Chilean Railway Conservation Society) maintained operational two broad (1 676 mm) steam locomotives, i.e. 1919 vintage ALCO (Montreal) built type 70 2-8-2 No. 714 (ALCO 59026), in Temuco, and 1952 vintage, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries type 80 4-8-2 No. 851 (MHI-R 752), in Santiago. Inadequate maintenance put the latter out of action and, instead of repairing it, the Society (illegally) brought the former to Santiago, where it too suffered the same fate. Home brewed innovated repair recipes, such as relining slide bars with plastic, failed to bring it back to life, and No. 714 currently lies forlorn in a zone assigned to the Society in the yard of Santiago´s San Eugenio railway workshop, and had its bell stolen early in 2001. In 1999 the Society sent No. 851 to Temuco for repair (or exchange for another 4-8-2), but the locomotive only made it as far as the Temuco station yard, where it still lies, unrepaired and exposed to the elements and vandals, apparently abandoned by the ACCPF. The Society has not announced plans for repairing any other locomotive.

5.    Cajón de Maipo. The Cajón de Maipo is a narrow valley just south east of Santiago where a 600mm gauge military operated tourist orientated railway closed in 1978. Almost all the track was taken up in the mid 1980s, but there has been increasing interest in relaying and operating the easterly San Alfonso-El Volcán stretch. Two steam locomotives could be made available to work it, i.e. a 1909 vintage Jung 0-6-2T (maker´s number 1306) which is very well looked after in an Army base at Puente Alto at the westerly end of the original line, and a 1913 vintage Jung 0-6-0WT, State Railways No. 5025 (maker´s 2034) displayed in Santiago´s Quinta Normal railway museum. A company has made enquiries to the Public Works Ministry regarding a concession, but reopening the line would face considerable difficulties, due to road crossings, invasion of the right of way, etc..

6.    Wine Train. A non-profit making organization, supported by the State Railways, is working on a project to operate steam powered tourist trains on weekends over approximately half of an out of use branch line from San Fernando, 130 km south of Santiago, on the main line, to Pichilemu. The branch is being rebuilt as far as Peralillo, some 60 km towards the coast, and follows the Colchagua valley, which is well known for its up market and quite potent wine production. North British designed, Chilean built (Sociedad de Maestranza i Galvanizaciones) 1913 vintage 2-6-0 No. 607 has been brought from San Fernando, where it had been on static display, to a commercial workshop in Santiago, where it is being repaired. The Wine Train is definitely on course although not necessarily exactly on schedule. The planned starting date for operations (June 2002) might slip a bit.

7.    Temuco. The locomotive depot at Temuco was declared a National Monument, at the request of the ACCPF, in 1989. In 1993 and 1994 the Society successfully presented two restoration projects for the depot to the National Arts Foundation, and invested around USD 20 000 tidying the place up, waterproofing the roof, partially repainting the collection of sixteen steam locomotives and other rolling stock forming part of the Monument´s collection, transforming staff quarters into conference facilities, etc.. Then in 1995 the Santiago-based ACCPF turned against Temuco and started to deplete its collection. In 2001, the State Railways took the depot out of the hands of the ACCPF, placing it in the care of the local Municipality. The latter has developed a large scale restoration project and plans to repair one of the steam locomotives, the work being scheduled for 2003.

8.    Valdivia. In 1998, the State Railways repaired type 57 2-6-0 No. 620 in the Temuco depot. Then the ACCPF arranged for it to be dispatched to Valdivia (temporarily disguised as No. 622 since No. 620 forms part of the collection of the National Monument). It is currently probably the steam locomotive in the best operational condition in the country, and is normally kept at Valdivia by a local ACCPF splinter group. It is occasionally operated to Antilhue, and elsewhere.

9.    Osorno/Puerto Varas. In the early 1990s, then San Rosendo motive power depot chief Manuel Méndez started to repair type 58, 1908 vintage North British 4-6-0 No. 534 (NB 18449). When he was transferred to Osorno, he took No. 534 with him, and repair work continued. Although returned to an operational status, it has never been in very good shape. However, it remains steamable and occasionally appears with a diesel escort at the head of special trains in the Osorno/Puerto Varas sector.