The Americas

by Michael Frewston

  Main-line railways:

  In 1992, the government of Argentina, facing the imminent collapse of the state-owned railways, de-nationalised the entire system, splitting operations from infrastructure, again mirroring what had happened in Britain around the same time. Today there are nearly 30 privately-owned railway companies, corresponding reasonably closely to how things were before nationalisation in 1948 (but of course this time now all owned by Argentine-based interests). A side effect of this restructuring was the demise of most long-distance passenger train operations.

  The predominant gauge is still 1676 mm Indian gauge, with the other two main gauges trailing some way behind in terms of route distance. The following summarises the current Argentine route distances:

  1676 mm Indian gauge – 24 500 km

  1435 mm Standard gauge – 2 800 km

  1000 mm metre-gauge – 11 100 km

  This route distance of course represents quite a reduction on what it once was.

  While there is little prospect of much new main-line railway construction (unless the Chinese, as noted above, bring about major changes), the 600 km long 1000 mm gauge line from Salta to Resistencia is being relaid, including new ballast, concrete sleepers (ties) and continuously welded rail.

  Passenger travel may eventually be revived in Argentina. Some long distance passenger trains that were stopped by the Argentine military in the late 1980s are back in operation. Today it is possible to once again travel from Buenos Aires to Posadas – and this may mean that Asunción could also see the arrival of passenger trains at some point in the future.

  There were proposals for a new 350 km/h high-speed line between the three main centres of population in Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rosario and Códoba, between them comprising nearly half of the country’s entire population), with a possible extension south to Mar del Plata.

  Using French TGV technology virtually ‘off-the-shelf’, the line would have been 1435 mm Standard gauge, and thus there could be no links with the broad gauge legacy lines, including the broad gauge line it would have run parallel with. Currently this line has been cancelled – there were allegations of bribes and corruption, while many criticised it as being too expensive for the few people (7500 or so trips a day, or 3 million journeys a year) it would benefit, and thus starving the Buenos Aires metropolitan rail network of much-needed investment in the process. Whether that investment will actually take place remains to be seen.

  Narrow gauge:

  I am including anything less than metre-gauge under this heading, even though Argentina does contain significant lengths of 750 mm gauge railways that could qualify as being ‘main-line’. I am also including a couple of metre-gauge tourist lines that are not part of the main-line system. There are now quite a number of narrow gauge tourist lines in Argentina, but two are particularly notable.

  I have already mentioned the 750 mm gauge La Trochita, and it is only necessary to add that this railway claims itself as the longest steam railway in the world currently operating of this gauge. The railway still operates, and, as it has been declared an Argentine National Historic Monument, its future seems reasonably assured.

  The Tren a las Nubes (‘Train to the Clouds’) is a 1000 mm gauge tourist line that runs between Salta, in the north of Argentina, westwards for 217 km to La Polvorilla on the Chilean border, reaching an altitude of 4220 m in the process, making it the third highest railway in the world. These metre-gauge tracks will eventually form part of the Paranagua to Antofagasta line (see also Paraguay below).

  Trams and metros:

  Even Buenos Aires’ metro and suburban network cannot escape the curse of more than one gauge. Much of the system (primarily the surface commuter trains) is to Indian gauge, but the entire Buenos Aires Metro underground is to Standard gauge. With over 1.5 million riders a day, it consists of six Standard gauge lines (A, B, C, D, E and H – ‘missing’ lines F and G are in the planning stages, while Lines E and H are being extended), plus a subsidiary line (E2). It is mostly a true underground system, although Line E2 (also known as the PreMetro) is a cross between a metro and a tram system, with overhead catenary current collection. The total length of the whole system is just over 50 km.

  The A Line subway cars are genuine vintage vehicles, dating from between 1913 and 1919, and claimed to be the oldest in the world still in regular service, while Line E2 cars are also 1913 vintage vehicles but with new bodies.

  Also to 1435 mm Standard gauge is the Urquiza (Line U) surface line, which extends for 25 km, and has an interchange with the Metro B Line. It used to use PCC tramcars marshalled in sets of up to four, and with trolley pole overhead current collection. These cars proved unable to withstand the heavy use the line experiences, and it now has conventional suburban trains with third rail current collection. A proposed ramped connection would enable through running on to Line B and into the centre of Buenos Aires.

  A short tramway opened in 2007 is the Tranvia del Este, a Standard gauge demonstration line in Buenos Aires. Its success was not quite as spectacular as was initially hoped for, and, while extensions were planned, it was closed in 2012, which must represent one of the shortest time periods for a tram system! It used trams from Madrid in Spain.

  The Tren de la Costa is a short (16 km) Buenos Aires electrified light rail suburban line, which uses an already existing rail line. This railway has the unusual distinction in Argentina of having been converted, in 1995 when operations started, from the 1676 mm Indian gauge to 1435 mm Standard gauge.

  In the city of Mendoza, 1000 km west of Buenos Aires, a new 1435 mm Standard gauge 12.5-km long light rail line, the Metrotranvía, started operations in October 2012. Using refurbished Siemens-Duewag U2 trains from San Diego in the USA, it runs along an old right-of-way that used to form a dual gauge (1000 and 1676 mm) rail line running through the city.

  Argentina used to have a number of pure tramways. Unlike with the railways, they were all of one gauge – 1435 mm Standard gauge. The country passed a law in 1868 requiring this gauge for all tramways. It’s interesting that the country could do this for its trams, but not for its trains. After all, this law was passed only 11 years after the first railway was opened, so a similar law for the main-line railways would not have been too onerous or disruptive.

  Most of these tramways are now closed, although there are some tourist or heritage tramways still operating. One of these is the volunteer-run Tramway Histórico de Buenos Aires, which uses some of the once-abandoned Standard gauge street tracks to run a 3-km long tourist service, considered by some to be in the top ten of best tramway rides in the world. These tram lines are also used to move the A Line historical subway cars (see above) from the A Line itself to the Polvorin Historical Workshops for maintenance, as well as act as a test track for the underground metro generally. (In Part 1, I went into some lengths why trains usually can’t use flanged tram rails, due to different wheel profiles – this is obviously not a problem in Buenos Aires!)

  Outside of Buenos Aires, a proposal has been put forward to build an underground system in the city of Córdoba. Like with the proposed high speed line between this city and Buenos Aires, whether this will eventually proceed is not known – progress has got no further than the planning stages, along with some preliminary design. Financed by China to the tune of US$1.8 billon, it would consist of three lines – but to metre-gauge.

  Also far from Buenos Aires is the tourist tramway in Mar del Plata, some 400 km south of the capital city, and which was also a possible destination for the proposed high speed line. This tramway, using vintage trams from Lisbon in Portugal, is built to the same gauge as found in Portugal of 900 mm (for reasons unknown, it appears this tramway escaped from having its track gauge governed by Argentina’s law requiring all tram systems to be built to Standard gauge). Currently undergoing some rehabilitation, services are at present suspended, and in fact some reports claim that the tramway will remain permanently closed.

  Finally, the town of Valle Hermosa runs
a heritage tramway. This line was built to Standard gauge.

  URUGUAY

  Unlike so many of its neighbours, Uruguay’s railways are all to 1435 mm Standard gauge, thanks to the original British builders and investors. Currently undergoing some degree of rehabilitation, the network comprises a number of lines radiating out of Montevideo, totalling nearly 3000 km, although only just over half that is currently in active use. Almost all is single line, including some suburban lines in the Montivideo area.

  Most of the trains are freight, with a sparse passenger service in the Montevideo region, and the occasional long-distance train. Recent announcements from the government indicate that virtually all passenger services will become extinct, if not already so. There is a Standard gauge connection with Argentina, and a metre-gauge connection with Brazil, involving a break of gauge.

  Like much of the trackwork in South America, the custom is to lay the rails directly on the sleepers (ties), with no baseplates. The rails however are usually bolted to the sleepers with washered bolts, rather than secured with driven spikes as is common in, say, North America. Steel sleepers are sometimes used.

  There used to be a number of narrow gauge railways in Uruguay, all in connection with freight services and quarries. Gauges used included 914 mm, 750 mm and 600 mm. All are now closed.

  There are no metro or tram systems in Uruguay.

  PARAGUAY

  The few railway lines that once existed in Paraguay are currently closed – even the remaining tourist line is out of commission after a bridge collapse.

  But while there is not much today to tell, a little history might be of interest – as well as a proposal for the future. In terms of history, George Paddison, an English engineer, was commissioned in 1856 to undertake the work of building the first railway in Paraguay, between Asunción and Paraguarí. By 1861 the line was in operation, and was originally built to the Indian 1676 mm gauge, in contemplation of connecting with the already-existing 1676 mm gauge railways in neighbouring Argentina, although it would be very many years later before any connection with Argentina would actually be made.

  But as luck would have it, the line they decided to connect to in Argentina, the Argentine North Eastern Railway, was Standard gauge – the only Standard gauge line in that part of the country at the time! To resolve the problem, there was only one solution. Paraguay’s first railway was completely re-gauged to 1435 mm in its entirety, in order to facilitate the connection, rather than undergo a break of gauge.

  The Argentine government even helped finance the conversion, both by paying for the conversion costs directly, as well as by purchasing the now-redundant 1676 mm gauge motive power and rolling stock, which could be used elsewhere on Argentina’s broad gauge lines. Thus Standard gauge became Paraguay’s primary gauge (used by the country’s main railway operator, the FCCP) – even if only for less than 100 years before the Standard gauge railways suffered their demise.

  Paraguay’s Standard gauge lines are not the only ones that suffered their demise in that country. The narrow gauge lines (metre-gauge, 762/760 mm gauge, 750 mm gauge, and 600 mm gauge) that once existed are now, like in Uruguay, all closed. Many of these railways were built to support forestry operations and associated industries that used forestry products – as well as becoming a means by which Paraguayan troops could reach and supply fortresses built to stem the advance of Bolivian forces in the Chaco War. The total length of these narrow gauge railways amounted to over 750 km – twice the length of the 1435 mm gauge lines that existed at the time.

  But railways are returning to Paraguay. Efforts are currently partially completed on the Standard gauge tourist line between Encarnación and General Artigas to restore both passenger and freight services where they connect with Argentina, including some reconstruction on a new 29 km long deviation after the original alignment was submerged by a new dam. In fact, operations have already commenced – a passenger service now runs the short distance between Encarnación and Posadas, and freight services are also in operation over the whole line as it currently exists.

  Other lines are being considered in Paraguay. At least four main lines are in the planning stages, although not all necessarily to Standard gauge. For example, in Argentina, just to the west of the south-western tip of Paraguay, lies the town of Resistencia, while diagonally opposite, on the south-eastern border with Brazil, lies the town of Foz de Iguaçu (home of the Iguazú Falls), itself just west of Cascavel within Brazil itself.

  Cascavel is currently the terminus of a Brazilian metre-gauge line. There are plans to extend this line westwards from Cascavel to Foz de Iguaçu, continue over the border into Paraguay, and then through the whole of southern Paraguay to Argentina, linking up with the metre-gauge Argentinian railway system at Resistencia. (In fact, part of this line is already under construction.)

  A continuous 1000 mm gauge railway will then link the east coast of Brazil, at the port of Paranagua, with the west coast of Chile, at the port of Antofagasta, thus permitting full metre-gauge rail transportation of goods between either South American coast (but introducing a new gauge into Paraguay in the process).

  Finally, the capital city of Asunción once boasted a Standard gauge street-running tramway system. Originally opened in 1872 as a horse-drawn tramway, it was converted to steam traction in 1884, and then electrified in 1913. Like so many railways in South America, it was allowed to deteriorate to the point that it became incapable of functioning, with frequent breakdowns and derailments, until it was eventually closed in 1996. The final trams used were Standard gauge ex-Brussels, operated with no modification at all (some never even got painted, and were running in their Brussels’ livery). Whether they got painted or not, they were all grossly under-maintained. The last tram, after withdrawal, was put on display, but was ultimately vandalised.

  BOLIVIA

  Bolivia is unusual in that the country boasts two capitals – the ‘official’ or constitutional one at Sucre, and the ‘operational’ or administrative one at La Paz. The reasons, involving power struggles in the country’s history between competing economic interests, are to some degree reflected in the history of its railways, which were nationalised in 1953.

  Like Paraguay, little remains of Bolivia’s railways today, although the country once had an extensive network of main lines, the railway being for many years the only way to travel from one part of the country to another. These railways were however, divided into two separate systems – much like the nation’s capitals.

  Also like Paraguay, Bolivia’s railways are, at least today, to all one gauge – although this time it is metre-gauge. But it wasn’t always so. The first line of any importance, originating in 1872, was the line from Antofagasta, in Chile (see Chile, above) to Uyuni, in the southern part of Bolivia, which became an important railway junction.

  This line was originally built, as already noted, to the narrow gauge of 762 mm, based on the experience in Peru, where the use of Standard gauge in such difficult terrain was to bankrupt the country. Considering that the total length was over 1500 km, it is quite amazing that such a small narrow gauge nonetheless facilitated practical railway transport over a big distance through some of the most challenging topography in the world through the high Andes. Uyuni itself is situated within the Andean range. In the 1920s the line was re-gauged to 1000 mm.

  There were also some private mining lines, built to 1435 mm Standard gauge, thus giving Bolivia the same problems elsewhere in South America – two competing gauges. Today these lines are either defunct, or have been converted to metre-gauge. There are no tram or metro networks in Bolivia, although metre-gauge railbuses do still continue to run in the La Paz area.

  Currently there are some modern privately owned passenger trains running between Villazón (on the Argentine border) and Oruro, a distance of 850 km, as well as a railcar service branching off this line between Sucre and Potosí. These services are mostly directed towards the tourist, although the railcar is also apparently well patr
onised by the locals.

  There are plans to build a new line between La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz (with extensions to Brazil), but no further progress has been made. Considering how much the railway has fallen out of favour generally in Bolivia (even freight operations are a fraction of what they once were), it would appear doubtful that any future railways would actually get built.

  BRAZIL

  Brazil is by far the largest country in South America, even larger than Australia in geographical area. And it too follows the same pattern of railway gauges as we saw for Chile and Argentina – a multiplicity of different gauges, and little effort, at least originally, at rationalising them and standardising on one main gauge for all main-line railways. In a way this is to be expected – there was very little means of communication over such vast distances in what was a very undeveloped country in the mid-19th century, and therefore there was always going to be a high likelihood of different builders choosing their own gauge without any knowledge of what other builders were doing in another part of the country. The amazing thing is that most railway builders actually settled on just three main gauges.

  As with Argentina, while Brazil may have been governed by a southern European country – in this case, Portugal, and the reason why Portuguese, not Spanish, is the main official language in Brazil – it was the British that built and operated the country’s earliest railways, and thereby ended up running much of Brazil’s economy as well, echoing the situation in Argentina. Yet, these British railway builders, almost (but not quite) without exception, spurned the use of their home country’s mandated Standard gauge of 1435 mm, and instead opted for a number of both broad and narrow gauges – although two gauges, one narrow, one broad, predominate. A couple of the lesser used gauges ended up being a tad larger than the actual gauges they were (probably) supposed to have been.