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Re: Most exotic place you ever visited?
Author: Tom McCann
Date: 04-03-2010 - 23:57
From a railroad standpoint, the most exotic place I ever visited would have to be Chile. I was there in August and September 1975 on the U.S.S. Truett (FF 1052), on the Navy's annual UNITAS (Unity) training cruise around South America.
As part of our squadron's visit to the port city of Iquique in northern Chile, we had a special train laid on for an excursion up the escarpment leading to the Atacama Desert. The narrow-gauge rolling stock, aside from the EMD diesel leading it, would have looked right at home on the D&RGW or any of the old Colorado narrow gauge lines. The clerestory-roofed coaches were about half the length of a standard 85-foot car we're accustomed to in the U.S., although the comedor (diner) was streamlined.
As the train headed out of town, we saw a steam locomotive going in the opposite direction (the only steamer we saw). To climb this steep escarpment, the train had to navigate several switchbacks to gain elevation. At several points along the ascent, the tracks seemed to disappear into the rocks, and the train appeared to be climbing right across the bare ground.
After reaching the top, the train reversed at a junction on the edge of the Atacama Desert, a place considered to be one of the driest on Earth. The locomotive was wyed here and coupled on to the opposite end of the train for the descent, which actually covered a different route than the one on the ascent.
Later that month, during a port call in the city of Valparaiso, I took a train up to the Chilean capital, Santiago. The train was a mix of both heavyweight and lightweight cars, with a double-cab English Electric "motor" for power. Along the way, the railroad sights included several types of diesel and electric EMUs, GE electric locomotives similar in design to New Haven's EF3/EP4 2-C-C-2s, and a 1920s-vintage Westinghouse box-cab electric still in regular passenger service.
Further south in Talcahuano and Concepcion (the same general area hit by the recent earthquake), the railroad sights included both streamlined and steeple-cab electrics, plus an honest-to goodness GE 70-tonner. Even further south at the port of Puerto Montt, I had the opportunity to photograph an arriving passenger train with a GE shovelnose diesel identical to those found on the famed White Pass & Yukon.
As part of our squadron's visit to the port city of Iquique in northern Chile, we had a special train laid on for an excursion up the escarpment leading to the Atacama Desert. The narrow-gauge rolling stock, aside from the EMD diesel leading it, would have looked right at home on the D&RGW or any of the old Colorado narrow gauge lines. The clerestory-roofed coaches were about half the length of a standard 85-foot car we're accustomed to in the U.S., although the comedor (diner) was streamlined.
As the train headed out of town, we saw a steam locomotive going in the opposite direction (the only steamer we saw). To climb this steep escarpment, the train had to navigate several switchbacks to gain elevation. At several points along the ascent, the tracks seemed to disappear into the rocks, and the train appeared to be climbing right across the bare ground.
After reaching the top, the train reversed at a junction on the edge of the Atacama Desert, a place considered to be one of the driest on Earth. The locomotive was wyed here and coupled on to the opposite end of the train for the descent, which actually covered a different route than the one on the ascent.
Later that month, during a port call in the city of Valparaiso, I took a train up to the Chilean capital, Santiago. The train was a mix of both heavyweight and lightweight cars, with a double-cab English Electric "motor" for power. Along the way, the railroad sights included several types of diesel and electric EMUs, GE electric locomotives similar in design to New Haven's EF3/EP4 2-C-C-2s, and a 1920s-vintage Westinghouse box-cab electric still in regular passenger service.
Further south in Talcahuano and Concepcion (the same general area hit by the recent earthquake), the railroad sights included both streamlined and steeple-cab electrics, plus an honest-to goodness GE 70-tonner. Even further south at the port of Puerto Montt, I had the opportunity to photograph an arriving passenger train with a GE shovelnose diesel identical to those found on the famed White Pass & Yukon.
