International Railroad Discussion > The Other San Jose

Costa Rica.

After a long drought Costa Rica is slowly reviving its rail system. There are now three commuter lines running from San Jose. Photo number one is of former Spanish narrow gauge DMU equipment purchased by INCOFER, the Costa Rican rail operator. The train is a short distance out of the Atlantic Railway Station, shown in photo two and three. When I was first in San Jose this station was semi-derelict and home to a rail museum that never seemed to be open. Trains run every 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon/early evening periods to Heredia and Cartago.

---

---

---

Outside the station there is some older power, from Baldwin as I recall. The line used to go all the way to Limon on the Caribbean side until a 1991 earthquake took out part of the line. The eastern approximately one third is still in use for freight and occasional tourist trains.

---

---

---

Inside the ex FEVE equipment and a 1941 German built coach on one of the locomotive hauled trains.

---

---

---

There is also a Pacific station in San Jose, about three kilometers from the Atlantic station. The two are connected via a lot of street running. There are a few loco hauled trains each direction that use this segment. These trains run about half way out the Cartago line and this requires that they change directions in the Atlantic station. The whole affair, from cutting off the, running round the train, tying back on and departing took all of about three minutes. There where more U.S. type rules infractions than I could count. An FRA man would not be able to write fast enough.

---

---

---

The rusted crossbuck has been the only protection at the numerous street crossing in San Jose. Traffic here is terrible and when the trains first started there were numerous accidents. This is the first evidence I have seen of any effort to provide some warning system other than very frequent train hooting.

---

---

---

Thanks for the posts. The station building is beautiful.

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

Yes, Thanks for the post. There is not a lot of coverage of Costa Rica's railways.

Cheers,
Jack

We have been to Costa Rica twice in the past two years.
The first time we took a tour.The second time we rented
a car and did our own thing.We tend to stay away from
the big cities (San Jose)because of crime and language
differences.We stayed just north of La Fortuna part of
the time and time at Drake Bay.No tourists,but also no
trains.If I had an escort,I might try to see them,but
not by myself.
Dole does run a train from the port at Limon to San Jose (?)
That I have seen videos of.
I have in my plans to go back.I love it down there.


Uncle Joe,Seffner,Fl.