International Railroad Discussion > Bolivias FCG Railway 1967

While filming some country background for the US Armys Special Photographic Detachment at the ruins of Tiwanaku I heard a steam whistle.  Over the horizon of the Alto Plano a steam train appeared. I ran over to the tracks and using a few frames of government film I was able to capture the moment. This location is just a couple of miles from the terminus of the line on the shores of Lake Titicaca at Guaqui. This line ran from La Paz to the lake. When I was a kid in school my favorite geographical location was Lake Titicaca because it always brought the classroom to laughter. And here I was near my favorite lake taking train photos and serving Uncle Sam. The altitude at this location is around 12,500 feet.

Robert Morris Photography

---

---

Is it still in operation?

Yes a monthly tourist train from El Alto to Guaqui. No freight or any special operations unless it is a charter. This line is controlled by the former ENFE but is operated under contract by FCA. 

Here are some views from a 2008 railcar charter to Guaqui.First photo is Guaqui and the Government spent some money fixing up the surroundng area. Second and third photos were at Tiahuanaco station and is one of the stops for the tourist train. If you lookup FCA Bolivia and the schedules it will list the tourist train as well as several other passenger services. 

Dale Brown



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/15 10:40 by DWBrown.

---

---

---

Great shots!  Thanks for sharing them.

Wish I could have witnessed this... Time marches on, unfortunately.

YY

Two more shots from Guaqui, Bolivia. Into the late 1990s a 2-10-2 #704 was moved to Guaqui for occasional charters. With the privatization of the ENFE at about the same time, little has been done to keep this loco serviceable. It is stored in the shops along with a collection of former FCG steam locomotives and several coaches and some streetcars from La Paz. There is often talk of rebuilding this loco, but without Government money and that ENFE still owns it, little can be done. ENFE is nothing but a figure head for the ownship of track and certain rolling stock and is mostly for the pensions of employees of the Bolivian National Railway. 

Photos from 2008

Dale Brown



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 16:37 by DWBrown.

---

---

23 years ago I joined a Trains Unlimited Tour that brought us to Guaqui, Bolivia on Lake Titicaca.  Here we had a charter behind 2-10-2 #704.  First we had to pass the hat to "buy" two more boxcars so our mixed train looked a bit better.  Turns out 'our' two cars were revenue cars that were dropped at the other end of the line we were traversing, so we only had all four on the outbound trip.  Upon arrival at Guaqui, we found 2-8-0 #9 switching the dock, where cargo was off-loaded from box cars on a boat to cars on the dock,  all by hand.  Here are some images of that day September 30, 1992.

1-3.  The 2-8-0 #9 and the offloading operation at Guaqui, Bolivia.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 14:19 by masterphots.

---

---

---

4.   2-8-0 #9 and 2-10-2 #604 ready to depart Gauqui.

5-6.  Photo runbys with #604.  Given the 12,000 foot plus altitude, enthusiasm for getting off the train to take photos waned as the day passed and few of us were on the ground for image six at the end of a great day.

---

---

---

Masterphots, a splendid follow-up.

YY
 

Alan,

Just 6 years too early before i was able to travel to South and Central America. A lot has changed since then. 

Of course I live part time in Lima, Peru and can't get out to see the Central Andina only a mile from the house. One reason is I would never try to drive in this country, people have no respect for traffic laws or customs. 

Dale Brown
See my flicker page at perudale or fb at Wings and Rails International Expediton for other photos from tours.

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/dales_rails/

One more thing, meter gauge in Bolivia and standard gauge in Peru. Manco Capac had dual gauge track on the deck. However on the Peru side very little meter gauge track only enough to get off the barge and unload. In Bolivia, don't think they had any standard gauge. The Manco Capac is still in Puno, tied up. Will never see any cross lake transfers again. That era is over and trucks make the frontier crossing around the lake. 

Dale Brown

Thnaks for the photos.

While checking some photos that I have brought with me, I found some slides that I took in 2000 of one of the last uses of the Manco Capac. I was with a charter tour and we had been promised the SS Ollanta the last steamship on Lake Titicaca that was still steam powered. The Ollanta was brought up piece by piece from the coast and reassembled on  the shore of the lake and then launched. However a more modern rail barge was built for cross lake railroad traffic. As I explained in the earlier post the rails for meter gauge were on dual gauge trackage on the deck. In one photo you will see the three tracks with dual gauge switches leading to Ferry apron. Note that since we could not use the Ollanta because of some labor issue, we moved our train onto the barge and sailed into the lake for cruise with the standard gauge coaches. While loading the ferry, since no one had ever loaded them on the barge, the coach steps on one side where sheered off on one side when they hit the clamps that held the barge to the wharf. The crew back them off and put them in the middle track. We had deck chairs from Ollanta to sit on and if we got cold we could go into the coaches. On another trip to Puno about a year later we spotted several Bolivian Ferrobuses on flatcars in Puno yards. They had been delivered by the barge and probably the last cross border sailing to Guaqui to pick then up. Several years later we spotted the same cars in Arequipa in the Perurail shops on standard gauge freight car trucks. They never rebuilt them for service at Machu Picchu and regauge them to 3 ft. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/15 23:37 by DWBrown.

---

---

Great photo....surprised they found enough life jackets, or did they regularly haul passenger cars back in the day?

No cross lake passenger car moves. This one time special move. We sailed out and back to Puno. Also it was 2000 this occurred.

Dale Brown

Posted from Android

So where is Butch & Sundance-LOL

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

Still dead in San Vicente, Bolivia.

Posted from Android