International Railroad Discussion > Considering trip to Antofagasta, Chile & the FCAB

I'm a new passport holder and I want inaugurate its use in proper fashion.  I am seriously considering a trip to Antofagasta, Chile in an effort to travel off the beaten path and photograph the FCAB railroad.  Through some recent research on the Internet it appears quite a few adventurous folks have made the journey to photograph this mountainous rail line with landscapes resembling something if a railroad was built on the surface of the Moon or Mars.  It appears one of the mountain passes this line traverses is within a short drive from Antofagasta and there is good roadway access.  Also, it appears rail traffic is fairly frequent, even on weekends hauling copper concentrate and related materials from inland sources to seaport for export.

I've done a search on Trainorders from other's posts and it looks like the trip is well worth the effort of enduring the nearly 30 hour flight and expense.  Hotels look very reasonable as well.  I'm a 52 year old Caucasian male that speaks no Spanish and my girlfriend speaks passable Spanish.  

What are some precautions an American tourist should take while visiting this place?  What is it like to rent a car and drive on Chilean roadways? 

From a rail photography perspective I would say this is a top 5 destination on my bucket list and the photographs I've seen from other sites on the internet are quite fascinating.

Any input is certainly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Driving in Chile is not a problem, I was in Antofagasta in 2012 and 2014, explicitly chasing the FCAB (and the FCTT, but that's history now).

Antofagasta is a busy place with a buzzing city centre, in my experience perfectly safe to walk around. There's not much to see and do tourist wise, the beaches aren't up to much but the coastline is quite interesting. The railway is easy to watch in the city, but access to the railway's property, around the city centre yard is not easy.

There's a line which runs down the street from the bottom yard to the port which is used several times a day by trains carrying copper products for export. I took the first picture back in 1998 on my first visit. The building on the left is the Hotel Antofagasta, one of the best hotels in town. Today the railway/road configuration has been changed, but the train still rolls down the median strip of the Avenida Balmaceda in front of the hotel. 

Second picture was taken in 2004 on the mainline in which climbs through the back of the city, this is an outbound train of empty copper carriers plus a couple of FCA box cars, presumably bound for Bolivia.

The final picture was taken in 2012, a train entering the city

I must admit Antofagasta is a favourite location of mine as a base for train watching. Away from the city, Cumbre, where the railway from Mejillones crests the coast range is about 45 minutes from central Antofagasta. It's relatively easy to get to, although the last few kms are on a dirt track away from the main road. Both in 2012 and on our last visit in 2014 I had a four wheel drive vehicle although away from the track to Cumbre, the road conditions are generally very good.

Here's a link to the pictures I took in 2012

https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2012/Chile-2012-F-cab-and-box-cabs/i-5gv2Dg6



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/16 03:19 by 86235.

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I took time to look at all your 209 pictures.Thanks.
As to landscape,that place looks to be the end of
the world.
I know Alan also.


Uncle Joe,Seffner,Fl.

retcsxcfm Wrote:
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> I took time to look at all your 209
> pictures.Thanks.
> As to landscape,that place looks to be the end of
> the world.
> I know Alan also.
>
>
> Uncle Joe,Seffner,Fl.

Thanks, the landscape does look as we imagine the moon to be.

You know Alan, so you are probably in contact by email

From Florida, not many desert tracks down there

Be aware that the Cumbre Pass is technically in an Air Force bombing range, the tracks that you will be using are not through roads (with one exception to a mine), mainly access scrapes dozed in by FCAB contractors when the line was realigned and rebuilt in 1995/6 (it had been lifted in 1919), It is 5 years since I was last there, objects will have moved, the FCAB has a habit of putting rock filled yellow/blue/red striped 50 gallon oil drums at points where tracks converge as markers for their contractors

The main problem is super fine dust like talcum powder that covers holes in the tracks, in Australia called bulldust, the French in North Africa had a term (something like riprap) as endemic in that region, this is not a bad explanation http://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/driving-towing-4wd-driving-skills/driving-in-bulldust

4x4 is an overkill, get something light like a Toyota Yaris, take the hubcaps off to avoid loosing them, stock it up with bottled water, and bribe the attendants at one of the numerous filling stations to clean the vehicle the evening prior to returning it to Hertz or Avis, so they won't realise it has gone off-road

Unless you are comfortable with a prismatic compass, or GPS, the topographical maps of the area are too out of date to show current tracks and roads. If you want .pdf copies of the Antofagasta area map http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/jog/latin_america/  sheet SF 19-14. If you want marked up Google Earth images PM


 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/16 17:15 by jmt.