International Railroad Discussion > Buscarril Ride Talca to Gonzales Bastias Chile

As I previously posted, we'd had a plan to ride the Buscarril and last minute changed the plan to chasing, only to learn that you can't practially chase it. Two days later we returned to Talca to try again, and this time intent on riding. It will say it is the better choice. If you are fanning the Buscarril and only have half a day, you can ride half way to Gonzales Bastias and then back to Talca (or you can also do the same from Costitucion and back, which I am told is even more scenic, but which puts you far from any other railfanning). If you want to ride the whole line and catch it out along the line with photos along the river, you would need to give at least two and maybe three days, which we just didn't have.

The Buscarril is a meter gauge passenger only line that mostly traces the Maule River through central Chile, serving towns that are on dirt roads and that are very difficult to get to. The train is a bit precarious itself. Just last night they had storms and the train from Constitucion to Talca went missing for hours (it was trapped with fallen trees on either side in an area with no cell service). 

We visited on a bright clear day, so no issues like that. It was a fun trip, a cross between your school bus and an interurban.

Image one is the morning train loading in Talca.

Image two is from inside the Buscarril, looking through the front window in Talca.

Image three is while we cross the Rio Claro bridge in Querquil. There is an even longer bridge farther down the line when they cross the Maule, but we didn't ride that far.



 

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Image four is a look at the inside of the first car (the motor). They had the second car closed off for awhile. Not sure if they had opened it yet by this time.

Image five is now at Gonzales Bastias, the half-way point. The train we rode in on is on the left. The train on the right is the one we will take back to Talca.

Image six is another view there. 

 

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Images seven and eight are yet more looks at the two trains at Gonzales Bastias.

Image nine is a Buscarril in your face!!! :-)


 

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Image ten is the boleto de tren

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Neat little trains!  How many passengers can be seated in each train?  How many train each way per day?

Two round trips a day, one in the morning and one in the evening (leave Talca and Constitucion at the same time, meet at Gonzales Bastias.

I would guess total capacity is between eighty and a hundred, but that would be pretty dang crowded.