International Railroad Discussion > Ollagüe Chile Train Swap

One of the few disappointments of railfanning in Chile was that when we arrived in Ollagüe (the border town with Bolivia), there was no Bolivian train there waiting for us. The Bolivians have some unique looking boxcab Japanese diesels and I had been psyched to see them/shoot them the entire time I was there. As it turned out, this day would be our only day going all the way to Ollagüe and the FCA (Andean Railroad) didn't come over from Bolivia while we were there. There was a part of me that wanted to try crossing the border to see if we might find them in the FCA yard in Avaroa, but that was really not practical (who knew if we'd get over the border, let alone how long it would take to get back, and we were running out of gas), so we didn't see them. Still the yard in Ollagüe was fascinating itself, with seriously antique cars parked there and the FCAB 1253 train arriving, with its power only to leave as the 210 with a load of zinc concentrate.

Image one is of one of the myriad of truly antique cars in the yard.

Images two and three are of 1253 arriving into town.





 

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Image four is a roster of the old-scheme Clyde on the rear of the set (became the front of the set on the way back). 

Images five and six are of the 210 train leaving Ollagüe.

Light was a little toasty for these, but who knows when I'll ever be back?

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Great pics! Dig those Arch bar trucks! Do you have a pic of that wooden boxcar to the left of the man in the last shot? Can you do a series on just the rolling stock you shot? Any Jordan Spreaders or similar equipment?
CM80.46 

Can't tell you enough how much I've enjoyed your series on Chile. Man, I wish I could go do what you've done. Absolutely love the locomotives - so much more interesting than boring, USA modern stuff. - Dan