International Railroad Discussion > Railfanning Mendoza Argentina

Mendoza, Argentina is located on the eastern edge of the Andes range,  about 200 air miles from Santiago, Chile on the other side of the hill.  Flight times between the two cities is about 45 minutes,  most of which is spent gaining altitude to clear the 20,000 ft or higher mountain range.  There is also 6-hour hourly bus service or one can drive between the two cites but the border crossing high in the mountains can take a bit of time to negotiate.  Mendoza is a pleasant city with many plazas, trees lining the streets and great restaurants.  It is most noted for its wineries, famous for their reds, especially Malbecs.  At 2500 feet altitude these are among the highest vineyards in the world. 

The city also offers an interesting range of rail attractions.  Mendoza was the eastern terminus of the fabled meter gauge Transandine line connnecting the city with Los Andes, Chile.  A line with rack sections,  tunnels and a forbidding landscape, passenger service ended in September 1979, other than the odd passenger charter.   Cargo trains operated until winter 1984 when an avalanche on the Chilean side closed the line forever.  A segment continued to operate on the Argentine side until 1991.  Kitson Meyer articulateds operated on both sides until the Chileans electrified and the Argentines dieselized their respective lines.

Today the city offers a trolley line, using former San Diego, CA trolleys, as well as an extensive trolley bus operation.  Trenes Argentinos Cargos operates river rock trains 24/7.  The area north of Mendoza has a network of dry (usually) riverbeds and the aggregate is quarried and railed south to Mendoza where the line heads east to connect with the entire Argentine rail network at various junctions. The rock loadouts are located at Canada Honda and Retamito.  The line is easily accessed via good dirt roads,  although in summer months (Janaury to March) there can be flash flooding. Mendoza has been an Alco stronghold for years and there are still a number of Alcos operating on the line,  along with some newcomers, principally Chinese built road switchers.

The following photos give a quick view of what's described above.  All photos by Alan Miller, except No. 3 where photographer is unknown.

1.   Former San Diego trolley #1010 in downtown Mendoza.  The signal bridge is inoperable and was preserved when the original rails were pulled up.  The right of way was mothballed for future use as a transit corridor and today about eight miles of light rail has been built, with extensions planned.  Photo 8/28/14

2.   EPM trolley bus #23 passes the historic National Mortgage Bank in a typical street scene.  8/15/10

3.  EFEA Kitson-Meyer 0-8-6-2T  #41 (Kitson & Co., CN 4669, built in 1909) simmers between runs at Mendoza.  12/3/72  By this date, the auxiliary cylinders and rack mechanism have been removed. The mainline having been dieselized with GE-Alco shovel nose diesels, the Kitson was working out its days as a switcher in the flat Mendoza area.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/20 14:44 by masterphots.

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4.   Before the government-operated Trenes Argentinos Cargas was created,  private ALL (Americano Latino Logisticas) operated the line.  Here a rock train behind an Alco FPD7 nears the shops/yard at Palmira.  8/15/10.  Surprisingly one of the FPD7s was rebuilt in late 2019 and is in the TAC blue colors.

5.   The station and yard at Canada Honda, where one of the two rock loadouts is located. 1/24/19

6.   Alco RSD35 #6444 at Canada Honda on 1/24/19



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/20 14:45 by masterphots.

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7.   TAC 9404E east of Canada Honda on 1/25/19. The loco is a former South African Rys. EMD GT26M2C.  Built by GM Swartkops (S. Africa) in 1981-82.  There are only a few of these in Argentina and it was surprising to find one at the end of the line so to speak.

8.   Chinese-built CCD5A1 #9464 at Canada Honda on 1/24/19.  Argentina has 100 or so of these at last count and they can be found most anywhere on the wide gauge (5'6").   There were five based at Palmira in January 2019.

9.   Approaching Palmira on 1/25/19 is TAC Alco RSD16 #8470.  These units were the mainstay of Buenos Aires commuter lines out of Retiro station until they were displaced by new Chinese (what else?) diesels.  Now they seem to be dispersed all over the country. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/20 15:10 by masterphots.

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The steam engine.  is that a 2+5  all powered axel engine?  Never seen one like it.

The 0-8-6-0T Kitson-Meyer, built by Kitson of Leeds, England, was an early articulated design.   Here's a photo of one of the Chilean engines on display in Santiago, Chile.  A second one is stored at Fepasa Los Andes shops.  People dream of its restoration and return to service;  all it needs is a million dollars or so.   When used on the racks along the line, the engines had separate cylinders to power the rack mechanism.  The second photos shows builders photos of both Chilean and Argentine versions.  Quite a complicated beast.  Photo from Kitson Meyer Articulated Locmotives by Donald Binns,  Trackside Publications 1985/2003
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/20 11:17 by masterphots.

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Thanks for posting the pictures and info.

Great stuff,Alan.
Wish I could visit sometime.

UJO

Wow!  Love the ex-MTDB LRVs under the semaphores! 

Is that on the old passenger ROW into town?  I rode a sleeper train to Mendoza from BA in about 1987 and think we came in on that alignment perhaps. 

Very nice photographic presentation and an interesting narrative, Alan.
You have certainly been able to visit some unique and out-of-the-way places.
 

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

dwatry Wrote:
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> Wow!  Love the ex-MTDB LRVs under the
> semaphores! 
>
> Is that on the old passenger ROW into town?  I
> rode a sleeper train to Mendoza from BA in about
> 1987 and think we came in on that alignment
> perhaps. 

Great set Alan, it's 30 years since I was in Mendoza, here's that signal gantry in better times, the Aconcagua arriving from BA.

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As a side note, while the San Diego Trolley's iconic red paint stayed the same, the Mendoza cars have all been renumbered. The cars that went to Mendoza were from the later orders purchased by MTS, and I have photos of a few cars being loaded at the MTS maintenance facility.

Nick - nice shot!

My gosh, 11 bars on those pole lines.

tomstp Wrote:
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> My gosh, 11 bars on those pole lines.

Need a lot of wires for a tin can phone system....sorry, couldn't resist.

tomstp Wrote:
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> My gosh, 11 bars on those pole lines.

On open wire systems you need a lot of crossarms. All of those wires in the photo could easily be replaced with a single 50 pair cable that would abeout as big around as your thumb.

As the first photo shows,  they're gone now anyway.

Alan, how's the political situation in Chile? Is it a bit more stabilized than some of your neighboring 
Countries? Also, did you take those photos of Argentina?
Whole different world below the Equator, and not just in railroading.
Great pictures, by the way.
George Andrassy 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/20 15:09 by Auburnrail.

Auburnrail Wrote:
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> Alan, how's the political situation in Chile? Is
> it a bit more stabilized than some of your
> neighboring 
> Countries? Also, did you take those photos of
> Argentina?
> Whole different world below the Equator, and not
> just in railroading.
> Great pictures, by the way.
> George Andrassy 

I took all the photos except the Kitson-Meyer in photo 3.   Chile is quite stable, despite the recent social unrest,  which will be solved.  A messy process but they'll get there.  Now the country united in dealing with C-19 and doing very well,  with no hot spots or spikes,  only 65 deaths to date, no shortages of anything and a well-functioning health care system.  Sealing the borders,airports, cruise ship ports in early March has helped tremendously.  As has local quarantines and restrictions on travel outside of your own community.  Here's hoping. The economy is hurting but we're not based on consumption and the copper price is stable.  Manageable national debt,  A+ rated soverign debt and sufficient resources on hand to easily support the economy to the end of the year at least.   There is no comparison to our neighboring countries,  either politically or economically.

Hi Alan.   You know me well.  Is there anything still running in Chile today?   Tumucco?  4-8-2, 2-8-2, 2-6-0's?  Anything?  Michael E.

Very interesting post and photos.Numbers 4 and 6 look almost identical to Australian 44 & 45 class loco's respectively.
Regards,DK