International Railroad Discussion > A Few from Costa Rica

I was going through old slides and ran across ones from a quick trip I made to Costa Rica in January 1986.

1.  On display at the Pacifico station was 1929-built F.E.al P. 3, a product of AEG of Berlin
2.  F.E.al P. 130 was typical of the power used on the 1500v DC electrified line from San Jose to the Pacific at Puntarenas.
3.  General view of the yard and shops of the F.E.al P.

Gordon

 

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I also rode the daily passenger train from San Jose eventually to Limon on the Atlantic coast.  Several tourist companies in San Jose had gone together and bought a coach that ran on the rear of the regular train that was slightly nicer and had refreshments.  You rode the train most of the way to Limon and then came back by bus after touring a banana plantation.  So a few scenes along the line.

Gordon

 

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Thanks for the post. Never realized that Costa Rica had a railroad. 3' gauge?

Tom

Believe 3'6" road.

UP3806 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the post. Never realized that Costa
> Rica had a railroad. 3' gauge?
>
> Tom

A lot of central america is 3' gauge, but I'm not sure here.

I'm also surprised it was electrified to the coast - did not expect that.

I have been to Costa Rica three times since 2015.
I have never seen a train.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl
 

The gauge is 3'6".

Gordon

Great pictures!  Sad that the railways in CR largely closed in the late nineties, although there has been some revival of commute service on the former Atlantic line in San Jose.  When I drove through the Pacific port city of Caldera in 2016, there were a few diesels stored at the INCOFER facility, but no real signs of activity other than a couple of employees who yelled at me not to take pictures.

Dave 

Thanks for an interesting series!

Larry

gbmott Wrote:
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> 2.  F.E.al P. 130 was typical of the power used
> on the 1500v DC electrified line from San Jose to
> the Pacific at Puntarenas.

15kV AC using German technology IIRC. I had a visit planned in the early 1990s only to see everything go belly up when an earthquake struck. That was the end of the electrification.

86235 Wrote:
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> gbmott Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 2.  F.E.al P. 130 was typical of the power
> used
> > on the 1500v DC electrified line from San Jose
> to
> > the Pacific at Puntarenas.
>
> 15kV AC using German technology IIRC. I had a
> visit planned in the early 1990s only to see
> everything go belly up when an earthquake struck.
> That was the end of the electrification.

I stand corrected.  It was 15kV, 20Hz, single phase.  Thanks for the correction.

Gordon