International Railroad Discussion > FCAB Chile Atacama Desert action

In December I flew up to Antofagasta for a couple of days to see what might be happening on FCAB.  As usual,  pretty heavy traffic and fewer older units in service,  especially the former CNR Newfoundland units.  Here are a few images of what I saw.

1-2   GE (Brazil) C23-EMP 2601 heads a westbound at Oficina Puelma on Dec 1, 2022.  The officina is a long abandoned phosphate processing plant.  The 60-car train includes boxcars from Bolivia carrying metal concentrates for further processing and shipping in Chile.  Also a few cars of copper cathodes and sulphuric acid tank cars.  As remote as this looks,  I could have taken the photo out of the car window.  I did hike around a bit though.

3.    EMD (Indiana) GT46AC 3205 eastbound heading up to the summit of the line at Cumbre.  12/2/22   Pacific Ocean in the background.,



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/23 09:49 by masterphots.

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4.   No. 3205 further up the line, only a couple of more miles to the summit.  12/2/22

5.   No. 3206 westbound at Gaviota on 12/2/22.  Here the line is upgrade from the flat desert to cross the mountains at Cumbre,  then downgrade all the way to the port of Mejillones on the Pacific coast.

6.   NRE GR12-3 No 1444 eastbound at Despeserado on 12/3/22.  The unit was rebuilt by NRE from West Austrailia Government Ry (WAGR) G12C   No. A1510.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/23 15:40 by masterphots.

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7.   1444E nears the summit at Cumbre

8-9.  1431E nears Prat on 12/3/22.  No. 1431 was built from WAGR G12C  #A1512.  The train is empty Bolivian boxcars returning to the mines there for loading.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/23 15:42 by masterphots.

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Great set of pictures. That is a Mars scenery. If one day the humans build a railroad in Mars, it will be like this fcab railroad.

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Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

Just amazing photos. We on Trainorders are fortunate that you live and work in this country and post these photos that most of us will never get to take.

Brian N.

Nice series in the Desert Outback!!

Larry

Very nice Alan, hope to be back next year.

Wow! Thanks for posting these incredible shots. I gotta go....

Great photos of an amazing area!

Question:  much of the trackage is buried under dirt.  How do they inspect the ties, and know when to replace them??

Thanks Alan.  'Quite a change from your recent trek to the eastern U.S. to shoot the 1309!

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

YOU GET THE GOLD MEDAL FOR RAILFANING!!!

RRBMail Wrote:
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> YOU GET THE GOLD MEDAL FOR RAILFANING!!!

As my former flight attendant wife says,  that's why they invented jets.

Beautiful shots in a very stark landscape! Kinda weird to see an all-boxcar unit train these days. BTW, you mentioned busy, curious to know how it compares to busy lines here in the States?

JG

In the south, if you get 3-4 trains all day you've had a good one.  FCAB up north a different story.  There you'll see a train every hour or so,  maybe more.  Nothing like say,  Cajon Pass,  though.  But other than FCAB,  it's a lot of work and driving to get a few shots.  On the other hand it's a very tranquil deal....I always bring my Kindle reader and a stool.   In the south plenty of trees for shade.  Up north,  none at all so bring a hat!

Ignorant question: it's standard gauge?

Correction,  it's meter gauge.   I was thinking of Fepasa in the south, which is wide gauge.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/23 02:48 by masterphots.

Thanks for posting these fine shots from a country I will never visit.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots

Truly fascinating scenes!    May be the last freight railroad left on earth not covered with graffiti.

 

that is some awesome scenery.  reminds me of the ex-rio grande between green river and westwater.............

66

Great shots Alan!!  At least you don't have any trees in your way.!  But it does look kinda desolate.
Anyway glad you could capture trains that most people don't know even exist!
Mike