Neuquén Railway Station
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Neuquén is a
train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
in the homonymous city in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, which is served by the
Ferrosur Roca Ferrosur Roca S.A. (FR) is a private company which operates freight services over part of the broad gauge that belongs to General Roca Railway. Some of the products transported by Ferrosur Roca include salt, clincker, plaster, cement, lime, c ...
's
Zapala Zapala is a city and touristic destination in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina with about 32,000 inhabitants according to the . The city is located at the geographic center of the province at the confluence of national and provincia ...
-
Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: ''White Bay''), colloquially referred to by its own local inhabitants as simply Bahía, is a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires province of Argentina, centered on the northwestern end of the eponymous Blanc ...
freight service and the Tren del Valle commuter service. Situated on the Central Park in the city center, adjoining other historical railway constructions such as the
Emilio Saraco Art Gallery The Saraco Art Gallery (), founded in 1992, is located in Neuquén, Argentina, is considered one of the city's main cultural spaces. The 1911 originally railway building was declared of public and historic interest for the city. It mostly hosts v ...
, it was declared a building of historical relevance by the National Government. Opened in 1902, the station played a significant role in the region's development and the decision to declare it the capital of the National Territory, which was to become the current Province in 1955.


History

Amid the expansion of the
Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) () was one of the ''Big Four'' Indian gauge, broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward Lumb in 1862 and the f ...
to connect the Neuquén National Territory with
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in view of a potential armed conflict with
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, the
railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...
over the
Neuquén River The Neuquén River () is the second most important river of the province of Neuquén in the Argentine Patagonia, after the Limay River. Rocks of the Neuquén Basin are fossiliferous, and the basin hosts what may become important fields of ...
was finished in 1902 and the station was opened the same year. The train connection with the national capital was one of the key factors when governor Bouquet Roldán decided to move the National Territory capital from
Chos Malal Chos Malal is the capital city of the Chos Malal Department in Neuquén Province, Argentina. History Chos Malal was founded on 4 August 1887 by Colonel José Olascoaga. It developed as a control point for policing the movement of cattle with ...
in the north to the then-newly founded town on the confluence of the Neuquén and
Limay Limay, officially the Municipality of Limay (), is a municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,272 people. History Dominican and Franciscan friars settled Limay by the late 1 ...
rivers, which had existed since the last decades of the 19th century under the name ''Paraje Confluencia''. The city started growing around the train station, situated in the area which is the current Central Park. Neuquén became an intermediate station on the line running from Constitución station to Zapala via Bahía Blanca for both freight and passenger services, the latter being discontinued in 1991 during the nationwide railway
privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
. From 1916 to 1931 there was the intercity passenger line between Neuquén and Chichinales, which was resumed in 2015 only between Neuquén and
Cipolletti Cipolletti ( or ) is a city in north of the Patagonian . With a population of 105 482 inhabitants at the , Cipolletti is the third-most populated settlement in the province, after San Carlos de Bariloche and General Roca. Together, with Neuquén ...
with plans of being expanded from Plottier to the old east end station.


Architecture

The station was officially declared a building of historic interest by the National Government in 2014. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century by the British-owned company Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, which designed it in the style of a British railway building of the time. Some of its characteristics are facede with exposed brick walls,
galvanized Galvanization ( also spelled galvanisation) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are coated by submerging them in a bath o ...
sheet roofing,
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
floors, green
flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat Rock (geology), stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for Sidewalk, paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstone ...
baseboard In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden, MDF or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the ...
s and different wooden structures, such as doors, windows and platform eaves. Some of the original structures and other elements have been kept since its construction in 1901, such as the clock, ticket offices and waiting rooms.


Services

Since its inauguration the station has been served by the Zapala-Bahía Blanca freight line, operated by the company
Ferrosur Roca Ferrosur Roca S.A. (FR) is a private company which operates freight services over part of the broad gauge that belongs to General Roca Railway. Some of the products transported by Ferrosur Roca include salt, clincker, plaster, cement, lime, c ...
as of 2020. The commuting train Tren del Valle, connecting the city with the neighbouring Cipolletti in the
Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its cap ...
has been re-established in 2015. The line was expanded to its west end in Plottier in 2021. A further expansion from Plottier to as far as Chichinales to the east across the Upper Valley of the Río Negro river has been discussed. Different plans have been considered to build a freight line connecting the
petroleum reservoir A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
Vaca Muerta near
Añelo Añelo is the second category municipality located in the Añelo Department in Neuquén Province, Argentina. Economy The economy of Añelo is based on agriculture. One of the most important crops are grapes as in the near town of San Patricio de ...
and the agricultural region of the Upper Río Negro Valley with the Bahía Blanca harbor, being Neuquén one of the stops.


Operators

;Notes


Gallery

File:Neuquen station 1900s.jpg, The station in 1900s File:Neuquen train station.jpg, The station in 2010 File:Tren valle neuquen.jpg, Train stopped, 2015 File:Tren del Valle en Neuquén.jpg, Train in 2016 File:16-Estacion FFCC en Neuquen.jpg, Back view of the building, 2021


See also

* Tren del Valle


References

{{Railway stations in Argentina Buildings and structures in Neuquén Province Railway stations in Argentina opened in 1902 Tourist attractions in Neuquén Province