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The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina, is a non-electrified
single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
railway line that links
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
and
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
passing through the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
. It is a railway with a total length of 941 km (571 in Argentina and 330 in Chile), connecting the city of
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
(Argentina) to the one of
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American ...
(Chile), on the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, passing through the
Puna de Atacama The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau''Atacama Plateau''
article at the ''
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...
.


Overview

The Argentine track (a brief portion -
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
-Cerrillos- of ''Ramal C-13'', and mainly the ''Ramal C-14'' Cerrillos-
Socompa Socompa is a large stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile with an elevation of metres. Part of the Chilean and Argentine Andean Volcanic Belt (AVB), it is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of the various segments of the AVB. Th ...
) is part of the
Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano The General Manuel Belgrano Railway (FCGMB) (Spanish: Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano), named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, is a railway and the longest of the Argentine system. It was one of the six S ...
and 217 km of it are served by a touristic train named ''
Tren a las Nubes The Tren a las Nubes ( en, Train to the Clouds) is a tourist train service in Salta Province, Argentina. The service runs along the eastern part of the Salta–Antofagasta railway line of the Belgrano Railway (also known as the "C-14" line) th ...
''. The Chilean track (Socompa-
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American ...
) is part of the
Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (British company name: Antofagasta (Chili) & Bolivia Railway or FCAB for short) is a private railway operating in the northern provinces of Chile. It is notable in that it was one of the earliest rail ...
(FCAB). The "Huaytiquina", along with the Transandine ( Mendoza- Los Andes to
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...
, closed since 1984 and pending reconstruction), represent the only railway links between the two countries. With the highest point ( La Polvorilla) at
amsl Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The c ...
, the ''Huaytiquina'' is the fifth highest railway in the world and the third highest in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...
.


History


Construction

The construction of the railway started in 1921, to connect the North of Argentina with Chile across the Andes, and to serve the
borax Borax is a salt (chemistry), salt (ionic compound), a hydration (chemistry), hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a base (chemistry), basic aqueo ...
mines of the area. The viaduct '' La Polvorilla'', the highest of the line, was finished on 7 November 1932. The Chilean track was inaugurated in 1947 and the complete railway on 20 February 1948. The route was designed by American engineer Richard Fontaine Maury, after whom one of the stations ('' Ingeniero Maury'') has been named.


Origin of the name "Huaytiquina"

The word "Huaytiquina" is the ''nickname'' of the railway. It refers to an ancient Andean mountain pass between Argentina and Chile, located just in north of
Socompa Socompa is a large stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile with an elevation of metres. Part of the Chilean and Argentine Andean Volcanic Belt (AVB), it is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of the various segments of the AVB. Th ...
and projected as line terminus. In 1923, after a Chilean request whose rail line arrived close to Socompa, the original project was abandoned and the Argentine route diverted to the current one.


Route

The line crosses the north-western side of
Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boli ...
, serving the suburban towns around
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
of Cerrillos,
Rosario de Lerma Rosario de Lerma is a town in the center of the province of Salta, Argentina. Overview It has 21,592 inhabitants as per the , and is the head town of the Rosario de Lerma Department. It lies by the Rosario River, 35 km southwest from the pr ...
and Campo Quijano, following part of the course of the Lerma Valley. It counts two
zig zags Zig Zags is a L.A. based heavy metal/ punk rock trio. The band consists of singer/guitarist Jed Maheu, drummer Dane Arnold and bassist Sean Hoffman. '' Clash'' has described their music as a "Venn diagram connecting Black Sabbath, Black Flag a ...
, at El Alisal and Chorrillos, and two spiral loops between Tacuara and Diego de Almagro. Entering the
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
of Meseta, the railway passes near
Santa Rosa de Tastil Santa Rosa de Tastil is a rural municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina.Ministerio del Interior

and the Pre-Inca
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
of
Tastil Tastil is an archaeological site near Santa Rosa de Tastil, Salta Province, Argentina. Overview Located around 2.5 km (1.5 mi) northwest of the settlement are the Ruins of Tastil. Built by the Atacameño people, Tastil thrived during the 15th ce ...
. It serves the town of
San Antonio de los Cobres San Antonio de los Cobres is a small town of population 5,482 (per the 2001 INDEC census) in northwestern Argentina. It is the capital of the Los Andes Department of the Salta Province. Geography The town is known for its high elevation of app ...
, in the middle of the
Puna de Atacama The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau''Atacama Plateau''
article at the ''
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...
mines. After the viaduct La Polvorilla, highest point of the line (4,220 m), the railway runs on the borders of
Jujuy Province Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south. Geography There are three main areas in Jujuy: ...
at
Olacapato Olacapato is a village and rural municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina.Ministerio del Interior
Ola ...
and, between Tolar Grande and Caipe, it crosses in the middle a
dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...
named '' Salar de Arizaro''. The station of
Socompa Socompa is a large stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile with an elevation of metres. Part of the Chilean and Argentine Andean Volcanic Belt (AVB), it is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of the various segments of the AVB. Th ...
, named after the
Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...
vulcan, is a bi-national station located between the Argentinian-Chilean frontier line. Entering the Chilean territory, the rest of the line crosses the municipal territory of
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American ...
, located in the homonymous province and
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
. Varillas and Augusta Victoria have a short industrial rail branches, the one of Varillas serving
Escondida Escondida is a copper mine at elevation in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile. Geology The Escondida deposit is one of a cluster of porphyry coppers in an elongated area about 18 km north–south and 3 km east–west a ...
mine. At Palestina station, the line crosses the junction railway Baquedano-Aguas Blancas, named ''FF.CC. Longitudinal'' (owned by Ferronor), linking the lines Antofagasta-
La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bo ...
and Antofagasta-
Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km nor ...
. Descending the western slopes of the Andes and the
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...
, the "Huayitquina" reaches the industrial complex and village of La Negra and, after 22 km, the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
in the port city of Antofagasta.


Train services

Due to a presence of
mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...
deposits in the Atacama area, most traffic on the line consists of
freight trains Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) h ...
transporting minerals such as
lithium carbonate Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt of carbonate with the formula . This white salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides. It is listed on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines because it ...
,
borax Borax is a salt (chemistry), salt (ionic compound), a hydration (chemistry), hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a base (chemistry), basic aqueo ...
,
butane Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name bu ...
,
pearlite Pearlite is a two-phased, lamellar (or layered) structure composed of alternating layers of ferrite (87.5 wt%) and cementite (12.5 wt%) that occurs in some steels and cast irons. During slow cooling of an iron-carbon alloy, pearlite form ...
,
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...
,
ulexite Ulexite (NaCaB5O6(OH)6·5H2O, hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide), sometimes known as TV rock or Television stone, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduc ...
, and
brine Brine is a high-concentration Solution (chemistry), solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of ...
. The most famous service is the sightseeing ''
Tren a las Nubes The Tren a las Nubes ( en, Train to the Clouds) is a tourist train service in Salta Province, Argentina. The service runs along the eastern part of the Salta–Antofagasta railway line of the Belgrano Railway (also known as the "C-14" line) th ...
'' (''train to the clouds''), running between Salta and La Polvorilla. Nowadays, apart from some suburban trains running from Salta to Campo Quijano, the ''Tren a las Nubes'' is the only passenger train serving the line, after the cancellation of the ''Tren Mixto'' Salta-Socompa, that once linked Socompa with Tucumán and
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...
( Retiro Station), via
Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may ...
and
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most po ...
. The Chilean part of the line, also served only by freight trains, was the site of a proposed
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...
line on the route running through Antofagasta.


Gallery

File:Richard Maury with workers.jpg,
Richard Maury Richard Fontaine Maury (Philadelphia, 18 December 1882 – Córdoba, 10 July 1950) was an American railway engineer and naturalized Argentine. He became known for the project of the Argentine "Ramal C-14" of the Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgra ...
(third from left) with railway workers in Salta File:Train to the clouds in Salta -ARGENTINA- 002.jpg, The platforms of Salta station with the Tren a las Nubes in background File:Train to the clouds in Salta -ARGENTINA- 001.jpg, Tren a las Nubes in Salta station File:Tren a las nubes.jpg, El Toro viaduct, between Campo Quijano and El Alisal File:Tren a las nubes crossing bridge.jpg, The Tren a las Nubes crossing a bridge File:Ferrocarriles Argentinos - Carguero en Ingeniero Maury.jpg, A cargo train at Ingeniero Maury station File:Tren a las nubes cruzando Viaducto la Polvorilla.jpg, La Polvorilla viaduct File:Estación Presidente Domingo F. Sarmiento.JPG, Domingo F. Sarmiento station File:Estación Laguna Seca.JPG, Laguna Seca station File:Estación Tolar Grande (FCGB) cropped.jpg, Tolar Grande station File:Oficinas FCAB.jpg, Antofagasta station building


See also

* List of highest railways in the world * South Trans-Andean Railway (Argentina-Chile): proposed line linking
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 provincial ...
to Lonquimay."Work starts on trans-Andean link"
'' Railway Gazette International'' *
Trans-Andean railways The Trans-Andean railways provide rail transport over the Andes. Several are either planned, built, defunct, or waiting to be restored. They are listed here in order from north to south. Colombian Railways * Feb 2011 - The Chinese Government p ...
: rail services in the Andean and atlantic countries. *
Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Trasandino) was a combined rack ( Abt system) and adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata Pass, to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in C ...
(Argentina-Chile): defunct line, pending reconstruction, linking Mendoza to
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...
.


References


External links


Historia del Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Salta
on Amigos del Tren (archived, 7 Jan 2011)
El Ramal C-14 y el Tren a las Nubes
(archived, 4 Dec 2017)

on Markus' Classic Trains
Tren a las Nubes official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salta Antofagasta Railway Railway lines in Argentina Railway lines in Chile Railway lines opened in 1948 International railway lines Metre gauge railways in Argentina Metre gauge railways in Chile Salta Province Jujuy Province Antofagasta Province 1948 establishments in Argentina Puna de Atacama