Copper from the Salvador smelter heading to port
Exploration drilling at Cerro Casale in Chile. You can just make out the camp in the background which was at around 3800m (12,467 feet) elevation. I am standing near the top of Cerro Casale which was around 4600m (15,091 feet) elevation. Definitely nosebleed country. It is stark country but beautiful in its own way.
I worked at several mining and exploration sites in the Copiapo region in the mid to late 1990's. These were high altitude operations with the high point at around 5100 meters (16,732 feet) at one site.
You learn to pace yourself very quickly at altitude or you pay for it. On one occasion I was spotting drill sites on a steep slope at around 4500m (14,760 feet) elevation. The sites were being prepared by a bulldozer and some of the pickets marking the site downslope were getting knocked down by debris rolling down the slope.
I shuffled down to the pickets and put them back up, then looked up the steep incline and realized that I had to get back up to the truck. What took 2 minutes to go down took about 20 minutes to get back up, gasping for air the entire time.
The dozer working on drill sites at Pancho (4500m el.). I hiked up and down this hill a few times and realized how hard it is to work at altitude.
Many people don't believe me when I say there are flamingos in the Andes. There were several reserves protecting the saline lakes that the flamingos frequented in the region.
Sleeping at altitude was also challenging as you would sometimes wake up choking for air, feeling like you had someone sitting on your chest. And then there were the fairly frequent earthquakes that shook things, usually when you were sleeping. On one particular night it sounded and felt like someone had driven a truck into the side of the converted container that housed our quarters.
Working in an open pit mine was interesting, especially going in and out of the mine while driving a Toyota pickup truck between 150 ton mine haul trucks. There is a reason you have a flag on the pickup truck; the haul truck drivers visibility was limited so anything you could do to alert them you were there was a good idea. You hoped the truck in front of you had bad brakes and the one behind you had good brakes...
Part of the routine was the regular rotation "down the hill" to Copiapo (around 900m elevation), generally every 2-3 weeks. Since we were not part of the regular crew working there (we were doing exploration drilling at the site on an on again, off again basis) our rotation was less regular.
When I went down the hill I was able to take some time to do some exploring of the region. I quickly found the railway station which had a small yard and shops. I talked my way into the shops on a couple of occasions and found out that most of the railway activity was further north between the copper mining operations and the port of Chañaral on the Chilean coast. Chile has an extensive narrow gauge railway system that covers much of the northern part of the country. Unfortunately at the time (and today) only a relatively small portion of the system saw any significant traffic.
As well the Paipote smelter near Copiapo has a rail hauled slag train that is easily visible from nearby roads. When the slag is dumped a wave of heat washes over you even from several hundred meters away.
Night time slag dumps were spectacular. In the years since I have found out via Google Earth that you can basically drive right up to the locomotive shops at Paipote. If only Google Earth was available in the 1990's...
Right of way maintenance with equipment people from North America would be familiar with, albeit riding on narrow gauge trackwork
I trekked around the region around Copiapo on a number of occasions, basically just driving around to see what I could find. This was in the days before the internet so what little information I could find didn't offer much information on what was happening in the area.
I caught a reasonable amount of rail traffic and interesting operations in the Copiapo region of the country. I have more information with the photos below. I haven't been back to Chile since 1998 so I am sure a lot has changed since then. Looking at Google Maps it appears that most traces of the narrow gauge railway have been erased in Copiapo. I'm glad I caught what I did while there.
This small 0-4-0 switcher sits outside the old Copiapo railway station which was a museum at the time
The first steam locomotive in Chile sits in a park in Copiapo, unfortunately without its tender
GE U12C 16001 undergoing repairs at the shop in Copiapo
16001 undergoing a shake down run after the repairs carried out at the shop. This was the only rail activity I saw on this portion of the railway.
Export GE A-1-A, basically a 70T with low height cab
The FCN was the Ferrocarril Del Norte, the government owned railway name until the line was privatized and renamed Ferronor. This was the old paint scheme.
Diego Del Almargo is a major division point on the railway. A decent sized yard with facilities.
Ferronor GR-12 13002 builders plate, built in 1962 for the FCN
Unfortunately the lighting this day was less than stellar for photography
Ferronor version of a caboose
Common ore car type on Ferronor
I "think" this is the yard in Copiapo... my note taking was less than stellar
There were a lot of tank cars on the line, I believe they were in sulphuric acid service from the copper smelter in Potrerillos.
Vallenar has a engine servicing facility and small yard. Unfortunately there was no one at the gate so I had to settle for a view from the top of the valley that has a nice viewpoint for the town. Several of the GE locomotives in these views appear to have been re-engined with EMD prime movers based on their exhaust stack arrangements.
Export EMD switcher at Chañaral. This was where the main port for Potrerillos was. Based on recent Google Earth views it looks like much of this has since been abandoned.
Export SW1200 on narrow gauge trucks. A bit of North America in Chile
EMD export G12(?) on the shop back tracks riding on shop trucks
G12 at the locomotive shops and yard in a little town relatively close to Potrerillos. I can't find the name on Google Maps.
Narrow gauge caboose. Not the most aestheticly pleasing caboose I've seen.
Freight heading up the hill to Potrerillos. Two EMD running in notch 8 through the canyon was something to hear.
Plinthed Baldwin 2-6-2T in Potrerillos. Based on Google Earth images this locomotive is no longer on display in the town and it appears that you can no longer access the area as it is a gated camp now.
Westbound freight from Potrerillos to Chañaral in the fading evening sun. The flatcars have copper anodes for export.
The Minas de Algorobo hauls iron ore from it's iron ore mine in Mina Los Colorados to the Port at Huesco. I stumbled across this westbound loaded train on it's way to port. The paint scheme on the EMD GR-12 is quite nice.
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