Thursday 4 November 1994 (continued)

At Ollague we picked up the Chief Inspector for the Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway who was to be our pilotman while in Chile. There was a slight delay while a radio was fitted. This was essential because the FCAB uses a form of occupancy control system. There was some concern that we would be restricted to freight train speeds but in the event the inspector was happy for us to travel at passenger speeds. This was quite a historic moment. It was the first time in at least 25 years that a Bolivian railcar had penetrated into Chile on a line that was once an integrated operation.
The run to Calama, disappointingly, was in darkness so we did not see how we lost altitude to 7,500 feet. We found breathing to be a little easier but were looking forward to the thick soupy sea level air that we would be enjoying tomorrow.

Friday 4 November 1994

After breakfast we took taxis to the station and continued our descent to sea level. The line was relatively straight as we made our way into the Atacama desert. At Baquedano we changed trains to the special steam charter to La Rioja. This went quite well and there were several run pasts in this fantastic dry country. There was only a short layover at La Rioja and a relatively fast return which was marred by a stop for steam with in sight of Baquedano itself. Lunch was late as the cook had not been able to buy supplies in Calama before we departed.

Arrival in Antofagasta was around 17:00 and so our epic journey across the South American continent had come to a successful conclusion. We made a quick visit to the railway shops where former Newfoundland Railway diesels were being rebuilt and regauged and then arrived at the hotel in good time.

Former Newfoundland Railway diesel

We had a look around the town that was quite busy for a Friday night and had a chopp (draft) beer in a bar. We then found an excellent parrillada where Mary had veal parmigiana and Colin had an assado. In both cases the portions were too big and we had to leave some. There was also a very good red Chilean wine that was rather too much after the beer.

Saturday 5 November 1994

We had a quick visit to the excellent Railway Museum in Antofagasta and then took the bus north along the dry coastline to Tocopilla. On the way we passed the Antofagasta golf course that does not have a blade of grass on it and instead of bunkers and sand traps it has rock formations. There was a short break in the town of Tocopilla and then we went directly to Barriles which is the railway yard at the top of the grade. It was surprisingly cold and we needed our coats. Although the sun was strong there was a brisk wind off the sea that kept things quite cool. The electric operation with 1924 box cab locomotives has only a few months more to go as they are planning to replace them with diesels built in the USA. We all clambered the tiny passenger cars and were soon careening down the grade behind #601 and #602 on a small ledge cut into the barren hillside. Sandwiches, fruit and drinks were offered on the way down. At Quillague we had a meet with #606 and #603 and then there were good fviews high over the town. There was a small shrine on the side of the track by the west switch. The brakeman crossed himself as we walked past. This was a chilling reminder of the difficulties of railroading in this country. #604 was under repair in the shop and #607 was being cannibalized.

So much for rule G!

We left Tocopilla in the early afternoon and drove directly to the airport at Antofagasta. It took a long time to check in but this was not a problem because the flight had been put back by an hour. This caused a small problem at Santiago in that we had to rush through to get the flight to Miami. As it was we were met on arrival and ushered through in a display of Chilean efficiency. The end result was that we made the connection easily and our bags all made it through to Miami with no problems.