Tourism with the Train - Ferrocarril
Tourism with the Train - Ferrocarril
Railroad
The construction of the railroad of Ecuador constitutes a symbol of national unit that helped to the progress of the country. The precursor of the work was President Gabriel García Moreno who began this project after the Constituent Assembly of 1861 authorizing the recruiting of national and foreign companies, so that the railroad could be built.
In 1873, Gabriel García Moreno, puts to service 91 km of railroad in the Ecuadorian coast from Yaguachi until Milagro. After his death, 22 years later, in 1895, with the victory of the Liberal Revolution, the work was recaptured by the General Eloy Alfaro.
After his death, the liberal government of General Eloy Alfaro, in the beginnings of the XX century, recaptured the work and he delegated the analysis and study of a new layout that allows to continue with the construction of the railroad with the North American engineer Sighald Muller. After two years of investigation, Muller called to the project “the world most difficult railroad” due to the geographical obstacles that they should face.
At the moment, the railroad serves as tourist attraction, using several routes: in the itinerary Riobamba – “Nose of the Devil” (nariz del Diablo) the train descends 800 meters in the zig-zag in the rocky formation. This slope allows to sense the change of climates from the highland towards the coast.
The route Quito - Riobamba (temporarily suspended) it crosses the “Avenue of Volcanoes", denominated by the German Alexander Von Humboldt. Along the voyage several mountains of the Sierra (Andean Highlands) are present and the colossus Chimborazo is observed with ist 6310 meters.
So many were the problems, that General Alfaro was willing give the governmet charge to his vice-president, supervising himself the construction of the railroad. A golden nail was placed by América Alfaro, the president's daughter, in the last rail in the station of Chimbacalle, finishing the biggest infrastructure of the Ecuador. The train arrived at the station of Chimbacalle in Quito on the 25th of June of 1908 being inaugurated officially with a great national civic party. This great work was supplemented on August 26th 1 957 with the tract Quito - San Lorenzo (373.4 kilometers) and giving an modernizing impulse to the country.
Other destinies, cities y sites
Quito - Guayaquil - Cuenca - Loja - Galapagos - San Cristobal - Ambato - Esmeraldas - Portoviejo - Guaranda
Vilcabamba - Mitad del Mundo - Ilinizas- Misahualli - Atacames - Baños - Otavalo - Chimborazo- Sangay
After new studies were done, it was solved to build the railroad line that would unite the coast with the Ecuadorian Highlands (Sierra), being the new constructor the North American Archer Harman, who began the work using indigenous and black workers, which received Jamaican support of four thousand hired man, to reinforce the construction of the tract that crosses the county of Chimborazo where the river Chanchán damaged the bases and the foundations continually.
The implacable climate, the bites of snakes, illnesses and the fever of mosquitos charged the life of dozens of workers and produced the escape of others. It was not strange to see several cadavers, which were driven in platforms and buried in common graves.
The route Quito – Cotopaxi – Quito leeds to one of the most important reservations in the country, the National Park Cotopaxi, located at the bottom of the highest volcano in the world, the Cotopaxi, with 5.897 meters.
Finally, the tract of 45 kilometers Ibarra - Primer Paso, leads to the autoferro (train) down to the basin of the river Mira with tunnels constructed only by picks and shovels.
http://www.hosteria-la-quinta.com
Services
The National Company of State Railways, provides mixed transportation service, that is, for passengers, tourists and cargo. For this purpose, it has diesel-electric and steam trains, railways and rail trucks that move on short routes.
http://trenecuador.com/
+593 2 265-0421
The routes currently in operation are:
Alausí - Nariz del Diablo (train)
Days: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with autoferro
Time: 07:00
Departure point: Alausi Station
Article taken from
EL UNIVERSO
The Guayaquil-Quito railway refuses to die
Gabriel Viteri Redactor
ALAUSÍ, CHIMBORAZO
The powerful whistle alerts passengers, almost all foreigners, that the time is approaching to board the train to start the journey towards the Devil's Nose, one of the main tourist attractions in the Sierra.
Ibarra - Primer Paso con autocarril Days: Monday to Friday
Time: 07:00
Weekend hours: 08:00
Starting point: Ibarra Station
Telephone: (06) 2950-390
Overall cost: USD
San Lorenzo - El Progreso
Every day with iron trucks
Time: according to demand
Starting point: San Lorenzo station
Overall cost: USD
Quito - Cotopaxi - Quito
50 km
Days: Saturdays and Sundays
Starting point: Chimbacalle station
Time: 08:00
Overall cost: USD
Return time to Quito (Cotopaxi Station): 14:00
Arrival to Quito Chimbacalle Station: 17:00
* Purchase of tickets at central offices: Bolívar 443 and García Moreno.
http://www.quito.gov.ec/
turismo/f_t_ferro.htm
FIGURES
5 provincial prefects and 15 mayors met last Friday in Alausí to demand the rehabilitation of the railway.
$ 1,500,000 is the approximate cost of rebuilding the section of the railway line (km 124), where a landslide was registered on the Chanchán river.
$ 11 costs the passage from Riobamba to the Devil's Nose (round trip) and $ 7.80 if the passenger embarks in Alausí.
90 km is the distance between the towns of Riobamba and Alausí, the only section that is in operation on the train route
On Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, a train with eight wagons runs along the road between Riobamba and Nariz del Diablo, the only section of the Guayaquil - Quito route that is in service, and only to transport passengers who want to know the beautiful mountain landscapes.
Hundreds of travelers pile up on the roofs of the wagons: Germans, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italians, Americans and other nationalities, who want to discover the colossal engineering work, built at the beginning of the last century.
The Devil's Nose has a magical charm for visitors, as the train zigzags up and down to cross the Chanchán River and continue towards higher places in the Andes.
Tourists express their admiration for the unique landscape, as is the case of the Spanish Sabas and Juan Carlos, but they also reproach that the service needs to be improved, since there is much disorganization in the station and discomfort for traveling.
The low maintenance of locomotives, wagons, tracks and other equipment resulted in service interruptions in several sections, making the railway in agony; however, there are plans to rehabilitate it.
In the route that the train travels they are populated as Durán, Yaguachi, Chobo, Milagro, Naranjito, Bucay, Cumandá, Ventura, Pistishí, Sibambe, Alausí, Tixán, etc.
The authorities and representatives of institutions of the communities located along the railroad refuse to witness the death of the railroad, that is why last Friday the prefects and mayors met in Alausí, who decided to demand that the government rehabilitate this means Communication.
Riobamba - Nariz del Diablo - Riobamba(train)
Days: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with autoferro
Time: 07:00
Starting point: Riobamba Station
Address: 10 de Agosto Avenue and Carabobo
Telephone: (03) 2961-909
Overall cost: USD
http://www.hosteria-la-quinta.com
CI
Locomotora a vapor en la Nariz del Diablo
