GE box-cabs in Chile

GE box-cabs pull chemical freight through the driest desert in the world
Published: Friday, August 21, 2009
FCTT in ChileGeneral Electric B-B electrics 606 and 601 are ready to depart Barriles yard, current terminus of the FCTT's electrification on July 23, 2007. The short train of gondolas is conveying processed nitrate to the shipping terminal at Tocopilla, 17.25 miles and 1.5 hours away, and 3, 231 feet downhill. Photo by: Ian A. Dunn
FCTT in ChileNos. 604 and 603 slip gently around the S-curves approaching the substation, about 3 miles from Barriles, with a loaded train for Tocopilla on July 24, 2007. Photo by: Ian A. Dunn
FCTT in ChileRunning solo, No. 606 takes a short train of empties uphill into Barriles yard. The bogie hoppers are five of a batch of 50 built in June 2007 by AmstedMaxion in Brazil. Photo by: Ian A. Dunn
FCTT in ChileMaking their final descent into Tocopilla on 4-percent grade, Nos. 603 and 604 moderate their speed as they round another of the many 32-degree curves. Photo by: Ian A. Dunn
The Ferrocarril de Tocopilla al Toco, owned by Chile's Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, carries nitrates on narrow gauge from Tocopilla to Barriles, a 17.25-mile journey with 90 minutes of climbing at 4 percent around 32-degree curves. In the October 2009 issue of Trains, we give you all the details of this railroad that owns seven U.S.-built, 80-year-old box-cab electrics, which traverse the Atacama Desert. Here are more of author Ian Dunn's spectacular photos of this South American narrow gauge railroad.
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