Since my last visit to Chile in 2004 I've been planning to return, and this year all the pieces fell into place. And these are the results, which I hope you will enjoy. I think the two railways featured in this gallery, the Antofagasta and Bolivia (FCAB) and the Ferrocarril Tocopilla al Toco (FCTT) of mining company Soqumich are possibly among the most interesting operations anywhere in the world. The FCAB is a heavy haul metre gauge railway, on which Chile and Bolivia's mining industries rely. In Chile copper mining has enjoyed a boom over the past decade, hence the power hungry FCAB's acquisition of second hand power from Australia, Colombia and Canada.
North of Antofagasta SQM's nitrate extraction and processing operation, the last in Chile, continues at Maria Elena and Pedro de Valdivia in the harsh conditions of the nitrate pampa. The finished product is shipped over the former FCTT to Tocopilla for export, which despite the acquisition of modern electric power still relies on their 85 year old 1500v GE box cabs over the difficult ascent/descent of the coast range, on which the gradient is never less than 1 in 25 (4%). But the box cabs days probably are numbered, so long as the railway and their locomotive builder - Casa Grande Motori in Santiago - can iron out the bugs in the new locomotives, which were assembled locally from imported components (from Siemens?). We shall see. The final few pictures were taken in the rain on Saturday with Santiago resident Alan Miller during my stopover on the way home, we chased two trains carrying domestic waste from Santiago to a land fill site at Montenegro, a Chilean bin-liner. Results were mixed thanks to a greasy rail (no Railhead Treatment Trains here).

Finally, Chile is a great place to visit whether you are in to trains or not. The country is endlessly fascinating, the geography amazingly varied and the people are extremely welcoming. A knowledge of Spanish is useful but not essential. Driving standards are not too dissimilar to Europe, although minor roads are often unsurfaced. I had no problems at all taking pictures, just a few curious stares but no more than one gets at home. Chilean railwaymen are also extremely friendly, never was I told that I could not take pictures.

So here is a snapshot of a week in Chile in October 2012.

My thanks to Mel Turner for an up to date FCAB roster which has enabled me to identify the variety of motive power, both indigenous and second hand that the FCAB employs.

Update: sadly, following an exceptional weather event in 2014, the FCTT has ceased operations. Torrential rain, almost unknown in Tocopilla, washed the railway out near Reverso. Given the reduction in mining operations at Pedro de Valdivia Soquimich are now trucking nitrate from Maria Elena to Tocopilla..