Virtual Railfan Tour of Peru 1997 - Cerro de Pasco

Cerro de Pasco Railway locomotive at La Oroya. No 37 is an EMD locomotive of May 1966

We arrived late at La Oroya which is at 3745 meters or 12787 feet above sea level.  There was just time for a meal and then bed. One trick the locals would try on tourists was to give them a glass of beer.  The beer was imported in bottles from Lima at sea level. They would innocently ask if one needed a glass.  Beer  bottled at sea level and uncapped at this altitude will bubble enormously - all over the table. It is much easier to do as the locals - drink it out of the bottle.

Next morning we were up early to travel to Cerro de Pasco. Our cars were put on a freight train.  The railway was concerned about the possibility of guerrilla attacks and all trains ran with a flat car ahead of the locomotive to explode any mines.  The railway cut off the flat car for our run pasts.

The line from Oroya climbs up to the mining center of Cerro de Pasco which is at 4330 meters, 14210 feet above sea level

The climb included a zig zag which was convenient for photography

The nurse accompanied us on this trip keeping a sharp look out for anyone suffering from altitude sickness.

The railway backed up the train for our runpasts on the high plateau

Cerro de pasco

I am very proud of this picture. A group of us were in the Cerro de Pasco yard looking at this locomotive which was not in a good location. Somebody said "we should ask the crew to back up for us".  I dutifully climbed into the cab and asked the crew in my fractured Spanish to "regressar por favor". Amazingly the crew understood and we got our picture. No. 38 is an EMD locomotive of July 1976.

We didn't have much time in Cerro de Pasco but I was intrigued to see these ground hugging plants living at this altitude.