Virtual Railfan Tour of Chile - Ramal Talca a Constitucion - Bizarre Narrow Gauge

 

The line from Talca to Constitucion is the only narrow gauge (1 meter) line still in operation in Chile.  Although designated a national monument even in 2001 it looked to be living on borrowed time.

Talca is on the broad gauge main line south. There are two narrow gauge trains a day in each direction leaving from the two termini around 0730 and 1645. There is just one passing siding where the trains meet. 

We arrived at the Talca station early in the morning to buy our tickets. Having to wait outside for the station to open we witnessed a bizarre scene. An ancient car drove slowly up driven by an old man accompanied by an old lady. The car had obviously rolled over as the passenger's side roof was bent in heavily and the passenger had to lean in sideways to clear the roof.  There was no glass in the car at all - but the motor seemed to work alright.

The station opened and there was a mad scramble for tickets after which we rushed out on to the platform to look for a train.

The platform was desolate

The yard was desolate

The whole area was desolate

This is a recent plan of the railway at Talca with the narrow gauge on the left/west side

Finally we saw our ferrobus

We set off in a comfortably crowded train. The first part was alongside the broad gauge line and through the first request stop at Colin, a type of Chilean bird.

Gonzales Bastias is where the two trains meet

Everybody got out here as it was the social highlight of the trip

The station is only busy twice a day but we were given a hearty send off.

Arrival at Constitucion

There is just a single line although there must be a turntable somewhere to turn to the single ended motor coach

There was not a great deal to see in the town so rather than wait until 1645 we took a bus back to Talca

There are a number of videos on Youtube, mostly in Spanish.