Virtual Railfan Tour of Ecuador 1988 - Duran to Milagro

 

Special train at Milagro
I visited Ecuador in 1988 and 1993. Both trips were with a Trains Unlimited Tour. They were both incredible experiences and although the routes taken were similar, I will cover them separately. The emphasis was upon steam locomotives and riding on the roof.

An overall system map of this 3' 6" gauge railway. There is a branch from Sibambe to Cuenca which was served by ferrobusses. On my trips several sections were impassable because of land slides, washouts etc. and we made road detours.  In recent years much of the system has become unused although sections have been revived for tourist excursions. 

You may have seen a TV program of a tourist trip over this line where the guests were greeted by groups of locals dressed in costumes and singing local songs. Ugh! Luckily my trips were down to earth.  Having seen the TV program I wouldn't want to go again.

Today we will travel from Duran to Milagro. We flew into Guayaquil and decided that we didn't want to stay any longer than necessary in this hot. humid and not particularly safe city.  The railway actually starts on the east bank of the river at Duran.  To get there we had to take the ferry across the river.  There was a very long line up for the ferry but being gringos our party went right to the front of the line. I didn't appreciate this.

Duran is one of the locomotive maintenance shops where a couple of steam locomotives were being readied

There was also a good deal of equipment stored here.

The railway had a number of ferrobuses

An archbar truck with roller bearings under a ferrobus.  Hard to believe.

While standing here taking pictures of our train being readied  a member of our party had his case stolen. He had been standing with it in between his legs! He lost his money, passport, credit cards - everything. A salutary lesson.

Our first run past was down a town main street


A meet with a ferrobus

Taking water

Our next meet was at Milagro.

Traffic jam at Milagro

We finally see a diesel locomotive at Milagro

Getting ready for an election - Milagro

Oiling round in preparation for the next part of the trip









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