Virtual Railfan Tour of Ecuador 1988 - Cuenca to Alausi by Ferrobus and Steam Train

 

We had to get up early to join our Ferrobus for the return to Sibambe and transfer to steam to return to Alausi.  The windshield has withstood a number of scrapes.

While the branch line from Cuenca to Sibambe has been torn up Cuenca now has a new light rail system for movements within the city. Quite a contrast to the Ferrobus

We made our way quickly to Chunchi where the tracks start to drop down into the valley.

The reason for the hurry then became evident. We stopped at the head if the valley and waited for our steam train which had come out from Bucay and would meet us at Sibambe

Almost an aerial view


We moved along to pace the train below


We are now getting lower and closer
At Sibambe we had a cross platform transfer of ourselves and our bags

The crew took water while we made the transfer.

We left Sibambe in a hurry and quickly ascended the Devil's Nose. The idea was to take a look at the Alausi loops. The problem was that there was a service train following us.
The loops were constructed to allow the railway to climb into Alausi,

As we climbed the loop we could see the service train below us.

To my consternation we then stopped at the top, got out and our train backed down to the middle loop for a picture

The service train was crawling up behind our train. Note the trolley attached on the back.

Before we could get underway the service train caught up to us. The bemused crew waited for us to get into town. In the meantime the passengers got out to see what was happening.

We finally arrived at Alausi.  There was one more day on this line that would take us to Urbina summit and disaster - sort of.

















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