Sunday, 18-Feb-2007: I've commented before on how successfully I feel the old Santiago terminal of Estacion Centrale has been adapted for modern use. This time I determined to make a short journey.
The station is the terminus of the old Southern Railway joining the capital to the South of the country. The line is now operated by EFE and seems to be divided into two groups of services - the long distance Blue Trains and the stop everywhere 'Metrotren'. I chose the latter and decided on a journey of just under an hour to San Francisco, about 40 miles South of Santiago. Even on a Sunday, there's a train every half hour, although some extra peak period trains are missing. The terminus is now called Alameda, after the district in which it's situated. Signage at the station is minimal and there's no electronic indicators, but, if you look carefully, there's just enough help to get you to the right place. They make widespread use of clockfaces with moveable hands to indicate which service is which.
The line is broad gauge using high-poundage Vignoles (flat-bottom) rail section with fishplates and a variety of rail fastenings. Timber sleepers are still widely used and, on the main line, these are generally in good condition. Considerable lengths of track have been re-laid with pre-cast concrete sleepers. The route and most loops and sidings were electrified on the overhead system some years ago, so I suppose it's around 1500 volts d.c. Catenary structure is old-fashioned and heavy duty, with rigid, fabricated portal structues. There's also extensive use of pre-cast concrete pylons.
Signalling is colour light but elderly. There appear to be two types -
a) searchlight pattern, probably 2-aspect, with electro-mechanical colour change and tubular post
b) 2-aspect signal heads with individual lamps and built-up signal post.
There are a few gantry structures. In most cases, the two aspect signal heads have another, smaller, 2-aspect head fitted lower down the post. On subsidiary lines, the smaller 2-aspect head may appear on its own. The round signal posts usually have a red-white 'barber's pole' colour scheme to assist visibility. The built-up signal posts are fitted with red-white marker plates on the approach side.
A set of replacement signals have been installed along the route, but these are not yet in use. All the new signal heads have been turned through 90 degrees to indicate 'out of use'. The new signals generally have 3 lamp positions (sometimes with positions blanked off), with an additional subsidiary aspect below and to the right.
There is a series of new, concrete equipment rooms, presumably associated with the introduction of the new signals.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif All the passenger trains I saw were multiple unit, reasonably modern and with some form of air conditioning and power operated sliding doors. Normally, doors are released by the guard in each station but they do not open until a passenger control is pressed. The control comprises red and green buttons inside and outside each set of doors. There were some interesting, if elderly, electric locomotives standing around, but I couldn't get photographs from the moving train. There was a Bo-Bo with a conventional pantograph and American-style 'noses' at each end.
