The Ferro Carril Fin Del Mundo is one of a small number of locations in the world pursuing more efficient steam traction. The work was originally inspired by the Argentinian locomotive engineer L. D. Porta, who was a consultant to the railway for a number of years. There are various diesel locomotives on the line but the mainstay of the tourist trains are three oil-burning steam locomotives arranged generally according to the Porta system and, I think, using 'Lempor' (Lemaitre - Porta) drafting. As far as I understand, combustion oxygen is supplied by steam which is dried by pre-heating through a helical tube before being used to atomise the diesel fuel. The divergent cone chimney is characteristic of the Porta system, as is the small tube which discharges steam upwards at an angle acoss the mouth of the chimney. On oil-burning locos, the firedoor is, of course, kept closed, but an upwards-angled inspection tube allows the flame status to be checked whilst standing on the footplate.Two of the locomotives are 0-4-0 + 0-4-0 Garretts. The third steam locomotive is a 2-6-2 side tank of attractive, elderly appearance. All three locomotives are normally in use, as departures are normally a 'flight' of three trains in one direction, followed by three returning trains. Train control is by one person acting as a train despatcher using radio.
Sunday, 18 February 2007
'Antarctic Dream' technical notes
'Antarctic Dream' was built in Holland for the Chilean Navy and has an electric propulsion system. When de-commissioned by the Navy, she was privately purchased and converted into, I think, one of the more luxurious vessels doing Antarctic trips. We had 70 passengers - maximum capacity is about 82.
On entering the engine room, the Reverse Osmosis plant for de-salinating sea water lies to our left, the Chlorination Plant to the right. Moving further into the engine room, we pass three electrical control panels for 110, 220 and 440 volts. We then come to the engine room telegraph, a twin to the unit on the bridge. On ships, these always used to be a pair of interconnected 3-phase 'Selsyns' and I found no evidence that 'Antarctic Dream is different. Opposite the telegraph is what appears to be the control panel for the direction and speed of the screw. At a lower level, three compression-ignition ('diesel') engines are mounted fore-and-aft across the width of the hull. Each engine is a Cummins V12 developing around 1,200 horse power and it appears that all three engines are normally kept running. Each engine is directly-coupled to a 440 volt d.c. Main Generator. To the stern of the Main Generators, there is a single, huge d.c. motor, mounted so as to drive the single propellor shaft which is on the centre-line of the ship. Any one Main Generator is capable of driving the ship.
Leaving Santiago
Sunday, 18-Feb-2007:
Written Sunday evening, 22:00 hours:
Well, I arrived in Santiago last night and, already, I'm leaving. I've started to write up some notes but I'll publish them later. Every computer I get to has a different keyboard, hence the missing apostrophes in this post (now corrected). I'm checked in on a Quantas Code Share to Auckland, which means it's actually a Lan Chile flight and it's the Lan Chile lounge I'm sending this from.
This is the long, overnight leg where I'll lose a complete day crossing the International Date Line.
More soon!
Chile's Railways
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.
Santiago
18-Feb-2007: This is my second visit to Santiago - I was here around a year ago. I'm still a little tired from yesterday, so I have a leisurely breakfast and it's nearly 9.30 am when I set of for the nearest Metro station, Los Leones, just a couple of hundred yards from the hotel. I go 12 stops to Estation Centrale. It's fairly quiet but a nice space. I look at where I might go to by train, but defer the decision until later. Instead, I start to walk back towards where I've come from, looking at the architecture and trying to take it all in. Just like the first time, I'm very taken with Santiago.
After a few miles of walking (!), I reach the church and convent of San Francisco. There's a recommended ecclesiastical museum here, so I make a visit. The buildings, paintings and artefacts are mainly 300 - 500 years old. Very interesting, very peaceful. The cloisters enclose a garden with a number of now-mature trees. There's a noisy cockerel strutting around the garden and he comes up to me in obvious anticipation. I look up and spot a plastic bag hanging in a tree. I reach it down and, as I guessed, it's birdseed. So the cockerel gets a little food before I leave.
I cross the wide boulevard I've been walking along using the access stairways to the Metro station of Santa Lucia. Can you think of a more delicious name for a major street than "The Avenue of the Liberator Bernard O'Higgins"? The Cerro Santa Lucia is in front of me. This is a small, steep hill turned into gardens with a network of paths and steps, a castellated lookout point (good views over the city make the climb worthwhile), chapel, ornamental staircases and fountains - a pot-pourri of styles that I find irresistible. Although there is no charge for entry, the charming security guards do require you to place your name and passport number on their list. Passport number? My passport is tucked away in the hotel safe and I certainly don't remember the number but, that's OK, they say. A rather bizarre piece of officialdom which just adds to the charm for me.
Slightly glowing from my exertions, I return to the Santa Lucia station and catch the subway back to my hotel. It's hotel check out time, but I decide to pay to keep the room until this evening, when I actually need to leave. So, after a shower, I go down to the lobby bar for a Coca Cola. Then it's back on the subway to the main railway station. I find subways are a good place for people watching - you can watch how the locals go about their lives without standing out too much, assuming you're not dressed too obviously as a tourist and festooned with an expensive camera.
It's just after 1.00 pm now, and Estacion Centrale is really thronged now. There's noise and bustle, but everybody seems good-natured. It's hot, so I decide on an ice cream. Once I work out I want a "cono vanilla", I get an excellent and cheap ice cream. Since it's a Macdonalds ice cream booth, there's also a wide range of 'McFlurry' type products at four times the price.
I decide to travel to San Francisco, partly 'cos that's the name of the hotel in Santiago a couple of friends off the boat were staying at, partly because that was the name of the museum I'd visited, partly for comic value ('no, not that San Francisco') and largely because I thought I could pronounce it.
Successfully armed with a ticket, I board a quite-presentable electric train for the 50 minute journey South. We're soon batting along, with a lot of whistling for the numerous foot and road level crossings we pass. In the poorer districts, there are a lot of rather indifferent-looking blocks of flats with a few wooden shacks on railway land. There's a lot of rubbish just lying around.
What strikes me most is the frequency of little informal shrines right on the trackside. They look just like the Spirit Houses you find in the far East. They vary in construction from wood to brick, simple to elaborate, some unkempt, some clearly tended. One even sports a cane settee facing the shrine, presumably for the comfort of those left behind when they visit the departed.
We pass vineyards and, in the distance, the further mountains are unusually still tipped with snow. There's been a lot of unseasonal rain recently and, although it's hot and dry today, we run parallel to a country road which is still flooded to a few inches with traffic ploughing through and sending up showers of water. As the terrain becomes more hilly, we cross a couple of wide river beds which drain tremendous amounts of water when the snows melt but, today, there's only a small flow.
San Francisco is a small town straggling along a fairly main road. On a side road, an informal street market is selling shoes. There's municipal offices (closed), a fire station, a host of shops and bars (all open but not particularly busy) and private houses very well maintained by their owners. It's Sunday afternoon and it's hot and nobody seems keen to do too much. Nearer the station, there's more modest housing.
The original station building has been nicely restored and, although automatic ticket barriers have been installed, they're not yet in use. I have no difficulty purchasing my ticket to return to Alameda - the new name for the Santiago terminus.
The electric train is on time and whisks me back to the city, progressively filling up at each stop. A lot of people board at Zoo station where, as you might imagine, there's a zoo which is a popular weekend destination for young families.
By the time we're back in Santiago, I'm becoming tired, so I return to Los Leones on the subway, buy some confectionery and soft drinks in a nearby supermarket which is very busy and walk back to the haven of my hotel to prepare for my evening departure.
