Tren de las Nubes
Encyclopedia : T : TR : TRE : Tren de las Nubes
Tren a las Nubes (Spanish for Train to the Clouds) is a touristic train in Salta Province, Argentina, that connects the Argentine Northwest with the border with Chile at the Andes range, over 4,000 meters above mean sea level.
The train leaves once a week from General Belgrano station in the city of Salta for the 15 hours, 434 kilometres round trip to the viaduct La Polvorilla, located 4,220 meters above sea level. The curved viaduct is 224 meters long and 70 meters high, weighting 1,600 tonnes. From Salta, the train enters first the Valle de Lerma and then the Quebrada del Toro before reaching the Puna. It is known as the Train to the Clouds because clouds can be often seen around and under the bridges and slopes the train crosses.
An average of 30,000 tourists visit the train each year, which is also the only connection of some of the small town on its path, and is thus used by their local inhabitants.The train runs from April to November, and leaves at 7:00 returning to Salta around 22:00. During the summer, form December to March, the Tren al Sol ("Train to the Sun") drives from Salta to the Diego de Almagro station, at 3,500 meters of height.
The rail path has 29 bridges, 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, 2 ringlets and 2 zigzags. Because of the design decision of not using dented wheels for traction, the path had to be designed to avoid step slopes. The zigzags allow the train to claim up driving back and forth parallel to the slope of the mountain.
The convoy of 10 wagons can carry 640 passengers at an average speed of 35 km/m. The diesel-electric General Electric locomotive with 2,475 HP has a weight of over 100 tonnes, and consumes around 6 litres of fuel for every kilometre. The train, that stops in each station for the tourist to get off, see the town and buy local handicrafts, has a restaurant, folkloric events, and an on board medic.
The construction of the railway was started in 1921, to connect the North of Argentine with Chile across the Andres, being the La Polvorilla viaduct, the highest of the path, finished on November 7, 1932. The complete railway was inaugurated on February 20, 1948, but it was not until the ate 1970s that it was started being visited by tourists. The path was designed by United States engineer Richard Fontaine Maury, after whom one of the stations has been named.
Stations
This are the stations of the path starting from Salta, with their height in meters above mean sea level.
- Salta (1,187)
- Alvarado (1207)
- Cerrillos (1260)
- Rosario de Lerna (1332)
- Campo Quijano (1520)
- V. Toledo (1587)
- El Alisal (1.806m),
- Chorrillos (2,111)
- Ingeniero Maury (2,358)
- Gobernador Solá (2,550)
- Puerta De Tastil (2675)
- Tacuara (3,036)
- Meseta (2,844)
- Diego de Almagro (3,503)
- Incahuasi (3,553)
- Cachinal (3,739)
- Muñano (3,952)
- Los Patos (3842)
- San Antonio de los Cobres (3.774)
- Mina Concordia (4,144)
- La Polvorilla. (4,220)
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.