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SOME HISTORY
This nowadays well-known railway/tourism undertaking, started as an initiative of Ferrocarril General Belgrano authorities. In November 1971, they decided to run an experimental train with officials and journalists on board.
On July 16, 1972 - 29 years ago - the first official tourist trip took place, and so it did until 1990, when the state railways were privatized. Since 1991, the tourist undertaking "Tren a las Nubes" has remained in the hands of private capitals in Salta.
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NAME ORIGIN
The name "Tren a las Nubes" comes from a color movie filmed by two cameramen from Tucumán - students of the Universidad Nacional - who, in the early 60' , took the Salta-Socompa trip in the international train, which run with the famous steam engine "1300" and departed from Salta Station every Thursday at 11.05 am.
The two cameramen convinced the train driver to make the engine discharge steam when the train reached La Polvorilla viaduct, so that they could film it from the car windows. So they did, and due to the low temperature, the steam discharged by the engine did not dissipate rapidly and remained floating a few moments in La Puna sky, making the filming easier. Their work was then offered to the Railway company, who purchased it and later handed it over to Clarín newspaper journalist Emilio Petcoff to write the script of the documentary. When he watched the film, Petcoff was attracted by the steam that the engine discharged at La Polvorilla and thus he named the work "Tren a las Nubes"
Later on, Ferrocarriles Argentinos adopted this name for the only tourist undertaking available at that moment in the country, which run 240 kilometers over the C 14 branch-line, Salta Antofagasta. |
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If we go back in history, when exploitation of the valuable saltpeter of Antofagasta (Chile) began, extracting riches was extremely difficult due to lack of supplies for miners; food was brought from the Argentinean valleys through The Andes. Mules carried cheese, jerky, and figs, and livestock herding was a real exploit.
By the end of the XIX Century, some people came up with the idea of building a train that would reach the north of Chile, making transportation of minerals easier, and increasing trade between both countries. They intended to build the rails across Huaytiquina way, through which the livestock was driven.
Research delayed the building until 1921, when President Yrigoyen approved the construction, and assigned US engineer Ricardo Fontaine Maury to direct the project. Thus, on February 20, 1921, the first rail of the “Transandino del Norte” (one of its names) was laid, expecting to finish the work in six years; but it was not until 1948 that the Chilean and Argentinean rails at Socompa converged. That same year, in February, the train left Socompa and arrived in Salta the following day. |
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