 High above Tocopilla, an iconic Boxcab leads a train down to Reverso. | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main region(s) | Plains of Northern Antofagasta province | ||
| Parent company | SQM | ||
| Dates of operation | 1890–2016 | ||
| Predecessor | ACN&R, TCPP, SIT | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | ||
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC | ||
| Track length | 227 km (141 mi) | ||
| No. of tracks | Single | ||
| Highest elevation | 1,454 m (4,770 ft) | ||
| |||
The Tocopilla railway was a mountain railway built to serve the sodium nitrate mines in the Toco area of Antofagasta Region, Chile. With a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), it ran from the port of Tocopilla on the Pacific coast up to a height of 4,902 feet (1,494 m) with gradients up to 1 in 24.[1] The line was electrified in the mid-1920s,[2] and expanded in 1930 with the addition of lines serving new areas of mining.
Running from María-Elena to Tocopilla, it was the last operating nitrate railway in Chile, and the last operating section of a railway system that moved caliche ore to processing plants and nitrate to the port of Tocopilla. It was a magnet for rail fans before closing in August 2015 after severe rainfall damaged the tracks to the extent that the owner decided it was beyond economic repair.
Its history was influenced primarily by two factors: the rise and fall of the Chilean nitrate industry in particular SQM and its predecessors, and the evolution of railway traction technology from steam to electric and diesel motive power. In the 1980s, the Chilean government initiated a program to revive and modernize the Tocopilla Railway. The railway was refurbished, and new locomotives and rolling stock were introduced.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
RSwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Newman, Ian Thomson (9 December 2013). "Commuter rail booms in Chile". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2025.