Agua Santa nitrate railway
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main region(s) | Plains of Northern Antofagasta province | ||
| Dates of operation | 1890–1931/1951 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 2'6" 76cm | ||
| Track length | 71 km (44 mi) | ||
| No. of tracks | Single | ||
| |||
The Ferrocarril de Agua Santa (in English: Agua Santa Railway) was a railway line in the old province of Tarapacá in Chile between 1890 and 1931.
History[edit]
As part of the effort to extract nitrate from the Atacama desert, on December 4, 1889, the Chilean government called for tenders for the construction and concession of a railway between Caleta Buena (a port between Pisagua and Iquique) and the nitrate works around Agua Santa. On 19 March 1890, Joaquín Lira Errázuriz' proposal was accepted.[1] To this end, the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Agua Santa was established on 3 November 3. In addition to the Agua Santa saltpeter works, Abra, Primitiva, Valparaíso and Irene were also served.[2][3]
The last nail was put in the track, thus completing its first section on 19 September 1890, the very last day of the 6 month time limit imposed by the authorities.[4]
The nitrate was brought down from the plains down to the port using inclined planes.
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On 30 January 1892, the construction of branches to the Rosario, Mercedes and Progreso works were authorized and in September 1893 to Huara.
Around 1896, further branches connected the Puntunchara, Rosario de Huara, Constancia, Progreso, Josefina, Tránsito, Aurora, Amelia, Slavia, Valparaíso[2], Democracia[5] Jazpampa, Pacha, Aguada, Angela, Sacramento, San Jorge and Tres Marías[6] works.
In May 1907 a branch was laid to Negreiros station.[7][8]
In September 1915, in accordance with the terms of the concession as granted in 1889, the track and rolling stock passed into the ownership of the State. The Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Agua Santa signed a lease to continue using the system.[9]
In 1931 the Ferrocarril de Agua Santa ceased operations,[3] and 5 years later the nitrate works of the same name also ended its production.[2] In 1935 part of the track was lifted.[10] In 1940 floods destroyed part of the route that was still intact. Some of the remaining infrastructure was transferred to the Iquique - Pintados Railway[11] in 1941, which later leased it to the Compañía Salitrera de Tarapacá y Antofagasta , which in turn operated the tracks until 7 December 1951, when decree 2432 authorized their early return and the lifting of the tracks.[12]
Alignment[edit]
Santiago Marín Vicuña described in 1916 the railway line with a trunk route that went from Caleta Buena to Negreiros, and a branch to Huara. The distances on the branch to Huara are measured taking Caleta Buena as km0.[9]
| Station | km | Altitude
(m) |
|---|---|---|
| Main line | ||
| Caleta Buena | 0 | 741 |
| Central | 22 | 978 |
| Carmen | 29 | 1105 |
| Agua Santa | 42 | 1176 |
| Negreiros | 46 | 1146 |
| Huara branch | ||
| Lagarto | 42 | 1176 |
| Rosario | 50 | 1119 |
| Huara | 54 | 1107 |
References[edit]
- ^ Santiago Marín Vicuña (1916). "Los ferrocarriles de Chile". Biblioteca Nacional Digital. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ a b c "Oficina Agua Santa". Álbum del Desierto. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ a b Ian Thomson (January 2005). "LA NITRATE RAILWAYS CO. LTD.: LA PÉRDIDA DE SUS DERECHOS EXCLUSIVOS EN EL MERCADO DEL TRANSPORTE DE SALITRE Y SU RESPUESTA A ELLA". Historia. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ Loayza, Alfredo (1988). "Caleta Buena: breve episodio del salitre" (PDF). Camanchaca. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ Paul Spaudo (17 February 2005). "Ferrocarril". La Estrella de Iquique. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "El espejismo de los lugares. La construcción del espacio en el desierto tarapaqueño. Huara, siglos XIX-XX". Revista de Geografía Norte Grande. December 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Santiago Marín Vicuña (1916). "Los ferrocarriles de Chile". Biblioteca Nacional Digital. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Ministerio de Industria y Works Públicas (4 September 1893). "RAMAL DE FERROCARRIL ENTRE EL KILOMETRO 35 DE LA LINEA QUE ESTIENDE DE AGUA SANTA A CALETA BUENA I EL CANTON SALITRERO DE HUARA". LeyChile. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ a b Santiago Marín Vicuña (1916). "Los ferrocarriles de Chile". Biblioteca Nacional Digital. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Loayza, Alfredo (1988). "Caleta Buena: breve episodio del salitre" (PDF). Camanchaca. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ Wilfrid Simms. "Los Ferrocarriles de Chile volumen 3". Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Mensaje de S.E. el Presidente de la República don Gabriel González Videla : al Congreso Nacional al inaugurar el período ordinario de sesiones, 1952". Biblioteca Nacional Digital. 21 May 1952. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
