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Chapter 4
The FCE broad gauge network
Main pages
Bariloche line rolling stock •
Com. Rivadavia line extra photos •
Pto. Deseado line extra photos •
Pto. Deseado line extra photos 2 •
Appendices
2 Chronology of Patagonian railway proposals •
3 Bariloche line route itinerary •
4 Com. Rivadavia route itinerary •
5 Pto. Deseado route itinerary •
7 Com. Rivadavia line loco list •
8 Pto. Deseado line loco list •
15 FCP working timetable instructions 1960 •
16 Report on construction 1912 A •
17 Report on construction 1912 B •
21 President Alcorta address •
23 Purchase of wagons decree •
25 Early Patagonian proposals •
26 Progress to Bariloche 1926 •
28 Restructuring report 1953 •
Appendix 25
Early plans for railways in Patagonia
These extracts are from a small collection of pieces about the railways in Patagonia that was found in a source, probably a blog, whose location we have lost.
1 Extract from:–
Director General of the National Railways
Report
Years 1895 – 1898.
Engineer Carlos Maschwitz being Director General, the Directorate observes that there is a necessity of adopting measures intended to develop the construction of new railway lines in conformity with a plan, such that their design may follow a national standard in accordance with the true necessities of the country.
“In such a sense, this Directorate, taking advantage of the experience gained of the general knowledge of the land which the undersigned has, and after carefully considering the requirements of each locality, a general plan for railways to be built can be carefully prepared, with priority given to any other line assisting in its realization.”
Appendix A of the report says:
RAILWAYS TO BE BUILT |
||||
Route |
Gauge |
Length |
Cost/km $ gold |
Total cost of construction |
Neuquen a Nahuel Huapi |
1,676 |
400 |
19,000 |
7,840,000 |
Nahuel Huapi a Chubut |
1,676 |
720 |
15,600 |
11,232,000 |
Nahuel Huapi a Puerto Gallegos |
1,676 |
1,250 |
17,400 |
21,?75,000 |
Santa Cruz |
1,676 |
270 |
13,000 |
3,150,000 |
------------------------------------------
2
An early law which didn't specify the lines involved, though probably what was intended were those noted in the report above.
Law Nº 3638 of 31 December 1897 authorising the Executive Power to carry-out surveys
The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, met in Congress, etc., sanction with the force of
LAW
Clause 1 – Authorise the Executive Power to order the reconnaissance of the land for planning the construction of Railways and Navigations in the territories of Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut and Santa Cruz to be carried out.
Clause 2 – The said works shall be carried out under the immediate direction of the National Department for Engineers, by means of a commission formed of civil engineers and scientific personnel, competent to study the geography and the natural world of the territory over which the network extends.
Clause 3 – The network shall relate to a plan of the population and land usage of the Territories mentioned, correlating the various lines and canals with the ports of the Atlantic Ocean, and with the railway which is being built between Bahía Blanca and the confluence of the Limay and the Neuquén.
Clause 4 – The commissions, in accordance with the instructions which ought to be given to them, shall specify the gauge of the lines in accordance with the topography of the land.
Clause 5 – The surveys shall comprise, in addition to the route of the network:
1 A report in which the fundamental reasons for the adoption of each navigation, each railway and the ports to which they relate are noted.
2 The precise recording and location of the rivers, lakes and streams along the route and an indication of their possible industrial uses.
3 Details of the quality of the earth, of the pastures and of the forests located within the sphere of influence of the network.
4 A descriptive report of the minerals already known about, or which are discovered, within the same sphere of influence, together with the conditions relating to their extraction.
5 A note of the flora and fauna.
Clause 6 – The plan of the surveys shall be such that it may be presented, two per section, preferably in the way done in the Governorship of Chubut.
Clause 7 – As the commissions issue them, the Executive Power shall remit to the Honourable Congress the results of the surveys with plans, estimates and special reports printed in such a way that they receive extensive publicity.
Clause 8 – Authorise the Executive Power to invest up to the amount of $100,000 national money in the carrying-out of this law which will be charged to the same.
Clause 9 – Communicate this to the Executive Power.
Given in the Session Chamber of the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, this 23 December 1897.
Department of the Interior
Buenos Aires
Take this as Law of the Nation; communicate it, publish it and insert it into the National registry.
National Register, page 640
URIBURU
A. Alcorta
------------------------------------------
3
This extract does define the lines under consideration. This too was found in the same collection noted before the first extract.
Extract from:–
Ministry of Public Works of the Argentine Republic
First Report to the Honourable Congress.
1 January 1898 to 31 July 1899.
(Presented by President Roca y his Minister Emilio Civit.)
Chapter V.
State Railway – Operation, Construction, Surveys.
. . . Previously I have expressed my view of the importance there is in resolving as soon as possible the problem related to the future network of railways in the Republic in the sense of fixing the most appropriate layout and to proceed with that along the routes of the new lines and thus the order in which the surveys should be authorised for the same.
. . . true convenience results from establishing as soon as possible the surveys of the following lines, and which up to today have remained postponed for the lack of available resources.
– From Cafayate (Salta) to Chilecito (Rioja) passing through Santa María, Belén, Tinogasta (Catamarca) and Famatina (Rioja).
– Chubut line leaving from Rawson or Trelew – Central Railway of Chubut – going upstream on the river of this name to reach Colonia 16 de Octubre.
– Narrow gauge railways to bind the provinces of San Luis, Mendoza and San Juan, with the city of Córdoba and as a consequence with the whole of rest of the network.
Executive Power – Ministry of Public Works.
------------------------------------------
4
This extract notes concentrates on one line, but on a rather different route in the east than eventually built. Yet another extract from the unknown source, all helping to show that Law 5559 had quite a long gestation.
Message to the Honourable Congress on the lengthening of the State Railways, July 1904.
President Roca – Minister Civit.
“The simple enunciation of the starting and finishing points of the railway lines which are the object of this Bill, the combination of these with the fluvial service, and its relations to the new complementary lines to be surveyed mentioned on the map and in the report which accompany this, explain and motivate the idea of their grouping, and demonstrate the necessity of building them to the extent that the resources allow. They resolve the general problem to carry this element of progress, of development, of work and of production to regions which do not receive the benefits of having their own outlet to ports and centres of consumption by the railways of the Nation, whose lines are presently found foreshortened, or act as tributaries to foreign lines and to provide the country with positive and effective elements, which permit the control and moderation of the tariffs for transport, which industries and commerce are always asking for a just plan for undertaking this act of good government.”
“With these lines surveyed, and the existing systems not yet realized, nevertheless, since the primordial objective of making them independent, as I have said, of the existing systems, and to create a new route for traffic from north-west to south east towards the commercial port of Bahía Blanca . . . to initiate and encourage that of the territories of the South, studying a transpatagonic line from Puerto San Antonio to the frontier, with the aim of reaching Puerto Montt in Chile, and another from Rada Tilly to the San Martín and 16 de Octubre colonies; to extend the Suncho Corral to Huinca Renancó line to Puerto San Antonio, to benefit the regions of the south of La Pampa, make the various systems whose formation and enlargement are complete in outline, a single vast system with which, without diminishing the interests of private capital, the State could extend with true efficiency, its encouraging and moderating influence through all the spheres of influence crossed by its lines.”
Transpatagonic railway with a branch to Nahuel Huapí and the Central Patagonic Railway.
Two initial routes of a Sistema Patagónico are delineated which are destined to be the principal axes of development in the dilated regions of the South. The background for constructing a railway in these regions dates from 1902, through a proposal for a railway between Puerto San Antonio and Osorno to Puerto Montt in Chile. The document explained: “From Maquinchao to the west are found the first foothills of the Cordillera with broad and fertile valleys which extend to the very summits of the mountains.”
“In general the route does not present important technical difficulties. Without determining special data about the cost of a line which has yet to be surveyed it may be said, with a rough approximation that the cost per kilometre will be as follows:
From San Antonio to Sierra Colorada
$7.500 From Sierra Colorada to Maquinchao
$ 9.200 From Maquinchao to Pilcaneu*
$ 11.600 From Pilcaneu* to La Frontera$ 20.000
(*) In the original publication it is called Pilcaneu. We interpret that the correct reading is Pilcaniyeu.
From the central Patagonic line from Rada Tilly to join with the previous near the frontier and passing through San Martín and 16 de Octubre colonies, also was destined to develop the natural riches of the regions of the South and to encourage the efforts of the colonists who had settled there.
SAN ANTONIO TO NAHUEL HUAPI RAILWAY
The surveys were started in April 1908 reaching to Km 380 from San Antonio in June 1909. In October 1909, the next section was started, which extends as far as San Carlos de Bariloche on lake Nahuel Huapi.
In November 1908, 120 kilometres south from San Carlos de Bariloche was surveyed.
December 1910 – August 1911. Between Mari Lauquen and Fofocahuel, 188 kilometres, were studied together with 64 kilometres, between Pilcaniyeu and Fofocahuel, to join the San Antonio to Nahuel Huapi line to 16 de Octubre colony.
The decree of 3 March 1916 authorises the handing-over, under inventory, of the San Antonio to Lago Nahuel Huapi line, which had been passed for conditional public service for its working by the State Railways as far as Km 426.
In October 1922, the process followed by the Management of the State Railways was approved with reference to the construction of a linking line between San Antonio station, the terminal point of its network and Carmen de Patagones, the terminal of the FC Sud. The linking of these two lines was completed in 1931 by means of the uniting bridge constructed for this purpose by the stated Management.
The decree of 19 May 1933, ratifies the agreement made between both undertakings in relation to the completion of the outstanding works between Ingeniero Jacobacci and San Carlos de Bariloche, its terminal point, which was reached in the following year. Since 1934 the line from the Federal Capital has been linked to Lago Nahuel Huapí.
PUERTO DESEADO TO LAGO BUENOS AIRES RAILWAY
By decree of 20 January 1910, the surveys and estimates relative to the first section of the line from Puerto Deseado to Lago Buenos Aires were approved from Puerto Deseado to Km 120. By decree of 4 August of the same year the second section between Km 120 and Km 240 was approved, while the third section to Km 320 was approved by decree of 24 May 1911. The line was passed for working, along with the one from Comodoro Rivadavia to the Management of the State Railways in October 1914. The construction reached Km 286 (Colonia Las Heras) in 1915.
An agreement of Ministers was prepared to initiate the building of the first line, starting the surveys in the direction of Lago Buenos Aires over a length of 340 kilometres. It was signed on 16 September 1908.
By the another agreement of Ministers signed on 29 October 1908, the Directorate of Construction of the Patagonic and Chaqueño Railways was created; they were appointed to the works of the Comodoro Rivadavia to Lago Buenos Aires Railway on 15 February 1910.
THE NORTH OF PATAGONIA
The surveys and estimates for the first section of 104 kilometres were approved by decree of 17 June 1910.
The hand-over to the management of the State Railways for the operation was effected by decree of 19 October 1914.
------------------------------------------
5 The History of the Hydrological Studies made by Bailey Willis.
Introduction
Ezequiel Ramos Mexía was Minister to presidents Roca, Figueroa Alcorta and Saenz Peña and had devised a plan of reactivation for the Patagonic regions, whose first stage consisted in seeking water and laying the tracks for state development railways starting in the north of Patagonia.
Bailey Willis, then a prestigeous geologist in the Department of Geological Studies of the USA, was put in charge of the Commission for Hydrological studies of the Ministry of Public Works at the special invitation of Minister Ramos Mexía.
To sum up, in the thinking of Ramos Mexía, the modernization of Patagonia included: state development railways; drinking water; dams and power plants, all-weather roads to allow interchange between south Chile and south Argentina; the establishment of Patagonian hydroelectric industries; the sowing of wheat to lessen the dependency of the South on the provinces of the North and great plans for colonization to establish populations in the desert.
The paragraphs which follow are fragments relating to the history of the Hydrological Studies Commission.
“The report on the Cordillera Section of the Transcontinental railway of San Antonio in the Argentine to Valdivia in Chile” was presented to the Ministry of Public Works in 1912.
“Having returned to Patagonia, Mr Willis was occupied during the summer of 1912 in surveys of railway routes through the Patagonian tablelands and the exploration of the Cordillera in the vicinity of Lago Nahuel Huapí, with reference to the alternative passes through the Cordillera, and for the development of the National Park.
“Buenos Aires, June 1913
“There were reasons for anticipating that the activities of the Hydrological Studies Commission would be interrupted, when in July 1913, Mr Willis and his assistants reached Buenos Aires. The original contract had been for two years starting in January 1911, but had been extended until December 1913 . . . The Preliminary Report had been prepared. The North American topographers and geologists returned to the USA. Mr. Willis remained alone to complete the details of the Final Report and its publication.
“The political situation at this time was, nevertheless, very unfavourable. Attacks on Minister Ramos Mexía in Congress and his policy of national development continued violently, and with growing bitterness. His position had become extremely difficult. To impede his administration, Congress had declined to vote funds for him, even for the necessities of his ministry.
“From the point of view of an interested spectator, Mr. Willis recorded his impressions in an analysis of the forces involved in the discord. He wrote:”
“Ramos Mexía is a man of courage, noble and dignified feelings; an aristocrat of fibre clear-sighted and a patriotic statesman. The politicians, who want to belittle him are ambitious, spivish and with small minded horizons. But patient, more resolved than Ramos Mexía or the politicians, is capital, the greedy force which, despite everything, is essential for national progress.”
The threat by capital was evidenced to Mr. Willis by the General Manager of the FC Sud, a private undertaking, in an interview which he had with the Head of the Hydrological Studies Commission: “Without doubt, he said courteously, “the observations of the Commission were of great value, but” – and his tone changed – “it is not convenient for the plans of the FC Sud that the national railways should be built to compete with their future interests in Patagonia.”
Appendix I
Public Works
“The Public Works to be constructed will comprise:
a) Lines of transport (roads, railways, electric tramways, shipping lines).
b) Power supply (dams, canals and electrical installations).
“The railway to be built consists in a line from Lago Nahuel Huapí southwards to Colonia 16 de Octubre and northwards to San Martín de los Andes by routes already shown in earlier reports and which at the present time are being surveyed by the Commission. The length will be about 450 kilometres. A branch northwards from Lago Nahuel Huapí to Lago Villarino, forms part of the transcontinental line from San Antonio to Valdivia, Chile.”
“This railway could be constructed under contract by the Syndicate (*), or the Government could grant the Syndicate the concession to build and operate it. In this case, the goods tariffs ought to be carefully limited to protect the incipient industries in the sense of not oppressing them, and the syndicate would have to charge the public the same tariffs which it adopts for its own goods of the same class.”
“Electric tramways, from the railway to the centres of population at a distance from the main line, constitute an important element of the scheme for transport. Electric traction should replace steam where it is practicable, as this medium is easier and more economic relative to construction, and less destructive of the scenic beauty, which is one of the most valuable features of the region. In effect, as much importance must be given to the lines using steam traction, as to those of electric traction from Lago Nahuel Huapí to Colonia 16 de Octubre and the part of the northwards line which does not form part of the transcontinental line.”
The electric lines, and the steamer service on the lakes, with terminals, dams, etc, along with whatever line of steam railway is extended into the Cordillera province, will constitute together a system of transport which ought to be built and operated by one undertaking. Or the Syndicate will build the said enterprise under the strictly limiting conditions, or the Government ought to construct them by contract, and take control of them. Experience appears to indicate that the first method will be the most efficient for the operation of the system of roads and railways in the Cordillera province.”
“The previous conclusion does not apply to the main line from San Antonio to Lago Nahuel Huapí, and its extension to the frontier with Chile. This line ought to stay in the Government's hands, because it is the most important element in the control of the development of the Cordillera and of the Syndicate. It is the essential outlet to the markets of Argentina and abroad, without which the region will have to remain in its present semi-wild condition. The intelligent policy will dictate low tariffs on this principal line, which the Government can operate at cost, since its benefit will consist in the development of a state which will give a return of a thousand to one.”
CONCLUSION
“We write this in December 1941. The clouds of war are newly hanging over civilization. But they will pass, and peace will prevail once more under the kingdom of International Rights. Then the Argentine Republic will have the necessity of establishing manufacturers to utilize its raw materials, converting them in to products for domestic use and for export. The energy of the Cordillera generated by hydroelectric plants and directed by human intelligence, will work for the benefit of the country. The spirit of Ramos Mexía will arise, and will inspire greater dreams today than those he ever conceived.”
BAILEY WILLIS
(*) To populate and develop this Cordillera region, three agents must co-operate: the Argentine Government, a powerful Syndicate and the colonists.”
The services which the Syndicate ought to provide are the following: provide the capital; develop colonization; initiate the manufacture of woollen and leather goods; it might enter other commercial initiatives appropriate to the development of the community.”
“The Syndicate comprises as representatives of capital, men of reputation, because otherwise they could not represent the Argentine Government with dignity, nor could the Syndicate give confidence to individuals and investors. . . There is still another more serious reason for the selection of financiers with the astuteness of statesmen which foresees that the prosperity of the Syndicate will have to be firmly tied to that of the entire community. . .”
----------------------------------------
6
An early law which didn't specify the lines involved, though probably what was intended were those noted in the report above. This too was found in the same collection noted above.
Law Nº 3638 of 31 December 1897 authorising the Executive Power to carry-out surveys
The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, met in Congress, etc., sanction with the force of
LAW
Clause 1 – Authorise the Executive Power to order the reconnaissance of the land for planning the construction of Railways and Navigations in the territories of Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut and Santa Cruz to be carried out.
Clause 2 – The said works shall be carried out under the immediate direction of the National Department for Engineers by means of a committee formed of civil engineers and scientific personnel competent to study the geography and the natural world of the territory over which the network extends.
Clause 3 – The network will relate to a plan of the population and land usage of the Territories mentioned, correlating the various lines and canals with the ports of the Atlantic Ocean, and with the railway which is being built between Bahía Blanca and the confluence of the Limay and the Neuquén.
Clause 4 – The committees, in accordance with the instructions which ought to be given to them, shall specify the gauge of the lines in accordance with the topography of the land.
Clause 5 – The surveys shall comprise, in addition to the route of the network:
1 A report in which the fundamental reasons for the adoption of each navigation, each railway and the ports to which they relate are noted.
2 The precise recording and location of the rivers, lakes and streams along the route and an indication of their possible industrial uses.
3 Details of the quality of the earth, of the pastures and of the forests located within the sphere of influence of the network.
4 A descriptive report of the minerals already known about or which are discovered within the same sphere of influence together with the conditions relating to their extraction.
5 A note of the flora and fauna.
Clause 6 – The plan of the surveys shall be such that it may be presented, two per section, preferably in the way done in the Governorship of Chubut.
Clause 7 – As the committees issue them, the Executive Power shall remit to the Honourable Congress the results of the surveys with plans, estimates and special reports printed in such a way that they receive extensive publicity.
Clause 8 – Authorise the Executive Power to invest up to the amount of $100,000 national money in the carrying-out of this law which will be charged to the same.
Clause 9 – Communicate this to the Executive Power.
Given in the Session Chamber of the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, this 23 December 1897.
Department of the Interior
Buenos Aires
Take this as Law of the Nation; communicate it, publish it and insert it into the National registry.
National Register, page 640
URIBURU
A. Alcorta
--------------------------------------
7
Extract from:–
Ministry of Public Works of the Argentine Republic
First Report to the Honourable Congress.
1 January 1898 to 31 July 1899.
(Presented by President Roca and his Minister Emilio Civit.)
Chapter V.
State Railway – Operation, Construction, Surveys.
. . . Previously I have expressed my view of the importance there is in resolving as soon as possible the problem related to the future network of railways in the Republic in the sense of fixing the most appropriate layout and to proceed with that along the routes of the new lines and thus the order in which the surveys should be authorised for the same.
. . . true convenience results from establishing as soon as possible the surveys of the following lines, and which up to today have remained postponed for the lack of available resources.
--------------------------------------
13-3-2018