FCAF locos and stock No. 1, was 'Rodrigo' now 'Muratgia', 0-6-0 diesel by Orenstein & Koppel 1938 No. 2 originally 'Nora' but see below for recent changes, 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt
The brass cabside plates displayed her number and construction details. Carupa workshops are in Buenos Aires.
Unlike all other Garratts the K class and this derivative have cylinders at the inner ends of the bogies. Whilst this makes for shorter steampipes it does mean that the hot rear cylinders are right under the crew's feet.
'Nora' approaches Puente Quemado back in January 2001, above. The wisp of steam from the safety valves shows that the driver is well-prepared for Macarena Bank just after the bridge. The temporary extra water tanks seen sticking up above the normal front tank were for testing purposes before the recent rebuild.
Driver Chris Parrott leans out of 'Nora's cab during the intermediate stop. Chris at present is dividing his time between the Tal-y-llyn Railway in Wales and the FCAF - helped by their summer seasons being at opposite ends of the year.
Now no longer 'Nora', but 'Ing. L. D. Porta'
After several years use, Nora went through a very thorough rebuild under the guidance of Shaun McMahon, the railway's chief engineer, and emerged as a very different beast. Now named 'Ing. L. D. Porta' after the famous Argentine steam loco engineer, the loco is vastly more powerful than before and is more than capable of hauling all of the railway's passenger carriages at once! As the following photos show, 'Ing. L. D. Porta' looks very different, with a curved front tank reminiscent of 1930-40s Beyer Garratts and a rear tank that looks as though it fell off an SAR class NG/G16.
Amongst the new features seen above, are the higher boiler, new tanks, taller cab, new draughting and chimney, and a main steam pipe still unlagged at the time the picture was taken. The first stage modifications greatly increased the sustainable power output of the loco. The second stage saw many of the mechanical parts upgraded to cope with this new power. A rear view shows the loco slightly later. The main steam pipe is now lagged very thoroughly as is necessary now that engineers have realised how much efficiency was being lost through neglect of such details in the past. The swing out driver's seat reflects not only Shaun McMahon's past experience with the Alfred Country Railway's NGG16s but also the FCAF's open route without overbridges.
Ing. L. D. Porta on a test train in late 2002. More recently the loco has been repainted in a dark blue livery.
No. 3 'Camila', 2-6-2T by Winson Engineering A second stage of modification of the loco was undertaken over the following couple of years. These changes took account of the great advances in steam draughting design made by Ing. L. D. Porta and others in recent years. The insulation of boiler, cylinders and steam pipes, the lubrication system, and the cab controls all received a good deal of thought and attention.
No. 4, 'Tierra del Fuego', 0-6-0 Diesel
No. 5,
One of the Rustons is seen standing at the main workshops in the photo by Martin Bane. No. 6, 'Ingeniero H. R. Zubieta'. This new machine was constructed by Girdlestone Rail, at Port Shepstone on Natal's south coast in South Africa. It weighs 10 tonnes and can produce 160hp. Entry into service was in 2006. The name commemorates Héctor Rodríguez Zubieta, a distinguished Argentine marine engineer who had strong links with Ushuaia and who had been a strong supporter of the railway. Coaching stock A first class coach outside the workshop at Estación Fin del Mundo.
A second class coach also at Fin del Mundo.
Braking is currently by an air/hydraulic system using standard car parts. This may be replaced by a more conventional air-operated system in the future. A public address system allows for a running commentary in Spanish and English as the journey progresses. Specialist vehicle The toilet van, of roughly the same dimensions as a standard carriage, is divided into four cubicles (2).
New coaches
The first of the new style of passenger coach, showing its open balconies and clerestory roof (2). Wagons Stock list Special vehicles. First class coaches Tourist class coaches New style tourist class coaches Wagons References 26-5-08 | ||||
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This loco, reputedly the first steam loco to have been built completely in Argentina,was based on the prototype Garratt articulated locos 'K1 and K2'. These were built by Beyer, Peacock in 1909 for the Tasmanian Government Railways and, after a long and convoluted history K1 is currently being restored for use on the Welsh Highland Railway in Britain. 
'Nora' was built to a reduced scale to fit the 50cm gauge. At the time of construction, in 1994, a second set of parts were made, with the intention that these would be assembled at some point in the future.
FCAF locomotives are single-manned, helped by them being oil-burners. On a 50cm gauge railway the cabs are not large and it would be difficult to find room for a fireman.
