A change of gauge, and new destinations

Puerto Madryn in late 1922 must have been a busy place, for all the engines, stock, rails and sleepers for the new network were arriving by sea, to be stored on quickly-laid sidings. Seventy-five locomotives, 100 coaches, and 750 or more wagons must have been an impressive sight - like Barry Docks for a British enthusiast, but all narrow gauge and all brand new! There exists a photo showing a line of new Henschel 2-8-2s all mounted on metre gauge wagons and hauled by metre gauge 2-6-0 No. 3 - on their way from the ship to a storage siding in Trelew.

New 75cm. gauge works
Work started immediately on the the branch to Rawson and Playa Union, being completed by November 1923. Construction then began on the new line westward. The new track used 35lb. rails (17.36kg. per m.) supplied by Thyssen in Germany. Sleepers were of wood at 1300 or 1500 per km.

A ballast train hauled by a Baldwin.

The branch to Rawson & Playa Union
The FCCC itself had been thinking about a branch to Rawson since the early 1890s. The new operators wasted no time in getting started on its construction. The new line started 100 yards (metres) east of Trelew station, branching away eastward from the mainline to Puerto Madryn.

The track runs through Rawson close to the river and past the north end of the road bridge. The bridge continues to carry traffic to this day.

There were no major civil engineering feats, the whole line being on the level valley floor. Three unmanned halts ('apeaderos') were designated in the 19km. distance to Rawson, and there was another 6km. of track on to the terminus at Playa Union.

A simple passing loop and turning triangle comprised the layout at Rawson.

The station building at Rawson was fairly basic.

The photo below was taken at Rawson station, possibly on the opening day, 17 November 1923. The cameraman was facing east. There are two trains both hauled by Baldwin 2-8-2s and both decorated with flags. The left hand one is on one of the two through lines whilst the right hand one stands on the turning triangle.

It seems that the branch was sometimes worked by one of the two Henschel 0-6-0 tank engines (Nos. 19452 and 19453). The picture below shows one of these, again on some sort of special occasion. Note that whilst the tank wagon and bogie van are both 1922-built 75cm gauge stock, the passenger car is an old metre gauge 2nd class coach (No. 4) from 1886 converted by placing it on new 75cm. bogies.

On one occasion one of the 0-6-0Ts seems to have come to grief! The next two pictures show it 'in the dirt'. These photos are copies of those in Rawson museum and it seems likely that the accident was somewhere on the branch.

Another accident involved the overturning of one of the Baldwin 2-8-2s. There is no proof that this was on the Rawson line, but the original picture suggests that the left side of the track was flooded; The branch being largely on flat ground it seems quite likely that this was the location.

A set of three photos in Rawson museum recall the operation of an enormously long excursion at some point. Again the location is uncertain but the branch is the only line flat enough for a single Baldwin to cope with eighteen or more carriages! It would be nice to know the event which led to the running of this record-breaking train.

1 - The locomotive..

2 - tank car, furgon, and...

3 - about eighteen coaches!

The extension to Playa Union had no regular passenger service, this stopping at Rawson. However, it is probable that there were weekend excursions to the beach and some of the trains illustrated above may have been on such duties.

The extension westward toward Colonia 16 de Octubre
Once the Rawson branch had been completed in 1924, work started on the extension towards the cordillera. This was intended to reach Colonia 16 de Octubre, now better known as Trevelin. There it was to meet the line coming south from Ingeniero Jacobacci, which was to have continued south towards the broad gauge lines at Sarmiento and Las Heras.

The new alignment started from Dolavon, the FCCC's 1915 railhead. There were no serious difficulties along the route, though steeper gradients west of Boca de la Zanja meant some wide sweeping curves to gain height.

The layout of Dolavon at the closure in 1961 is easy to reconcile with the photo below. However, it was taken from a Chubut cadastral survey dept. plan, and track accuracy will not have been their primary concern. In any case I suspect that the loops in front of the station building may have been taken out later on.

Baldwin 2-8-2 no. 9 awaits departure with a down train from Dolavon - or 'Valle Superior' as it was sometimes known. The loco still carries its bell (behind the front sand-dome) which suggests an early date.

Another Baldwin, this time it is thought at Boca de la Zanja.

The station nameboard at Campamento Villegas, a little further out along the new extension.

Further west at Las Chapas the route passed through an area of rich Kaolin (China Clay) deposits. Short branches were eventually built to access these pits, which produced the railway's most reliable traffic.

The line eventually reached the high ground above the village of Las Plumas. It was here at Alto de Las Plumas in 1928 that work was halted owing to a shortage of money. Work on the north-south line from Ing. Jacobacci ceased at the same time. Whilst the latter line was restarted during the 1930s, no further progress was made beyond Alto de Las Plumas, though even in the 1941 timetable the route was still termed 'the line towards Colonia 16 de Octubre'.

Regauging of the metre gauge.
Of course a third rail had to be added to the metre gauge sections. The 1908 and 1915 extensions to Gaiman and Dolavon had been laid on wooden sleepers which meant that an extra rail could be laid easily for the 75cm. gauge. It seems likely that this would have been done early on, for transhipment between gauges would have been awkward enough without it occurring out in the wilds at Dolavon.

The original line from Puerto Madryn to Trelew was built on steel sleepers. These are normally pre-formed and punched at the factory to take rail clips or bolts and to hold the rail at a slight inward cant. It is therefore much more difficult to add a third rail. The original line therefore remained metre gauge for some considerable period until an extra rail was laid throughout by 1930, possibly by relaying with wooden sleepers. From 1931 the metre gauge stock was 'moth-balled' and the metre gauge presumably slowly removed (5).

Two photos from the dual gauge period of the 1920s. On the right is a Baldwin 2-8-2 probably heading west out of Trelew station with a train for the upper valley. On the left is one of the two metre gauge Fives Lille 2-6-0s bought second-hand from the FC Central Norte.

A second picture of Trelew in mixed gauge times. Most of the stock on show is newly-built Famillereux material from 1922, but the locomotive is one of the original metre gauge FCCC 2-6-0s.

List of places and facilities
An itinerary of places along the line, together with their facilities, is in the appendix section.

26-5-08