Spare equipment builds a new line further north

A number of proposals were made for broad-gauge railways to access the lower and middle parts of the Río Negro valley. The FC Sud was awarded concessions at various times – to unite San Antonio with Rio Colorado in 1908, and to link San Antonio with Choele-Choel in 1912 (1). Neither of these came to fruition. In 1929 a further proposal was made by the Sud to run a railway up the valley, from Patagones to Darwin on their Neuquen line. This met opposition from the shipping interests on the river and it too failed to get off the ground. It was left to the narrow gauge to fill the gap, albeit inadequately and with little success.

Sugar beet on the Río Negro
In the late 1920s Don Juan Pegasano and Don Benito Raggio promoted the development of a sugar beet industry in Rio Negro province. They set up a company (variously known as the Cia. Industria y Agricola San Lorenzo Ltda. or the Cia. Industrial San Lorenzo Ltda.) to build a refinery at San Lorenzo just east of Conesa on the Rio Negro river. Machinery was imported from Czechoslovakia and three beet producing 'colonies' were established, at San Lorenzo itself, and at La Luisa (to the east) and San Juan (to the west).

A new line to the refinery
In the early 1930s a certain amount of the spare 75cm. gauge equipment was sent north to to build a 66 mile (105km.) line to provide access to the refinery. The line commenced on the broad gauge east of San Antonio at General Lorenzo Vintter station, and ran north and then north-westwards up the Rio Negro through the town of Conesa and on to San Juan, which later became Coronel F. Sosa. 15 August 1935 was the date of completion, though trains were running to the ingenio by the end of the previous year. The Ferrocarriles del Estado were the operators (2). There was some local muttering at the time about the inadequacy of the 'trocha económico' (economical or narrow-gauge track) (3). The official opening may not have been until July 1937 (4).

Initially, before the completion of the route beyond the main refinery, the timetable allowed a path for a daily goods train each way, crossing at Km 39 and taking about four hours for the journey to San Lorenzo. At this stage there were no scheduled passenger trains.

Problems in the beet fields
It was intended that the narrow-gauge should be extended to Choele-Choel, however it soon became apparent that beet production was not doing too well. Whilst local opinion is that the cane producers of the north applied pressure through the government, it is also true that disease and weather conditions also hindered the new industry. Irrigation costs, and the gauge change at General Vintter cannot have helped. Whatever the reasons, the 'ingenio' (refinery) ceased operations in 1941 and the equipment was sold. (5)

The railway seems to have staggered on for some years. Whilst half of the wagons had been transferred to the newly-built Esquel line by 1945, 67 or so remained to be worked by two out of the original 6 Henschel 2-8-2s.

There are various dates quoted for the line's closure, from 1960 onwards, but the closure of stations did not appear in a supplement to the Manual de Estaciones until 1965. The Rio Negro newspaper reported the lifting of the track in 1968 (6). An itinerary of locations along the line is available in an appendix page.

Locomotives
The photo below shows Henschel 2-8-2 no. 138 in original condition at General Vintter on 22 November 1937 (7). This was a couple of years after the line opened. Note the rather puzzling coupler, with a long link stretching over the extended cowcatcher (pilot). Other interesting early features include the original sandboxes, the individual brass numbers and the traversing jacks. Broad gauge wagons stand in the background. In 1934 whilst the route was still under construction, three of these Henschels had been recorded as coal-burning, whilst the other three including this one were oil-burners as proved by the tank mounted on the tender.

The FCE working timetables and appendices suggest that at least six Henschels (including nos. 136, 137, 138, 141,144 and 149) went to General Vintter initially, together with one of the crane tanks for use on construction trains. However, after the closure of the ingenio in 1941 several engines were taken elsewhere, leaving just two Henschels (136 & 141) to work the remaining traffic.

A photo exists showing six Henschel 2-8-2s without tenders and standing on mixed gauge track (8). This might have been at San Antonio works, either for this line or for the Ingeniero Jacobacci - Esquel route, or they may have been photographed at General Vintter on their initial unloading.

Wagons and one coach
Rolling stock was from the Puerto Madryn and San Antonio stockpiles. The FCE 1934 stocklist (9) gives a total of 116 wagons - including 22 vans, 38 high-sided, 15 normal length platforms, 27 extra long platforms, 8 water tanks and 7 oil tanks. By 1945 however this was reduced to a total of 67, including 5 livestock wagons which had arrived later. There was also a single composite or 'mixto' carriage, converted from 2nd class coach no. 1223 and there from the start. An initial complement of 7 furgons had been reduced to one by 1945.

The only other reports on the extant remains include a photo of a derelict station in Vapnarsky's book (10), and a brief sighting of the trackbed where it crosses National Route 3 near General Vintter. It appeared to be used as an unsurfaced track just like the parallel access road to the station.

References
1 El Gran Libro de la Patagonia. 1997. Editorial Planeta Argentina SAIC. Page 165.
2 Historia de los Ferrocarriles Argentinos. 1947. published Ferrocarriles del Estado
3 Patagonia y sus Problemas. 1935. General José Maria Sarobe. Reference to dissatisfaction of Rio Negro provincial government on page 301.
4 Opening date given in Estadistica de los Ferrocarriles Argentinos, 1941 issue.
5 Río Negro daily. Issue of 9 April 1968.
6 Pueblos del Norte de la Patagonia 1779-1957. 1983. C. A, Vapnarsky. Centro de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales.
7 Photo provided by Christopher Walker, original source unknown.
8 San Antonio Oeste y el Mar - Orijen y Destino. 1996. Hector Juan Izco, publisher unknown.
9 FCE Patagonian lines working timetable no. 62 1934-5, and appendix to working timetable 1945. Buenos Aires.
10 Pueblos del Norte de la Patagonia 1779-1957. Op. cit.

28-5-08