Comodoro Rivadavia pier and the Rada Tilly line In the late 1920s, when Comodoro Rivadavia's oil reserves were becoming increasingly important, it was decided that the town needed a much more substantial sheltered harbour rather than the existing muelles. A very solid breakwater was to be constructed and in addition a large area of land south of the breakwater was to be reclamed from the sea. Preliminary works seems to have started in 1922, with the major civil engineering taking place later in the decade. Whilst 60cm gauge track and locos were used particularly for very temporary lines, 75cm gauge equipment was also brought from the usual source at Puerto Madryn. This implies that the original network plans were already seem as less important by then. Right from the beginning, the 75cm. gauge seems to have been regarded as semi-permanent. Photographs on this page show properly built lines, rather than light contractors' tracks. In practice the system seems to have lasted for thirty years or so. The focal points of the works were the new breakwater and some land reclamation to the south-west. However, the tracks extended both north and south from there. To the north 75cm. gauge track ran to the main railway workshops at Km. 5, where a mixed gauge loco shed was constructed. To the south the line stretched out 12 or 15 kms. to a quarry, Punta Piedra and Rada Tilly. This may initially have been the source of the land reclamation material, but the line eventually gained a passenger service. Another map suggests that the route may have extended further north to Caleta Cordova. The map below, though unclear, shows the main features of the port area. The broad gauge (in red) starts just off the map to the left. It runs due east past the station (green), before curving north to follow the coast as far as Km 5. Sidings also stretch east from the station out onto the 1928 concrete muelle. The 75cm gauge (blue) arrives from Rada Tilly at the south west corner of the map; it continues north-eastward with a number of sidings out on the reclaimed area before turning due east to proceed onto the muelle. The two largest buildings shown (yellow) are the 'galpones aduanas' or customs warehouses. The more easterly of these appears in a number of photos below.
The photo below shows a Baldwin 2-8-2, presumably no. 24 or 25, at the end of a rake of 1922-built wagons in the playa de materiales at the shore end of the port. Despite the battered state of one of the wagons, this picture was taken early on before the breakwater had been completed. The absence of the hammerhead crane shows that it must only have been erected in time to assist with the construction of the outermost parts of the works. This picture is reproduced by courtesy of the Archivo General de la Nación in Buenos Aires. It was almost certainly taken from the roof of galpon 1.
Land reclamation This first picture shows the first of the new galpons (warehouses) under construction in about 1928. The new concrete pier stretches out left of centre, though not yet with its hammerhead crane. To the right can be seen a pair of 75cm tracks running parallel to the broad gauge, and with a loop sweeping round to the south of the new galpon. The picture may well have been taken from the top of the main station building; it is reproduced by courtesy of Miguel Fiordelli.
A year or two later, and the galpon is complete (far left) whilst a new sea wall has been built to protect the area to be reclaimed. Far right is the station.
Now the reclamation starts. Here are two lines of wagons occupying sidings, and a line off to the right which is the loop mentioned above, curving around the galpon from which this picture was taken.
An aerial view, also from Señor Fiordelli's website, shows the reclaimed area now in use. The original galpon is at the foot of the photo and the two sidings shown above appear to remain in more permanent form.
The route southward The map below shows the route of the line to Rada Tilly clearly heading south west along the coast before turning inland. The first land reclamation area lies to the south of the main broad gauge station and is already shown here as dry land, whilst the new pier stretches out due east of the station. A later and much larger area to be reclaimed is shown in red.
A view from the south-west shows the narrow coastal strip along which the line to Rada Tilly must have passed. Unfortunately the photo is not clear enough to pick out the narrow gauge track. This is a Ministerio de Obras Publicas photo from the Archivo General de la Nación in Buenos Aires.
The picture below, kindly provided by Bernhard Stöckhert from an unknown source, shows BLW 2-8-2 no. 24 on a train of eight of the 4000 series plataformas, at what is presumably the source of landfill material, in 1929. A 7000 series tank wagon is far right. Another wagon is at bottom left but this may have been 60cm gauge for both gauges were used in this work. The loco is facing north with the sea in the background.
The breakwater The photo below shows the crane, and two types of track - a carefully laid double line of 75cm gauge for the crane, and two separate broad gauge lines. The photographer was standing atop a broad gauge wagon.
This view looking down from the crane shows how solidly built the narrow gauge tracks were - probably with heavy-duty broad gauge rails. The breakwater is still under construction and in the centre several men tip concrete (?) into the central gap. A possible 60cm gauge track section also appears bottom left. The apparent curve to the left shows that this is out at the very far end of the works.
Whilst the photo below shows broad gauge wagons being unloaded by the hammerhead crane on the pier in 1943, it also shows that the 75cm track was not just for the crane's use. On the right the 75cm track clearly has a set of points in it, for use by locomotives and wagons. If these were ordinary points as they appear, then the crane cannot have had double flanged wheels as one would expect.
Locomotives The photo below shows a Baldwin, still with its bell, between Kms 4 and 5 at the northern end of the system. Note also the substantial bridge works. The photo is reported to have been taken in 1932 (2).
An unidentified 1934 source lists the Rada Tilly line as using FCP locos, but at another time there were supposed to be two 18ton locos and one 12ton loco on the 75cm gauge (1). The Baldwin 2-8-2s weighed 47tons. It is possible that a Henschel 0-6-0T (12 tonnes empty) or an 0-8-0CT (16 tonnes empty) were brought from Puerto Madryn for a while, though these are all accounted for elsewhere later on. The locos were eventually stabled at Km. 5 where there was a purpose-built joint broad gauge and 75cm shed with three roads for the narrow gauge. Interestingly, the broad gauge turntable at Comodoro Rivadavia station (which reportedly still exists) had an inner set of 75cm gauge rails, for turning the Baldwins or possibly the railcars mentioned below. The dual gauge turntable was photographed in 1992 by Bernhard Stöckhert.
Wagons The 1945 FCE lists are missing 19 plataformas, 2 'furgon cargas', 1 'cubierto' boxcar, 1 'hacienda 1 piso' livestock car, and 3 tank wagons. It is probable that most or all of these reached this railway.
This picture of workers south-west of the playa de materiales also shows a line of 75cm gauge plataformas on the left. They are identifiable as 1922 Famillereux stock from Puerto Madryn.
Railcars There was clearly a passenger service provided out to Rada Tilly. In February 1953 a very serious accident occurred to a Sunday railcar returning from Punta Piedras. Running too fast downhill at 'Playa de 99' it left the rails and about 25 passengers were killed (3). Ricardo das Neves writes (4) that his father had gone out to Rada Tilly that Sunday, it being a very pleasant day. He missed the last coche motor back and started to walk. Rounding a corner he came upon the accident. Apparently the driver was said to have been drunk and on a passenger complaining about the speed he accellerated further rather than slowing down. The casualty list grew even longer after the coach fell as it was being righted whilst passengers were still aboard. The car was said to be a 48 seater, though actually carrying 75. The headline in El Rivadavia identified 'Coche-motor 52' but that may have been the train operating number rather than the car running number. The latter years. A recent reference seems to imply that the 1953 accident led eventually to the suspension of passenger services (5). However, the final closure was on August 20 1958 (6). Most of the tracks were removed very quickly after that, but in 1975 there was still some 75cm track around the harbour and one or two wagons. There was no sign of any operation. References: Anyone interested in old photos of Comodoro Rivadavia should also visit Miguel Fiordelli's website. A number of his photos are of railway interest and almost all can be viewed in larger sizes by clicking on the thumbnail pictures. 28-5-08 | |||||
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