PeruTren

“I will locate the rails wherever the llamas go” Henry Meiggs

Description

Among the most notable railways of the world, it must be considered without equal for the technical difficulties overcome and the high elevation reached in its climb over the divide of the Andes range of mountains from Callao up to the picturesque City of Huancayo en the central Andes region.

It is the only one in South America, among those with a standard gauge of 1.435 m that reaches an elevation of approximately 4,781 m above sea level in the Galera tunnel. The highest point is La Cima, at 4,835 m, which is found on the mineral branch from Ticlio to Morococha. This point exceeds by 17 m the highest point on the mineral railway from Antofagasta (Collahuasi), Chile of 1 metre gauge which reached 4,818 m.

To reach such an altitude, the train crosses 41 bridges, 60 tunnels and around 13 zig zags, taking approximately 8 hours to travel the 172 km that separate Callao from Galera.

The line goes up the course of the Rimac River and its tributaries to Chinchan, around 7 km past Casapalca, an important stop on the western slope of the Andes established for its concentration of minerals, and continues climbing to the summit of the Andes which it crosses by means of the Galera tunnel. From there it descends on the opposite side, following the Yauli River which is on the Atlantic slope, to La Oroya. Then it follows the course of the Mantaro River, crossing it to reach Tambo station, passing through the centre of the valley and beautiful towns such as Jauja, Apata, Matahuasi, Concepcion and finally, Huancayo.

Sections of the Railway

Originally, the railway had five sections:

- Callao - La Oroya main line 222.00 km

- La Oroya - Huancayo 124.00 km

- Lima - Ancon branch 37.3 km, abandoned and lifted in 1963

- Ticlio - Morococha mineral branch 14.3 km

- Cut Off - Morococha mineral branch 18.6 km

The Beginning

In 1851 the Polish engineer Ernesto Malinowski, outcast voluntarily from his own country for political reasons to Germany and Russia and then to Peru, proposed to extend the Lima - Callao railway opened that year, to the Jauja Valley.

The Government named a commission comprised of Felipe Barreda, Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan, and Manuel Pardo, to provide information on the project. The commission then put forward a proposal for the work. Once their proposal had been approved, the Commission turned the project over to Malinowski who proceeded to head up the first studies.

By means of various laws, the Congress approved the proposals for the railways and guaranteed an interest of 6% on the invested capital. In time a new commission was named to identify alternatives for construction. This second commission presented a meticulous study of the four possible routes that it had evaluated and explored:

1. By the ravine of the Rimac River, leaving Lima and passing through Matucana, San Mateo and Tarma.

2. By the ravine of the Chillon River - Lima, Caballero, Yangas, Obrajillo, Casacancha and Carhuacancha

3. Ravine of the Chancay River - Lima ,Chancay, Macas, Huamantanga, Huaillay and Cerro de Pasco.

4. Ravine of the Lurin River - Lima, Lurin, Siscaya, Tupicocha, San Damian, Tuctucocha, Pumacocha, Oroya, Tarma and Jauja.

According to the study, construction would be possible but difficult by the Rimac ravine, almost impossible by the Chillon, impossible by the Chancay and very easy by the Lurin. The last option was chosen, a survey for the route being entrusted to Gerrit Backus, reputed to be one of the most capable professionals for the survey and construction of railways. This third task proceeded until March, 1866 when work was detained as a result of the war with Spain. In 1868, Don Diego Masias put out a call to Chile for Henry Meiggs, a North American contractor in New Jersey and also Chile.

The audacious Meiggs after many negotiations presented himself to the Government on the 21 September of the same year proposing to carry out surveys and construct a railway between Lima and Jauja. It is said that Meiggs made the statement that “I will locate the rails wherever the llamas go”. After approving the studies, and the proposal for construction which was upwards of 27 million soles, the Government accepted Meiggs’ proposal with an obligation to complete the construction within 6 years, with payment by special bonds bearing an annual interest of 6%, amortized at 2% commencing ten years after being issued.

The contract was finalized by means of a public document on December 23, 1869.

Work began on the first of January, 1870 with a lavish ceremony in which the first stone was placed at the present-day Monserrate station in Lima under the direction of Malinowski, engineer and head of the Technical Committee.

Construction

To facilitate construction, the main line was divided into sections, which were:

- Lima - Callao - Cocachacra

- Cocachacra - San Bartolome - Surco

- Surco - Matucana

- Matucana - Parac

- Para - San Mateo - Rio Blanco

- Rio Blanco - Galera

- Galera - La Oroya

Meiggs was able to construct the line only as far Chilca, 141 km from Callao. He was overcome with very serious difficulties for payment of the completed works. The completion of the line to La Oroya was done as a consequence of the turning over of all of the State railways to the bond holders of the Peruvian national debt after the war with Chile.

The line was opened for public traffic as far as Cocachacra on 9 February 1871, to San Bartolome in September of the same year, and to Chilca in May, 1878, less than one year before the war of 1879 and the year when Meiggs died. As a result of the conflict, construction remained paralyzed until 1890. In this year the bond holders assumed the rights and obligations of Meiggs and from that point, the Peruvian Corporation became the successor to the bond holders. The line reached Casapalca on 12 July 1892 and La Oroya on the 10 January 1893.

Among the great works on this railway is the “Verrugas” or “Carrion” bridge, 175 m long and 80 m high. Also, there is the 1,375 m Balta tunnel which forms a helix, located at km 94.

La Oroya - Jauja - Huancayo

By means of an additional contract named an “adjustment” concluded between the Government and the Peruvian Corporation in 1907, the Company took charge of construction of the section between Oroya and Huancayo started by the State in 1905, with a 20 km extension to Huari. The line was guaranteed to open to traffic to Huancayo by September 8, 1908. It had taken more than 38 years to complete the Central Railway.

Lima - Ancon Branch

This had formed part of the old Lima-Ancon-Chancay Railway which was inaugurated on 17 December 1870. During the war, the section from Ancon to Chancay was destroyed by the Chileans, because they could not carry it away completely to their country. This section, which passed through the current “coil of Pacasmayo”, was not reconstructed.

Finally, by virtue of an agreement with the bond holders, the section between Lima and Ancon, which was still operating, passed over to the Peruvian Corporation as a branch of the FCC. Regular traffic was suspended in 1958 leaving only sporadic use. It was abandoned in 1963 and the tracks were lifted.

Ticlio - Morococha Branch

The Cerro de Pasco Corporation constructed this branch in 1921 to serve its operations. It is known as “Cut Off” and is located at km 205 on the main line, near Pachachaca. This branch brought the mines at Morococha some kilometres closer to the smelter at Oroya, reducing the cost of transport. The branch was 18 km long.

Stations

Locomotives

The railway had an impressive number of locomotives during its hundred year history. The first of them arrived in 1870 and were of United States origin, almost all from Rogers with a few from Danforth. After 1890, when the Peruvian Corporation took over the line, more were brought from the USA from Baldwin and Alco. More recently, in 1908 some were brought from NBL of British origin.

A complete list of the FC Central locomotives from 1870 up to 1975 is available upon request.