THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILROAD 



401 



SKETCH-MAP OF RAILROAD FROM BUENOS AIRES TO SANTIAGO, 



MILES LONG 



superable obstacle in the completion of 

 the road. It was on November 27 of 

 last year that the workmen, approaching 

 from opposite sides of the tunnel, faced 

 the last rocky barrier preventing Argen- 

 tine and Chilian traffic by rail. It was 

 an old Italian, Felipe Fascio, for many 

 years employed in similar Alpine under- 

 takings, who placed the final fuse of 

 demolition. So came about the conquest 

 of the Andes, and the Buenos Aires- 

 Valparaiso rail route is at last a reality. 

 It is expected that the "Transconti- 

 nental Express" will make the through 

 journey from coast to coast in about 34 

 hours. Before the completion of the 

 road, when the missing rail gap was 

 covered by diligence and saddle during 

 the summer season (October to May), 

 3^ days were necessary for the journey. 

 During the winter months of June, July, 

 August, and September, when the Andean 

 snows made passenger traffic at all times 

 dangerous and often impossible, the sea 

 voyage by way of the Strait of Magellan 

 from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso occu- 

 pied a period of about 11 days. Well- 

 built snow-sheds in the Andean section 

 will now insure safe passage for trains, 

 even under the most unfavorable weather 

 conditions. 



DIFFERENCE IN" GAUGE A SERIOUS 

 INCONVENIENCE 



The Transandine Railway is not, as 

 many suppose, one continuous line under 

 one management, a number of companies 

 being associated with the undertaking. 

 "The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway" 



(Buenos Aires to Villa Mercedes), "The 

 Argentine and Great Western Railway" 

 (Villa Mercedes to Mendoza), and "The 

 Argentine Transandine Railway" (Men- 

 doza to Argentine frontier) are three 

 distinct organizations, but have, quite re- 

 cently, come under the management of 

 the first-named company. "The Chilian 

 Transandine Railway" (Chilian frontier 

 to Los Andes) and "The Chilian Gov- 

 ernment States Railway" (Los Andes 

 to Valparaiso) are each under separate 

 management. 



There is one serious drawback in this 

 railway communication between the two 

 oceans, and this is a matter of gauge. 

 "The Buenos Aires and Pacific" and 

 "The Argentine Great Western" are 

 broad-gauge roads, while "The Argen- 

 tine Transandine" and "The Chilian 

 Transandine" are narrow gauge, and 

 "The Chilian Government States" broad 

 gauge again. This necessitates a trans- 

 shipment of goods on both sides of the 

 Andes — at Mendoza, the terminus of 

 "The Argentine Great Western," and at 

 Los Andes, where the two Chilian roads 

 connect. These two changes naturally 

 tend to the making of unduly high freight 

 charges as compared to those now ruling 

 on tile longer sea route. 



T?TE POSTMAN OF THE SNOWS 



"Across the Andes," meaning the old 

 route via diligence and saddle from Las 

 Cuevas, the former terminus of the rail- 

 way in Argentina, to the Chilian town 

 of "Caracoles, where the traveler again 



