THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILROAD 



417 



and in projection throughout the conti- 

 nent add their note to the "Song of the 

 Ties," and we shall live to see more than 

 one other Transandine railway, although 

 the completed Pan-American road be- 

 longs to the far-distant future. 



This first transcontinental railway of 

 South America marks a new era in the 

 continent's commercial history, and in 

 our own. With the opening of the Pan- 

 ama Canal we North Americans will 

 have a golden opportunity to win from 

 Germany and England the trade which 

 is ours by the right of contiguity. 

 Through gross lack of understanding of 

 our Southern neighbors, we have lagged 

 behind in the commercial race. Euro- 

 pean nations have intelligently developed 

 trade with Latin America, but it is only 

 in recent years that we have followed in 

 their wake. 



The Transandine Railway sounds the 

 bugle call, not alone of Argentine and 

 Chilian development, but of the growth 

 and prosperity of the entire continent. 

 We owe better acquaintance to our Latin 

 sisters. We owe commercial advance- 

 ment to ourselves. Ships should carry 

 our Hag into Southern waters. We 

 should take first rank in the near future 

 in South American trade. 



THE FIRST TRANSANDINE TRAIN 



A MEMBER of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, Mr E. N. Carpen- 

 ter, of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, who 

 happened to be in Chile in April, par- 

 ticipated in the formal opening of the 

 Transandine Railway, April 5. From his 



letter to the Society the following is 

 printed : 



"The special train left Santiago, Chile, 

 Monday, April 4, with about 150 guests, 

 including cabinet ministers, senators, 

 deputies, and government officials. We 

 were comfortably cjuartered that night in 

 the railroad hotel at Los Andes, from 

 which point the railroad is one-meter 

 gauge to Las Cuevas, on the Argentine 

 side. The altitude of Los Andes is 824 

 meters and that of the tunnel, 43 miles 

 distant, 3,200 meters. The rack railroad 

 begins at Rio Blanco, on the Chilian side, 

 and climbs 6,000 feet in the 26 miles to 

 the tunnel. 



"Our train left Los Andes in two sec- 

 tions early Tuesday morning, April 5, 

 and, after several brief stops, finally 

 reached Carracoles, at the mouth of the 

 tunnel, where it was made up in one 

 section. We then proceeded into the 

 tunnel, where, at the international bound- 

 ary, which was marked by a string of 

 colored incandescent lights, we met the 

 train carrying the Argentine delegation 

 from Buenos Aires. Greetings over, both 

 trains returned to Carracoles, where we 

 were received by a body of Chilian in- 

 fantry, while the band played the national 

 airs of Chile and Argentina. A large 

 tent had been erected in which "almu- 

 erzo" was served, followed by speeches 

 by prominent representatives of both 

 countries. 



"This over, the Chilian train escorted 

 the Argentine delegation through the 

 tunnel to Las Cuevas, and, after fare- 

 wells were said, both parties started on 

 their homeward journey, we reaching 

 Santiago late the same night." 



