Steam Locomotive Museum in Santiago
In the Quinta Normal Park in the Chilean capital Santiago, on a 2-hectare area, is the largest Railway Museum in Latin America (Museo Ferroviario de Santiago), where steam locomotives and carriages of various types and periods are on display. The author was able to visit the museum in February 2017 and see its exhibits.
The agreement between the Municipality of Santiago and the State Railways for the creation of the museum was concluded in December 1980, and four years later it received its first visitors. In 2006, the museum's exhibits were declared national historical monuments (National Historical Monument).
The museum exhibits 16 steam locomotives built between 1893 and 1953:
• three steam locomotives built in 1893-1901 by the American Rogers Company;
• seven locomotives from the German companies Borsig, Henschel and Jung (1906-1935);
• steam locomotive of the British company Kitson-Meyer (1909);
• a steam locomotive produced by the Chilean company la Sociedad de Maestranzas y Galvanización (1911);
• two locomotives produced by the American Locomotive Company (1919, 1940);
• locomotive of the Japanese company Mitsubishi (1953);
• steam locomotive of the Swiss company Smocheweren (1945).
All locomotives are out of order, only cosmetic repairs have been carried out.
I would like to draw attention to the most remarkable exhibits of the museum.
Z-type steam locomotive
The locomotive was built at the English company Kitson-Meyer in Leeds in 1909 for the Chilean railway Ferrocarril Transandino Chileno and was in operation from 1911 to 1971. A total of 9 such machines were built (3 for Chile and 6 for Argentina).
Main technical data of Z-type steam locomotives
Осевая формула: 0-8-0+0-6-0Т
Weight, t: 90,7
Length, m: 15,0
Maximum speed km / h: 35
Power hp .: 850
Track width, mm: 1000
Coal reserve, t: 3
Water reserve, m³: 9
Vapor pressure, kg/cm²: 12,6
Boiler heating surface, m²: 176,2.
Locomotives of this type were used for the trans-Andean railway connection between Los Andes (Chile) and Mendoza (Argentina). The construction of this road, crossing the Andes mountain range, is one of the most remarkable engineering achievements in world history.
The road project was presented in 1872 to the Argentine and Chilean governments of the nineteenth century by the Chilean brothers Mateo and Juan Clark (Fig. 2). They proposed to connect the Chilean port of Valparaiso on the Pacific coast with the Argentine Buenos Aires by the shortest route, as opposed to the longer sea route through the Strait of Magellan. A concession for construction and operation was obtained, but it was not soon possible to overcome the difficulties that arose - work on the Argentine section began only in 1887, and on the Chilean section - in 1889. Financial problems, frequent political changes in both countries and technical problems delayed the delivery of the road until April 1910 - the centenary of the proclamation of independence of the South American republics. The Chilean section was called Ferrocarril Transandino Chileno (FCTC), the Argentine section - Ferrocarril Transandino Argentino (FCTA). In the first two decades of operation of the road, the average annual passenger turnover was 100 people, freight turnover - 000 tons.
The Clark Brothers
The Great Depression of the 30s and the accompanying economic difficulties also affected the Ferrocarril Transandino - from 1934 to 1944, traffic on it stopped. In the early 70s, steam traction on the highway became a thing of the past - in the 40s, the road was electrified. In 1984, traffic on the road ceased, which was facilitated by the Argentine-Chilean territorial dispute over the Beagle Channel, which almost led to war.
The route passed through the most difficult mountainous terrain with steep slopes, snow and ice. Its total length was 248 km, the maximum altitude was 3176 m. Several bridges and tunnels had to be built. The length of the largest tunnel was 3,2 km.
To overcome steep sections of the main line, the Abt rack-and-pinion was used (22 km on the Chilean section and 13 km on the Argentine section). The device was a third toothed rail, with which a toothed pinion with a drive from an additional two-cylinder steam engine entered into engagement (Fig. 3, 4). The speed of the train in rack-and-pinion mode did not exceed 15 km/h. To overcome snow-covered sections, the locomotives were equipped with snowplows.
Rack and pinion section of the Transandean Highway
The structure of the Abt rack
Rogers Type 22 Steam Locomotive
This oldest exhibit in the museum was built back in 1893 at the Rogers Locomotive Company plant in Paterson, New Jersey, and was in operation until 1970.
Main technical data of type 22 steam locomotives:
Axle formula - 0-6-0ST
Weight, t — 34,8
Length, m - 15,0
Track width, mm — 1676
Power, hp — 468
Coal reserve, t — 0,9
Water reserve, m³ — 1.
Steam locomotive type 110
Locomotives of this type were among the largest both in Chile and on the entire South American continent. The locomotive was built at the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) plant in 1940 and was in operation until 1966.
Main technical data of steam locomotives of type 1-10:
Axle formula: 4-8-2
Weight, t — 220
Length, m - 25,765
Track width, mm — 1676
Maximum speed, km/h — 90
Coal consumption, kg/km — 34
Water consumption, l/km — 302
Power, hp — 2338.
Due to the high coal consumption, these locomotives were equipped with a mechanical system for feeding coal into the firebox (stoker).
Steam locomotive type 100
This locomotive was also one of the most powerful and fastest in Chile. It was built in Germany by Henschel & Sohn in 1935 and operated until 1970 for express passenger service in northern Chile.
Main technical data of type 100 steam locomotives
Axle formula: 4-8-4
Weight, t — 185,35
Length, m - 25,410
Track width, mm — 1676
Maximum speed, km/h — 120
Coal consumption, kg/km — 34
Water consumption, l/km — 274
Power, hp — 2355.
Due to the high coal consumption, these locomotives were equipped with a stoker.
Type A steam locomotive
The smallest locomotive in the museum's collection is a Type A steam locomotive built in 1945 by the Swiss company Smocheweren. This machine was used on the 1908 km narrow-gauge railway built between 1918 and 35, which connected five railway stations in the province of Malleco.
Main technical data of type A steam locomotives
Axle formula: 0-6-0
Weight, t — 34,8
Length, m - 5
Width, m — 1,62
Height, m - 2,7
Track width, mm — 600
Maximum speed, km/h – 30.
In addition to locomotives, the museum also exhibits several railway carriages. Among them are a passenger carriage of the American Pullman Car company, used in 1911-1938 by Chilean presidents and the general director of the State Railways, passenger and freight carriages.
The presidential carriage of the Pullman Car company with a type 20 locomotive produced by the Chilean company La Sociedad de Maestranzas y Galvanización (1911)
Passenger carriage with a Borsig locomotive (1906)
Passenger carriage produced by the German company Linke Hoffmann (1923)
Interior of a Linke Hoffmann carriage
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