La Trochita. The scenic Patagonian train has run again

SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE.– The steam engine of the historic train La Trochita It has returned to throw its signature black smoke across the Patagonian steppe from the end of January and visitors will be able to enjoy it every Saturday until April 3. After going without service in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the narrow-gauge railway resumed its route between Ingeniero Jacobacci and Ojos de Agua, in the province of Río Negro.

The weekly tour departs every Saturday at 11 a.m. from Jacobacci, 200 kilometers east of San Carlos de Bariloche, and culminates two hours later in the town of Ojos de Agua, about 45 kilometers further south. There, passengers can get off the training and have a lunch in charge of the Ayufin Mapu rural tourism cooperative (“dear land” in Mapuche).

Come back from Water eyes It starts at 2.15 p.m. and arrives in Jacobacci around 4.00 p.m. In turn, the Bioceánica travel agency offers the bus transfer from Bariloche to Jacobacci and back to Bariloche. This excursion includes a guide and departs at 7 a.m.

In this return and for reasons of health protocol, trains run with 80% occupancy in each car and with the windows open, whenever the weather permits.

“For us, it is very pleasant to operate again La TrochitaBecause this is a tour that we love very much and there are people all over the world who want to take these trips, on steam and narrow gauge trains, which no longer exist. We are very happy with the return ”, says the president of the Patagonia train, Nestor Bruno.

It is a real journey into the past, through the wooden wagons, plank and leather seats and salamanders on board: “The whole range looks like it was there 100 years, without any modification, ”says Bruno.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Southern Railway reached Bahía Blanca and, from there, Neuquén. And between Puerto Madryn and Trelew, the Welsh settlers had built the Chubut Central Railroad.

In 1917 the wide-gauge train reached Ingeniero Jacobacci, a small town on the central plateau of the Río Negro, and four years later it was decided to continue the tracks to Esquel, although in this case with a gauge economical 750 mm. And so well the installation would take nearly three decades (it was done without machinery, with picks, shovels and explosives)From 1922, 50 Henschel locomotives were ordered in Germany, then 25 Baldwin locomotives in the United States, as well as the wagons.

The La Trochita road between Jacobacci and Esquel has 402 kilometers and more than 600 bends: it advanced in 1941 until El Maitén and, finally, in 1945, it reached Esquel. At first, the train only carried freight, but the agency’s closure in the 1990s eventually made it a tourist train.

Currently, the northern section is the one that operates from Jacobacci to Ojos de Agua, while the southern section continues to provide service between Esquel and Nahuel Pan, in Chubut. Yes in El Maitén you can visit the workshops and the railway museum of La Trochita.

For now, departures are scheduled for Saturday February 20 and 27; March 6, 13 and 20 and April 3, at Easter. The trip costs $ 2,800, with discounts of 30% for children from 4 to 12 years old. Retirees and residents of Río Negro also benefit from this reduction.

Another historic railway line, although modernized in recent years, is the one that connects Bariloche to Viedma. With a special program adapted to the pandemic context, the Patagonia train it covers 827 kilometers in 18 hours.

It is a journey from the mountain range to the sea, visitors can get to know each of the 12 resorts along the way: Bariloche, Pilcaniyeu, Comallo, Clemente Onelli, Ingeniero Jacobacci, Maquinchao, Los Menucos, Sierra Colorada, Ramos Mexía, Valcheta, San Antonio West and Viedma.

With a capacity of 80 passenger wagons, the Patagonia train It leaves Viedma on Friday at 6 p.m. and arrives in Bariloche at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The return takes place on Sunday: it leaves at 6 p.m. from Bariloche and arrives at 12 p.m. on Monday in Viedma.

The president of the Patagonia train indicates that they operate “with the automobile train, the Rio Negro Express, the most recent train in the province”. “In the next few days, we will start to operate with the train more big, the Patagonian train, but not with full training like we did until March of last year. We will only date three pullman cars and one premium car“, He explained.

Tickets to travel La Trochita in the Rio Negro territory and in the Patagonia train They can be purchased on the trenpatagonicosa.com.ar page. In addition, those interested can consult the excursions from Bariloche to Jacobacci on bioceanicaturismo.com.ar

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