The Southern Fuegian Railway () or the Train of the End of the World () is a gauge steam railway in Tierra del Fuego Province,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It was originally built as a freight line to serve the prison of

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

, specifically to transport rock, sand and lumber. It now operates as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

into the Tierra del Fuego National Park and is considered the southernmost functioning railway in the world.

History

Origins

century, Ushuaia on

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego ( English: ''Big Island of the Land of Fire'') also formerly ''Isla de Xátiva'' is an island near the southern tip of South America from which it is separated by the Strait of Magellan. The western portion (61. ...

developed as a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

, with the first prisoners arriving in 1884. In 1902, work began on a proper set of buildings for the prison by inmates, and a railway on wooden rails was constructed to assist the transport of materials, mainly local rock, sand and lumber. Oxen pulled wagons along the narrow gauge of less than . In 1909, the prison governor informed the government of the need to upgrade the line.

Decauville Decauville () was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow-gauge track fastened to st ...

tracks at a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

were laid for use with two

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s. The upgraded line opened in 1910. It connected the prison camp with the forestry camp and passed along the shoreline in front of the growing town of Ushuaia. The trains running on the line were known as the 'Train of the Prisoners' (''Tren de los Presos'') and brought wood for heating and cooking as well as building. The railway was gradually extended further into the forest into more remote areas as wood was exhausted. It followed the valley of the Pipo River into the higher terrain. Constant building allowed expansion of the prison and of the town, with prisoners providing many services and goods. In 1947 the prison was closed, and in 1950 it was replaced by a naval base. In the meantime, the 1949 Tierra del Fuego earthquake blocked much of the line. Initially, the railway line remained open to serve local sawmills. After the earthquake, the government made efforts to clear the line and get trains running on it again, but it was not viable and closed in 1952.

Rebirth as a tourist railway

In 1994, the railway was rebuilt in

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...

and began services again, although now as a heritage railway, the "Train of the End of the World". A new

2-6-2T T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

steam locomotive (''Camila'') was brought from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1995. , the line was operated by ''Camila'', two Garratt steam locomotives, ''Héctor J. Rodríguez Zubieta'' and the Argentinian-built ''Eng. LD Porta'', and two diesel–mechanical locomotives. Services leave from the 'End of the World' station (about from Ushuaia). The route takes passengers along the Pico Valley in the Toro gorge and to ''Cascada de la Macarena'' station where visitors are able to learn about the Yámana people and climb to a viewpoint at a 15-minute stop. The train then criss-crosses the river before entering the national park and the forest, travelling through the valley below the mountains until it reaches ''El Parque'' station. There is a plan to extend the line to a new station closer to Ushuaia and connect the station to the city with a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

In popular culture

The train served as inspiration to singer Michale Graves in the song "Train to the End of the World" of his 2013 album '' Vagabond''."Railway Fuegian Southern" on Multescatola.com
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Gallery

Tren trasport ushuaia.jpg, Train with passengers, 1930 Locom carcel ushuaia 1931.jpg, Convicts adjusting a locomotive, 1931 Estação do Trem do Fim do Mundo (5466319103).jpg, Fin del Mundo station Cruzada en La Macarena.jpg, Train in Winter scene, 2008 FCAF locomotora 2.jpg, Locomotive, 2010 Garratt L D Porta.jpg, N° 2 locomotive Estación Fin del Mundo, Tren del Fin del Mundo.jpg, Train at Fin del Mundo station Southern Fuegian Railway.jpg, Arriving at terminal Vias del Tren del fin del Mundo.jpg, Rail tracks Tren del Fin del Mundo (1).png, Preserved original train FCAF No.2 'Ing L.D.Porta.jpg, Ing. Porta locomotive Museo Marítimo de Ushuaia. Patio interior Vagon y Locomovil.jpg, Train at

Museum Punto de partida del ex Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino 01.JPG, Old station terminus

References

External links

* * Map sources for the station at:
El tren del fin del mundo - trip report from 2010

The Work of Shaun McMahon {{Railway Companies in Argentina Heritage railways in Argentina Railway lines in Argentina Railway companies of Argentina Tourist attractions in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina 500 mm gauge railways in Argentina Ushuaia Transport in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina