Esquel narrow gauge in Argentina

The railroad is relatively railfan friendly. That is because most of it is shut down part of the year. It is not a railroad that you can chase easily on the line north of Nahuel Pan. The railroad and the roads are in different sides of the valley or mountains. Some local roads do go to the watertanks and some other spots.

The only regular trains are on the Esquel end of the line and they are only on Saturday and Sunday. Usually two trains in the peak season. Remember that they are the opposite of the north american seasons. So starting in November to April is the best time for trips. The line north of El Maiten sees only one or two charter trips per year. So if you were planning to chase in a car, it would have to be on the dates of these charters. TUT is one customer that charters once a year. Another British travel company seems to charter once a year and were to be on the route right after TUT.

With the damage to the La Trochita's water tankcars and fuel tankcar, it might have been a problem for the next group. Not to mention the badly derailed #16 that went completely on the ground. For the train to operate on the north end it must have fuel and water tankcars as part of the train. There fewer working watertanks on the route from Jacobacci to El Maiten. Several tankcars are parked along the line, however they have not seen service in nearly 20 years.

Dale Brown