Perurails locos and steam

I believe that this is rebuilt Alco/MLW that was in use somewhere else and rebuilt and sent to Cusco. If I can find the Latin Tracks article. It is a DL535, DL 532B or 534. Perurail has all of it's narrow gauge ALCO and MLW units in service. The heavy volumne of traffic on the line to Macchu Picchu is requiring a full fleet of passenger cars and railcars.

The train that you saw was Highram Bingham. It is a upscale, fancy train set for those who want the easy experience for a ride to MP. The train leaves from Poroy on the other side of the 5 switchbacks outside the station in Cusco. Trains take somewhere from 45 minutes to hour to travel from Cusco to Poroy. Poroy was location of locomotive dump until about mid 1980's. That is where the former SV 4-6-0 #100 was cut up for scrap in 1979(?). The passengers on the Highram Bingham are bused from Cusco, at a much later departure than the Vistadome trains and diesel trains from Cusco which start as early as 6 AM.

With a later departure they have direct travel to Aguas Caliente at the foot of Macchu Picchu. Then the passengers detrain for MP after having a gourmet breakfast and snacks. They stay at MP till late afternoon and then repeat the tour back with a gourmet dinner and arrive around 8 PM into Cusco by bus. The train set is mostly meter gauge cars from Malaysia that were rebuilt in the Arequipa shops and regauged to three foot. Also the observation is from South Africa and is the latest addition. The price for trip to MP on the HB is over $500 roundtrip. However they have canceled departures due to the low rider counts on some days. Perurail is part of the European Orient Express group and has a travel service, hotels and bus companies that compete with Peruvian companies for market share.

Perurail has been wanting to restore four or five Ferrostall Bolivian railcars for MP service. However they also must be rebuilt from meter to three foot. The cars are in storage in Arequipa. Narrow gauge diesels are often retrucked to standard gauge and sent to Arequipa for servicing. Also passenger cars and Vistadomes will also be sent to Arequipa for heavy overhauls.

The two narrow gauge steamers are Henchel #123 a 2-8-2 and is on display near the entrance to the city in a Childrens Park. #102 a former FCS narrow gauge is on display in Lima, Peru at the Parque Reducto near Miraflores district. The 0-6-0T is 750 mm gauge and is displayed at the Cusco standard gauge station across the city from the narrow gauge depot. There is dual gauge line that connects the two stations, but is seldom used. It is used to move equipment out to Arequipa the main shops for Perurail.

The standard gauge 252 2-8-0 is still on display at the station in Juliaca. Also a 2-8-0 and 0-6-0T is in the roundhouse near the station. Arequipa has another 0-6-0T hulk in the roundhouse. Both were partially scrapped. The ex-C&S 2-8-0's were in Cerro de Pasco. scrapped circa 1960.

The FC HyH has three or four Alco 543B's and they have two in the shops in torn down condition. The other two are in service. The Huancayo and Huancavelica is in the process of being standard gauged. I am not certain to the fate of a lot of 3 foot gauge equipment at Huancayo. The steam locos will be preserved. The former dual gauge yards in Huancayo are now standard only. Regauging has not started yet, however it is only a matter of time. It is scheduled for 2008. The Peruvian Government will be disposing of cars or other three foot equipment that is not converted to standard gauge.

D. Brown