Re: Ecuador - Everyone has got it wrong! Container Gauge is.....

I probably should have said container "gauged" or maybe "clearance gauged". What I meant was that the track gauge was the same as the rest of the system but the line from Quito to San Lorenzo was built with a clearance gauge to take containers whereas the "mainline" Quito to Guayaquil can only take standard wagons.

The reason for this was that San LOrenzo line is a "new" line built in 1945 and at that time containers were starting to be transported by rail in other countries so some far sighted engineers decided to build this line to accommodate containers.

This was part of the reason thte the large Alstoms locos were purchased as this was a much better engienered line and these locos could pull the freight from San Lorenzo to Quito with much longer train s than the five wagons permitted by the zig zags ion the main line.

As a matter of interest San Lorenzo has never developed as the port it was envisaged to be, arguably because of the closure of the railway to it and more interesting is that it is one of the few places in Ecuador which for want of a better term is "wild west" and one has to be very careful going around.

It is also worth noting that not alone has the line from Quito to Otavalo been lifted but the infrastructure pretty well destroyed whereas the line from Otavalo to Ibarra is still in situ.

I would hope that some other readers may be able to give further background.

Michael Grimes