Re: Chasing narrow gauge steam in Argentina - February 1977

The next morning our trip leaders secured two smaller vehicles, and our group split up. One choice was to return to Lago Futalaufquen, take the boat up Lago Menendez, and hike to Lago Cisne in the National Park. The other choice was to ride the mixed train to El Maiten. I REALLY wanted to see the spectacular Mountain-Glacier-and-Lake scenery in the park, but finally logic took over - the narrow gauge would likely be gone before long, but the mountains would always be there. Others had an easier time making a decision, so the three ladies and some of the guys went off toward the mountains. By the time all the arrangements were made, we ended up meeting the mixed train at Nahuel Pan, and we had three options - riding the train, riding one of the engine cabs, or chasing the train, or a combination thereof.

The double headed mixed train at the Nahuel Pan water column





Watering the road engine



I decided to chase the train on the first section, but we didn't get very far before the train stopped, and the crew went to fix a problem of some kind