Uyuni Railway Cemetery

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Rusting steam locomotives

The Uyuni railway cemetery ( Spanish: Cementerio de (los) Trenes ) on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia, southwest of the city of Uyuni , a few kilometers from the city center, is the largest railway cemetery in the world.

history

In 1872 the construction of the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia , the first railway line in Bolivia, began. It was used to transport raw materials such as sodium nitrate and other salts, but also metals such as copper , silver and gold , from the mines inland to the port cities on the Pacific Ocean . When the railway reached Uyuni at the end of the 19th century, a railway depot was established in the city . Uyuni developed into an important railway junction. Around the 1940s, the local industry collapsed and most of the precious metal mines were abandoned by the operators. This led to the fact that the supply routes laid out for this purpose, as well as most of the locomotives and wagons, were no longer needed, were shut down and left to decay.

There are a total of around 100 locomotives and wagons in the railway cemetery, the oldest dating from the late 19th century. In addition to the corrosion (which, however, progresses slowly thanks to the local climate) and the salt from the Salar de Uyuni, the residents also damage the vehicles by using them to procure scrap metal . Many of the locomotives and wagons were also provided with graffiti .

tourism

Because of the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world, numerous tourists come to Uyuni. The railway cemetery has developed into a popular excursion point for visitors, and many travel guides recommend it as a stop on a tour along the salt lake. The railway wrecks are popular photo opportunities among travelers.

Others

In the center of the Pulacayo mining settlement about 16 kilometers northeast there is another, smaller railway cemetery with US locomotives, which, in contrast to the vehicles in Uyuni, have not yet been affected by metal thieves. One example in the Pulacayo cemetery is a steam locomotive called La Unión that pulled a train in 1908 that was robbed by the outlaws Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid .

panorama

and display information about the image
Remains of steam locomotives in the Uyuni Railway Cemetery

Web links

Commons : Uyuni Railway Cemetery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The slow death of the Andes. A Swiss Indiana Jones explores the world's largest railroad cemetery. In: SF Spezial Fernweh: Zug um Zug, episode 5. Schweizer Fernsehen 2007.
  2. ↑ Johannes Maurath: Cementerio de trenes - a train cemetery near Uyuni. (No longer available online.) Touring America, archived from the original on September 29, 2016 ; accessed on September 29, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.touring- Amerika.de
  3. ↑ a b c Irena Ristic: A visit to the last Andean trains. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , December 6, 2007, accessed on September 29, 2016 .
  4. ↑ The most unusual spot in the world. KirchenZeitung , July 27, 2016, accessed on September 29, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Bolivia's spectacular cemetery of old trains. Travelbook, September 20, 2016, accessed September 29, 2016 .

Coordinates: 20 ° 28 ′ 33.6 ″  S , 66 ° 49 ′ 59.5 ″  W.