Ferrocarriles de Tongoy

Campanil , a 2-6-0T narrow gauge steam locomotive
built by Rogers for the Tongoi Railroad in 1870

Route 1903

Route 1898

Route length:

85 km

Gauge :

1067 mm ( cape track )

Maximum slope :

Puntilla – Ovalle – Tongoy: 20 ‰
Cerrillos – Tamayo: 50 ‰

Minimum radius :

152 m

Legend

	km (altitude)
	0 (235)	Puntilla
	3 (221)	Oval
	11 (164)	Limarí
	18 (165)	Trapiche
	+17 (-)	Tamaya mines
	27 (-)	La Torre

	36 (-)	Cerrillos
	42 (-)	Quebrada Seca
	56 (220)	Pachingo
	64 (108)	Chañar
	85 (5)	Tongoi

The Ferrocarriles de Tongoy of the Ferrocarriles de Coquimbo were a narrow-gauge railway from the port of Tongoi (now: Tongoy) to the mines of Tamaya in Chile with a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches (1067 mm).

history

In 1865, José Tomás Urmaneta received approval to build the Tongoi Railway to carry ore from the Tamaya mines to the port of Tongoi. Construction work for the stretch from the coast to the Tamaya mines at Trapiche began that same year, so that operations between Tongoi and the Tamaya mines could begin in 1867. In 1879, almost 210,000 tons of ore were still transported by the Tamaya mines, but by 1884 the transport volume had fallen sharply, so that the value of the shares fell and these were only traded at 34 or 35% of the issue value. In 1886 there were only 90,000 tons of ore being transported, and in 1891 only 8,487 tons of ore were transported, after which the mines were closed.

After the mines closed, the railroad lost most of its traffic. The railway company then decided to extend the route from 40 km to Ovalle and to shut down the 17 km section to the mines. Some construction work was carried out, but work was stopped due to severe flooding.

In 1901 the railway company was taken over by the government for 385,000 pesos. This price also included the rail vehicles: 4 locomotives, 10 passenger cars, 159 freight cars. The line was completed under state management. Shortly afterwards the construction of the line to Puntillas continued.

In 1938 operations were stopped and the line closed. Ovalle is still an important junction of the central railway system today.

Steam locomotives

No.	Surname	Manufacturer	Factory no.	Construction year	Remarks
1	Minero	Manning Wardle	215	1866
2	Oval	Manning Wardle	216	1866
3	Hercules	Manning Wardle	217	1866
4th	Tongoy	Hawthorn in Leith	364	1866
5		Hawthorn in Leith	365	1866
6th		Hawthorn in Leith	366	1866
7th		Black Hawthorn via W. & J. Lockett	45 or 46	1867
8th	Campanil	Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson , New Jersey	1717	1870	Whyte wheel arrangement : 2-6-0T Control : Stephenson Wheelbase of the drive axles: 2.82 m Total wheelbase of the locomotive: 4.65 m Axle load of the drive wheels: 25,401 kg Water tank: 3,790 l Driver diameter 940 mm Boiler pressure: 11 kPa High pressure cylinder (diameter x stroke): 13 × 18 inches (330 × 508 mm) Pulling force: 5082.51 kg Firebox area: 5.40 m² Grate area 1.04 m² Heating area: 58.18 m²
9	Pizarro	Rogers	1770	1870
	Relampago				'Carro a vapor'

Individual evidence

↑ A. Orrego, L. Orrego, C. Silva, R. Montaner and J. Tornero: Chile, Descripción física, política, social, industrial y comercial. Edited by Carlos Tornero, Librería C. Tornero, Santiago de Chile, p. 308.
↑ ^a ^b Santiago Marín Vicuña (1916): Los Ferrocarriles de Chile. Santiago de Chile, Imprenta Cervantes, 4th edition, p. 506.
↑ Mapa de los ferrocarriles de Coquimbo, 1898.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Wolfgang Griem: Ferrocarriles Región de Coquimbo - Región de Coquimbo virtual - Índice de nombres y lugares (Coquimbo). Ferrocarril virtual, Chile.
↑ ^a ^b Martin Coombs: Chilean steam locomotive list. Part 2. Standard, 4 '6 ", 4' 2" and 3 '6 "gauge locos, v2.16, 2018. pp. 67-70. 10.5 megabits. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
^ ^A ^b ^c ^d W. Rodney Long: Railways of South America: Part 3: Chile. Transportation Division, US Government Printing Office, Washington, 1930.
^ Francisco Marcial Aracena: La industria del cobre en Atacama y Coquimbo (1884): Texto de la línea férrea de Tongoi a Tamaya. Imprenta del Nuevo Mercurio, Valparaíso (Colección W. Griem). Pp. 172-173.
↑ Steve Llanso: Tongoi 2-6-0 Locomotives in Chile - Class Details.
^ John Reid (1835-1911): Campanil, for the Tongoi Railway, Chile, SA, 1870.

[1] A. Orrego, L. Orrego, C. Silva, R. Montaner and J. Tornero: Chile, Descripción física, política, social, industrial y comercial. Edited by Carlos Tornero, Librería C. Tornero, Santiago de Chile, p. 308.

[Marin-2] Santiago Marín Vicuña (1916): Los Ferrocarriles de Chile. Santiago de Chile, Imprenta Cervantes, 4th edition, p. 506.

[3] Mapa de los ferrocarriles de Coquimbo, 1898.

[Griem-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Wolfgang Griem: Ferrocarriles Región de Coquimbo - Región de Coquimbo virtual - Índice de nombres y lugares (Coquimbo). Ferrocarril virtual, Chile.

[Coombs-5] Martin Coombs: Chilean steam locomotive list. Part 2. Standard, 4 '6 ", 4' 2" and 3 '6 "gauge locos, v2.16, 2018. pp. 67-70. 10.5 megabits. Retrieved January 4, 2018.

[Long-6] A ^b ^c ^d W. Rodney Long: Railways of South America: Part 3: Chile. Transportation Division, US Government Printing Office, Washington, 1930.

[7] Francisco Marcial Aracena: La industria del cobre en Atacama y Coquimbo (1884): Texto de la línea férrea de Tongoi a Tamaya. Imprenta del Nuevo Mercurio, Valparaíso (Colección W. Griem). Pp. 172-173.

[8] Steve Llanso: Tongoi 2-6-0 Locomotives in Chile - Class Details.

[9] John Reid (1835-1911): Campanil, for the Tongoi Railway, Chile, SA, 1870.