A Chilote line

Chiloé Island lies in Chile just south of Puerto Montt, where starts the long line of 'canales', fjords and islands stretching southward for several hundred miles. The island is roughly rectangular, about 110 miles north to south and 15 to 40 miles across. In the past Chiloé had a fairly wild reputation and its inhabitants could be found all over Patagonia doing any sort of rough or seasonal work. These days tourism seems to be growing, not least to the unspoilt forests and wilderness areas, and to the traditional wood-built villages .

Proposals
The first detailed proposals for a railway in Chiloé were put forward in 1899. A Senador Don Ramón Rozas suggested the idea. However, it was rejected - for economic not technical reasons(1). Chiloé has had two main towns, Ancud and Castro, for several centuries and the proposal would seem to have been for a route between the two.

Surveys
In 1905 the Chilean Congress awarded 35,000 pesos for a study by Ings. Jorge Hevister and Carlos Briceño and this was then followed by a more detailed survey undertaken by a 'Franco-Belge' syndicate in 1907. Gustavo Boldrini's 1986 booklet goes into this in some detail (2).

Construction
In about 1908 a contract was let to Lezaeta y Duran Hermanos for $2,950,000. The track gauge was to be 60cms. and the railway was to be part of the state railways' system. There were still calls for the gauge to be 75cms. however, on the grounds of increased capacity for very little increase in cost. With hindsight this might have been a good idea. Chile was home to a very high capacity 75cm gauge line in the form of the FC Antofagasta and Bolivia. Whilst this was later regauged, some ideas - or stock - might have filtered down.

A view up Calle Prat in Ancud, shows the basic single track proud of the road surface. This is clearly from a tinted postcard but the date is unknown. Kindly provided by Señor Raúl Moroni from his collection.

The route goes round the coast from Ancud for the first few miles, but then commences its traverse southwards across the middle of the island. Surveying for such a track was not helped by the number of westward flowing rivers in deep cut valleys. However, by climbing to the top of the central plateau or 'meseta' a reasonably favourable course could be followed from south of Butalcura down to Piruquina. A list of features along the route is in an appendix page. On the 8th September 1911 the construction teams working from Ancud and Castro met near Butalcura. Fitting out out continued until on 27th July 1912 the inaugural train ran.

As well as the main Ancud - Castro line, a branch from Ancud along the coast west to Lechagua was built at the same time. This seems to have been mainly for the shipping of timber via Lechagua muelle, and in the hope that Lechagua might become a new large port..

The photo above shows the arrival of a train in Ancud station. Two coaches and a van seem to have been the usual passenger train formation. The photo is from the Gilverto Provoste collection kept by the Museo Fuerte de Niebla in Veldivia.

Whilst the route surveyed looks reasonable enough in the circumstances, the line eventually constructed shows signs of severe economies. The gradients are fairly steep. nominally at a maximum of 1 in 35 northwards to Llau Llau and southwards out of Butalcura. Even worse the three big bridges as initially constructed gave rise to serious concerns about safety. These were rebuilt in steel and concrete in 1925.

Map of Chiloé Island
Castro and Ancud are clearly visible with the railway between them showing up in the 1957 map as a thin black line. Quellón or Puerto Quellón is much further south.

Map of the route

Proposed extensions
Whilst the Ancud - Castro line had always been seen as the trunk line, there were plenty of dreams of creating a whole network. The main extensions are listed below:
Ancud - Lechagua muelle. This was the only one built, principally for the shipping of timber.
Castro - Quellón. 90 kms. southwards from Castro.
Mocopulli - Dalcahue, 8kms east, with a ferry link to Quinchao Island.
Ancud - Chacaopara, at the ferry crossing to the mainland.

The photo below (2) shows two southbound trains at Butalcura. Judging by the clouds of smoke from the engine of the passenger train on the left, it is about set off up the steep grade to the meseta top, having overtaken the goods train standing in the loop. The ruins of the first wooden bridge over the río Putalcura are at the bottom right.

References:
1El Tren de Chiloé. 1986. Gustavo Boldrini P. Centro de Folklore Magisterio Ancud. Page 18, source not given.
2 El Tren de Chiloé as above.
3 Photo from the Gilberto Provoste collection in the Museo Fuerte de Niebla in Valdivia.

26-5-08