Useful websites

Web pages relevant to Patagonian and nearby railways
Ferrocarril Industrial Rio Turbio, web pages by Fernando Carnero, December 1998. Not available 2012.

The International Working Steam Locomotives pages, web pages on each country with working steam, by Rob Dickinson.

'The End of the World Line,' Pages about the new tourist railway on the site of the old timber railway at Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. English and Spanish versions.

The 'Ultimate Steam Page' site, by Hugh Odom, contains pages about the research and development work of Livio Dante Porta who, before becoming the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Argentinian Railways, was the manager of the RFIRT at Rio Gallegos. It includes a lot of detail about the RFIRT 2-10-2s.

A site on the Puerto Deseado broad gauge line was run by Daniel Alegre and Ruben N. Püschel for a while but may not be available now, 2012. It had a large number of pictures.

El Ferrocarril en Internet - 1347 fotos has been created with contributions from a large number of photographers. Subsidiary pages give access to sets of photos on a variety of Argentinean and Latin American railway topics. In particular 'Estaciones Argentinas 9' has recent photos of stations on the C. Rivadavia - Sarmiento line, and 'Estaciones Provincia de Santa Cruz' does the same for the Pto. Deseado - Las Heras route.

Alejandro Aguado, whose book is listed above, has a website devoted to his photography and artwork. Included are collections dedicated to the C. Rivadavia - Sarmiento railway and its surviving relics. His interests do not lie solely in the direction of railway relics.

Sylvester Damus, an Argentinean economist working in Canada, has transferred a good deal of statististical information about Argentina's railways into digital form. This data is available for sale on disk from his website.

Tren Patagonico SA are the operators of the Viedma to Bariloche broad gauge line. Their banner ad below is as currently displayed on appropriate Patagonian websites.

Un tren hacia el horizonte (Memoria y Futuro de un Trencito Patagonico) is a site dedicated to the RFIRT. It has a lot of detailed information about the social background to the mining communities as well as railway history.

Rumbo al Sud is a web-based magazine devoted to railways south of Buenos Aires, including especially the BAGSR and its nationalised successor the FC General Roca. The editor is Marcelo Arcas.

Funimag es un sitio que trata de funiculares en todas partes del mundo. Se incluye una página tratando del funicular de Jamestown en Santa Helena.

Historical websites
Whilst there are dozens of websites relating to Patagonia and surrounding areas, the following concentrate especially on aspects of the area's history:

Victor Moron's Puerto Madryn history pages.

David Guevara's pages on gold mining in Tierra del Fuego

The Maritime Museum in Ushuaia

Museo del Fin del Mundo in Ushuaia

Paul Carroll's South Atlantic site contains much about The Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

Jim Mclaren has a site about South Georgia with a large number of very clear photographs of the old whaling stations though little can be seen of railway remains.

Zagier and Urruty, publishers of books on Patagonia and the far south under the trade name of 'World's End', have a website listing their books.

Those interested in possible forest and sawmill railways might like to look at La explotación forestal en Magallanes entre 1843 y el presente, 1998, by Sr. Mateo Martinic B., Director of the Instituto de la Patagonia, Punta Arenas. Railways are not mentioned specifically, but there is much useful background. Not available in 2012.

The St. Helena Virtual Library and Archive maintained by Barry Weaver. The recent addition of more transcripts of government records has greatly increased the importance of this site.

Ascension Island Heritage Society site, maintained by Stephen Fowler. A number of references to railway remains on the island.

The Museum of Petroleum in Comodoro Rivadavia, tells the history of the area's oilfields.

Faros Historicos Chileños, a paper on the history of Chile's lighthouses, by Carmen Hevia Jürgensen and Iván Vargas Marín.

British expatriates in Southern Patagonia, a site by Duncan Campbell of Puerto Bories, contains a large amount of information about businesses and other organisations run by or for Britons out in the far south. It is an invaluable resource for those investigating topics related to such immigrants.

Patagoniadatabase.com.ar is a historical site with a number of sub-sections. One of these 'Escoceses en la Patagonia' lists many of the Scots migrants to the area.

Jon Ainge, ex of the British Antarctic Survey, has a website with many photos of South Georgia.

Many old photos of Comodoro Rivadavia are now online in a site run by Miguel Fiordelli. Most of the small thumbnails can be clicked on to display larger pictures. A number of these are of railway interest.

The Britlink website, run by André Philipsz, has information about British overseas territories including the Falkland Islands, St. Helena and Ascension Island.

A site on the history of Rio Turbio is within the Olimpiadas Nacionales de Contenidos Educativos en Internet site run by INET. This portal gives access to a number of other historical webpages from all over Argentina.

E-mail discussion lists
For those wishing to keep up-to-date with news of Latin American railways, the following e-mail lists are recommended:
El Reportero Ferroviario This is a Spanish language E-magazine or newsletter rather than a discussion list. It is circulated perhaps ten times per year to 2700 subscribers. It is produced by M. F. Pipan and Associates in Argentina but covers news of railways throughout Latin America and further afield.
EFB_English This group covers Brazilian railways, in English. It has 89 members, and perhaps 20 messages per month though very variable.
Mexlist covers Mexican railways in English. It is a very active list with around 475 members posting perhaps 200 messages per month.
South_of_ the_border is one of the smaller groups. It has 120 members but postings are currently about 20 per month. Its main thrust is towards the modelling of Latin American railways.
Trenes is a very active e-group covering Argentine railways in Spanish. It has 130 members who prolifically produce around 1000 messages per month.
Trocha-de750mm-y-menores is a relatively new group concentrating on the narrower gauges particularly in model form. Whilst they are currently moving to a new list, the original one looks like remaining as a photo resource.
solotrochaangosta concentrates mainly on Argentine metre gauge operations of the present day.

27-8-08