Buenos Aires to London

After a very successful trip to Argentina it was time to go home. The international airport at Ezeiza is really rather impressive. All the queues I encountered were short and quickly sped through. I reached the airside at 14:41, giving me time enough to sample a Andes Origen IPA Andina before boarded my flight at 16:10.

I’ve had the experience of travelling on a handful of 747s (with Qantas in 1998, KLM in 2011 and Lufthansa in 2013) but never sampled business class so this leg was very much a tick on my bucket list. It was quite marvellous wandering through the lower deck of a 747-8 and then taking the stairs to the upper deck. I don’t imagine that I will get the chance to do it again.

Our ride home – Lufthansa Boeing 747-830 D-ABYR operated LH511 EZE-FRA

I can’t say that I am a huge fan of the outdated Lufthansa business class seat or how surprisingly noisy these old 747s are but this was an opportunity that had to be taken (especially at a price bizarrely cheaper than the economy ticket I had originally planned to buy). Overall, comparing long haul flights I probably wouldn’t pick Lufthansa as a first choice, but would happily fly Swiss anytime.

After a short spell on the ground at Frankfurt I made the transfer to my flight for London. Our captain told us that the crew had been assigned this flight at short notice and were trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible, which ultimately resulted in a small delay of 36 minutes. At the worst points of our snowy transfer to Bariloche I doubted I would make it back on my scheduled flights, so that really didn’t seem too bad!

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Ferroclubbing in Buenos Aires

Although our time on La Trochita was over, we still had one more railway rendezvous before our international flights.

Our morning was spent at the Ferroclub Argentino, a railway club at Lynch in Buenos Aires which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The club has a terrific railway museum and an impressive collection of locomotives/rolling stock in their depot building. During our visit they had one standard gauge loco in steam within the depot grounds – 0-6-0 no. 27 ‘Monte Caseros’ (Neilson & Co, 1888).

FIAT 7131 railcar No. C.M.U. 5968 ex T.E.A at the Ferroclub Argentino in Lynch

Steam locomotives at the club include FCGU 4-4-0 No. 806 (Kerr Stuart & Co., 1913); FCGU 2-6-0 No. 11 (Neilson Reid & Co., 1888); FCGU 2-6-0 No. 15 (Dubs & Co., 1888); and FCGM 0-4-0T No. 863 (Couillet, 1886). There is also a FCNEA Steam crane No. 4144 (J Booth & Bros Ltd, 1931). There were also some interesting looking electric locomotives – LE907, 950 and 954.

We had such a warm welcome from the volunteers at the railway club who showed us round their museum, generously sharing their knowledge and personal experiences. One museum guide told us about seeing Eva Peron at the age of 6 or 7, on the back of a railway carriage throwing out gifts to children.

At the end of our visit an immense barbecue was provided, served up in a railway dining car. Time rather worked against us, so only a few of the group got the chance to get a guided tour round their depot and workshops. Those of us with international flights had to leave by bus at 1.30pm but were sorry not to have been able to spend more time at the club. Thank you to all the volunteers for giving us such a marvellous day at the end of our trip.

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Back to Buenos Aires

Today, we begin our slow homeward trek – with a little bit more rail action to come. Originally everyone was booked on an Aerolineas Argentinas flight from Esquel to Buenos Aires (which only sees one flight a day on this route) but that would have been too simple…

An unhelpful late demand for passport expiry dates from Aerolineas Argentinas saw the tickets for over half the group cancelled before the information could be supplied, so rather than fly home from the airport at Esquel we had to make the trek all the way back to Bariloche in our tour bus. It was expected to be a long drive and there had been reports of snow at Bariloche, so this meant a 7.30 departure.

Our tour bus at an earlier point of the tour

On our drive out of Esquel we could see that the roadsides were white, so it looked like the snow that we had wanted for the tour was taunting us again. That said, it looked like a thoroughly miserable day to be outside, so maybe it was better that it arrived on our transfer day.

At first our progress was pretty good and we reached El Bolson at 10:10. Unfortunately, not too far beyond, with 94km still to go, we started to see thicker snow around us and the traffic had come to a complete stop in what looked like a long tailback. We could see some cars ahead doing u-turns and abandoning their attempts to continue on, while others had stopped to put chains on their tyres. Our drivers stepped out to assess the situation and then bravely drove us past a line of stationary trucks and the occasional car that had skidded off the road.

The snowy scene towards the end of our transfer (actually one of the stretches of mountain roads with lighter snow!)

Our route took us on some winding roads through a mountainous area through ever thicker snow, then into a valley the snow had not reached. Our relief was short lived as we drove back up into the snowy mountains where diggers were hard at work clearing the roads. I think the roads would have been challenging under any circumstance – the road was disintegrating with some huge potholes. It was quite possibly the most heroic drive I have seen a bus driver put in on one of these tours.

Astonishingly, we reached Bariloche airport at 12:55 – in perfect time for our 15:05 flight on Argentinian budget airline FlyBondi. The Boeing 737-86N (LV-KDQ) that awaited us had some of the tightest legroom that I can recall and the flight was clearly almost totally full, but as luck would have it the seat next to me was empty – giving me a chance to enjoy the views on our approach to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, the airport located in the city centre of Buenos Aires.

A view of the railway yards outside Retiro Station on the approach to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery

The approach was far from pleasant with some really strong buffeting from crosswinds as we came in to land, with the wings going up and down wildly to my untrained eyes. Other members of the group commented on it being something of a white knuckle ride even for seasoned fliers. The pilots certainly deserved the applause from the passengers on landing. I just kept focusing on taking photos which helped distract me from everything else that was going on.

After our group was re-united we went for a final meal together at La Estancia, a popular steak house where large hunks of meat are carved at the entrance, barbequed and brought to the table still sizzling. All washed down with one litre bottles of Imperial IPA!

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Esquel ending

Our time on La Trochita is at an end. It has been a remarkable tour and I can now totally see why people say they would come back here in a heartbeat. The incredible variation in scenery from one of the line to the other, the wonderful 100 year old locomotives/rolling stock and hard working crews all helped to make this trip an absolute pleasure. A really good group of slightly bonkers photographers from around the world also helped make the trip zing along when we found ourselves motionless and needing to seek escape in hysterical laughter.

Our wonderful crew on the line from Esquel to Leleque

In our last evening in Esquel we enjoyed some glasses of Argentinian sparkling wine for a deserved series of toasts for our local organisers, guides and drivers. It is rare for a tour to run absolutely smoothly, but every problem was met with such incredible determination to overcome it.

It is simply astonishing to think this is only the second time that charter trains have covered the majority of the line in winter since the closure (the last time was on the FarRail tour in 2019). As always, I am in awe of all the incredible preparation, cost juggling and obstacle clearing by our tour leader and local organisers that goes into making these tours possible – followed by the incredible efforts of the crews on the ground to deliver the goods.

Leleque to La Cancha

An early departure by bus from Esquel set us up for our final day on the southernmost stretch of the line. Only now has it struck me just how incredible it is that almost the full extent of the 402km long line is intact and usable, whereas if this had been the UK sections would have been obliterated by roads, car parks and housing estates built across the tracks! There is one section of line that is blocked here, just north of Leleque, which we passed on our way to the start point for today’s rail activity.

On our arrival at Leleque (08:13) we discovered that the loco had not been turned and still needed to take water, which is something of a pity as we have some good light. It is what it is though. We photograph the loco turning and then a couple of false departures (09:00-10) and enjoy some runpasts from a nearby hillside with a mountain backdrop (09:30-45). This turned out to be our last chance for shots in the morning before a two hour wave of rain arrived.

Moody shot of the day

In late morning we reached Lepa (11:05) where our loco took water from a stream, followed by some shunting to rearrange the consist (completed at 12:30). The train departed soon after this, but already well down on the planned schedule. The afternoon brought some more photo opportunities. Memorably, we stopped at one bridge for one runpast (15:12), got battered by an unexpected burst of hail (15:25) and then got another runpast in (15:30). Once our photography was complete the train rolled back to the bridge to take water from the river. In the usual way of things, there was some great light being wasted while the loco is taking water.

On we continued, reaching Mayoco (16:23) and La Cancha (17:53). It had been apparent for a little while that there were once again problems with the wheel bearings on the dining car and by the time we reached La Cancha it was decided that repairs would be needed. As we wouldn’t have reached the next photo position in time after repairs (and with sun doubtful even if we could get there) it was decided that we should head back to Esquel by road, rather than complete the trip by rail. After a short presentation to the crew and much applause we bade our farewells and headed away by bus (18:09).

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La Cancha to Lepa

Our second day on the southernmost stretch of line should have seen us start from La Cancha at sunrise. However, the forecast shows terrible weather coming this way and satellite images appear to back this up. If this is to be believed the rain won’t stop until 2pm. So, we have a leisurely breakfast instead and only start our day’s running from La Cancha at 10:17.

Henschel no. 114 hauls our train over a bridge between Mayoco and Lepa

The rain doesn’t actually materialise but we are certainly not going to complain about that! We take our renewed luck and run with it, trying to make the most of the moody skies from our positions, while carefully navigating the sheep skeletons and carcasses that the pumas have left behind. We half wonder if the pumas are watching us, as we watch the train…

We reached a small girder bridge at 12:16 and spend the next hour or so on two runpasts before the crew fill the loco up with water from the river. The surrounding landscape looks deceptively solid but we soon found ourselves gaining an extra inch of mud on the soles of our boots. Onward we go, to Mayoco, where we enjoy a false departure at 15:02 with beautifully clear blue skies before departing for real half an hour later.

Lepa in the last light of the day

The crews carry anemometers on the train and if the wind speed is too high they won’t stop at some points, such as on the bridge beyond. Thankfully our luck is still holding up today and we are able to stop for two runpasts at the bridge (15:45-50). After a few more photo stops we eventually arrived at Lepa at 19:12, where we board our bus after a little wait. Our train will go on to Leleque, ready for us to join it tomorrow morning.

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Esquel to La Cancha

Our tour has reached Esquel, the southernmost and youngest point of the line. Although trains started running in 1935, the line only reached El Maitén in 1941 and Esquel in 1945. Today, tourist trains run from Esquel to Nahuel Pan (around 19km) but over the next three days we will cover the full extent of this stretch of the line up to Leleque (around 90km). Trains haven’t run this far since the last FarRail tour four years ago, so we felt very privileged to have this opportunity.

The day’s photography starts with a false departure around 9 o’clock with a double header (Baldwin no. 1 and Henschel no. 114) hauling 12 wagons and carriages.

Our double-header from Esquel

A wonderful series of vistas were offered up as the morning progresses. It is not without its challenge, such as a tricky climb up a rock scree slope to a position looking down on a steep gorge which never sees sun, but it is on an innocuous looking hump on otherwise flat ground that I somehow manage to pull my calf muscle. Luckily, there are plenty of sturdy sticks lying around so I am soon back in action, hobbling around, joining another member of the group who has already fashioned a branch into a walking aid. We make quite a sight and it’s hard not to laugh when a comparison with Sam and Frodo is made. It does rather look like we are auditioning for a dodgy low-budget remake of Lord of the Rings. Many hysterical hours of laughter result from further riffing on this theme!

The landscapes are stunning, but so is the wildlife that accompanies this – hares racing by the trackside, ibis flying overhead and horses drinking water from trackside pools/running wild in the fields. We are really being spoilt today.

We reach Nahuel Pan at 13:37 and make a lunch stop where we get to try choripan (chorizo in bread with a lovely salsa) from a barbecue style set up next to the station followed by quince tart.

Third time lucky

One loco (1) is dropped at Nahuel Pan, heading back to Esquel at 16:05. With our remaining loco (114) we head onwards at 16:15, towards La Cancha, with a shorter consist of 7 wagons/carriages. It is not long before we are out in the fields attempting a shot with our train emerging through some distinctive rocks, with a mountain in the background, which the sun does not seem to want to co-operate with – necessitating three attempts. The wind freezes all of us in the process.

The landscape is not always scenic… the next stretch of line takes us through an area where rubbish from the local dump has blown across the entire landscape, catching on the spiky plants.

One of the unusual features of the line just beyond this point is that it is gated. Back in the day the crew would get down from the loco, unlatch the gate to allow the train through and then re-secure it. This little scene is recreated for us. Keeping with the ongoing hobbity theme (still causing many tears of laughter) one of of our number comments “We have left the shire”.

Approaching the gate

Our route takes us over a small girder bridge where a gaucho on horseback with a small pack of working dogs is taking a picture of our train with his smartphone. Never one to miss an opportunity our tour leader and guide soon rope him into our shots. Apparently he is looking after many sheep in a field nearby, a major source of wool for one of the world’s global fashion companies.

Finally, we arrived at La Cancha at 19:25 and boarded our bus for the ride back into Esquel. The turbo for the engine on our bus blew just a short way into our journey back, making progress slower, but nothing could dent the glow across the group. All were in agreement that it had been one of the best days ever on a FarRail tour.

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After the rain

The weather gods once again threatened a deluge as we made our way to breakfast. So far we have been very lucky and these threats have proved to be wide of the mark, but today the rain turned up in spades. The difficulty of planning (and re-planning) amply illustrated by the fact that there was a nice sunrise and clear skies just 20-30km away. Forecasts are very hard to rely upon here.

Our departure was rescheduled and we set off on a visit to the workshops (with a fully equipped machine shop) and the small railway museum outside while the rain tipped down.

Heading south from El Maitén

The day’s photography got underway at 10:22 with a false departure southbound, followed by shots of our train emerging from a forest and then side on with the mountains (which would have been our sunrise spot had the weather co-operated). Around midday we hit a problem, just after a runpast at a curve with the mountain in the background.

The problem was the same as yesterday – the oil burner. We were a bit stuck – one option was to walk 2km back to the nearest level crossing and pick up the bus, but instead we stuck it out as a maintenance crew from El Maitén set about a repair. Not a quick fix, but great to see the loco back in action. After a few more runpasts we transferred back to the bus and set off for a late lunch (sometime after 3pm), followed by our next bus transfer.

We started our drive to Esquel at 16:00. The plan had been to take a 60km diversion to use all paved roads, but our driver preferred the more direct route on unpaved roads and made incredible progress. We had a good run, pausing only for a random stop by the National Guard for a drugs check using sniffer dogs. Our coach reached Esquel city at 17:54 and we were soon settled in to our hotel.

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Now that’s what I call scenery

Our arrival at El Maitén brought us to one of the stretches of the line that is in operation for tourist trains. For our afternoon of photography we would be heading north towards Ñorquincó to take advantage some of the most astonishing scenery I have ever seen as the backdrop for a preserved railway. The mountainous images that lured me to Argentina for this trip came from this spot.

The afternoon began with a false departure with no. 4 (Baldwin, 1922) from El Maitén at 12:23, across the bridge just beyond the station and then on to the stunning scenery. We were rather spoilt with a stunning reflection of a tree with the mountains in the background that saw a whole line of us gathered round the edge of a large puddle waiting for the moment that the sun would come out…

Our train hauled by no 4. passes the stunning scenery around El Maiten

One of the most memorable moments came with a stop for a horse shot. The plan quickly unravelled as they moved back from their lineside position in a field as the train backed up, but then a herd of cows came down out of almost nowhere and suddenly crossed the track in front of the train. It was a very close call!

On we went, travelling north in the creakiest carriage that I have ever heard (it almost sounded like it was being battered by heavy rain). Still the runpasts kept coming with the stunning volcanic mountain backdrop. As the sun set we tried some glint shots but the smokeless pictures looked far from impressive. Initially it was thought that it was to do with a lack of fuel, but it later turned out that the pipe to the burner was just blocked. We started our roll back to El Maiten at 18:45, only pausing to try a contre-jour shot at 19.29.

Our train reached El Maitén at 20:29, where we clambered down at a level crossing to walk over to a nearby restaurant where we could relax and reflect on what has been a quite wonderful afternoon of photography. One of the most satisfying days on the lineside that I can remember.

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Bus transfer

A fresh morning brought with it some surprisingly blue skies and a break from the rain, though there was still plenty of that left in pools around Ing. Jacobacci.

A little wander around the depot here after breakfast gave us the chance to see the 2-8-2 broad gauge loco no. 121 (North British, 1912) built at Queen’s Park Works in Glasgow. Twenty years ago you would have found this loco hauling twice weekly tourist trains during the season, but right now the loco is partway through restoration. Another noteworthy sight in the shed was a steam crane (Ransomes & Rapier of Ipswich, 1905) from the Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway.

We set off on the 3 hour 30 minute drive to El Maiten at 9:35 retracing the route we had taken by train over the past two days. It was a little frustrating to see snow at the roadside an hour into our drive. This was the snowy landscape we had wanted for our railway photography, but we missed it by one day!

Our route took us back to Mamuel Choique and our train from yesterday (it had insufficient water so never came back last night), then over the level crossing where we spent so much time (11:15). The winding road beyond this point brought us down to Norquinco (12:25), with a stunning view of a snow capped mountain range, and then on to El Maiten (13:00).

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Cerro Mesa to Ingeniero Jacobacci

On our return to Cerro Mesa the locos had to to turned on the triangle to face in the direction of Ing. Jacobacci. The consist was then rearranged into two short trains coupled in the middle. First loco, two brake vans then two passenger coaches, then the second steam loco, water tank and another 2 passenger coaches. This made the train the right weight to run over the bridges and tackle the gradients on the line. We all saw why this was needed after the struggles yesterday. The upshot of the re-arrangement means that we looked out on the second loco from rear of our carriage (as this short video clip shows).

On our way back from Cerro Mesa

We departed Cerro Mesa at 11:30. An hour later we stopped, rolled back, split the train and did two runpasts at a spot with a stunning view of the line curving round with the mountains in the background. We set off again at 13:28, enjoying a lunch of empanadas on the train, gaining a greater appreciation for our warm carriages as the wind howled outside.

Our progress from this point on was pretty slow, but it was the water stop in mid afternoon at a level crossing near the summit that brings us to a complete stand. It’s hard to know where to begin in describing events, but it began with the water truck trying to reach our lead loco (no. 3) and getting stuck in the sand. Attempts to get going only see the truck slide perilously close to the train, which we can see in alarming detail from our carriage. The crew then had to divert their attention to trying to dig the lorry out from where it sank in the sand next to the track. Once they free the truck they abandon the attempt to supply water to no. 3 and fill no. 104 instead.

While all this was going on the efforts to bring the boiler pressure up in 104 resulted in a big fire under the loco that required the use of four fire extinguishers to put out. Many discussions took place at this point, with our tour leader explaining the many problems that he can see, such as blocked tubes. These explanations are then being translated into Spanish for the benefit of the crew. In summary, the first loco (3) had 0.5 bars of pressure so they extinguished the fire then. The second loco (104) has 3.5 bars but couldn’t get the pressure up. Both locos are currently dead.

The aftermath of the fire

Our bus had been following the train and one option in these circumstances would usually be to abandon the train and head back by road, but the bus is on the wrong side of the level crossing… which is blocked by our train. As we mused on all of this, the trailer carrying our pallet beds appeared. Taking the usual route of laughing in the face of adversity, we joked that we may yet need to burn the beds in the wood stove in the carriage. This comment is a terrible mistake as this gives the cue to our Australian friend to start singing ‘Beds are burning’ by Midnight Oil…

Hope was on its way. It was arranged that a water truck would come out to us from the other side but we were told this would take at least an hour. Once the water had been delivered they had to get the pressure back up in the loco, so not a quick fix, but we were appreciative of any solution at this point. The water truck arrived at 17:20 and there were soon twenty people working with the pump to get the water where it needs to go. The new plan was to go on with front train (once the rear train was uncoupled) then switch to the bus later on. Finally, we depart at 17:50 and arrive at Mamuel Choike, the next town, at 18:30.

At Mamuel Choike a small presentation is made to thank the crews in the presence of a local TV crew, here to film the first steam train to reach this point in four years. After the problems that our crews overcame today we certainly appreciated their dedication. In his presentation our tour leader said it was amazing to see this line still working 30 years after scheduled services ended thanks to their efforts. It is also true that we had achieved amazing pictures and should rightly focus on the positives, rather than the unfortunate problems of the afternoon.

Our beds on the way back from Cerro mesa, stuck at the level crossing

We transferred to our bus for the 80km ride to Ing. Jacobacci, departing around 18:45. Although luck may not have been with us in the afternoon we certainly avoided the dire forecasts that we had originally anticipated. On the drive back this weather turns up in abundance – rain turning to snow, then to heavy rain. Our driver puts in a heroic drive through the filthy conditions and poor visibility on the road. By the time we arrive back at our hotel in Ing Jacobacci (20:38) fast slowing streams of water are running down both sides of the street.

As everyone was late back, including our restaurant staff, dinner is served at 10pm in the other hotel. Braving the rain, I headed out. One side of the street had completely turned into a river and it was difficult to find places to cross without getting our feet very wet. As if that wasn’t enough, I then got an extra drenching while waiting for a regular train (a railcar) to pass through before walking over the level crossing to the hotel. The effort was worth it – a meaty feast, followed by a cake specially made by the ladies who had been serving us throughout our two day adventure, washed down with a glass of champagne as a toast.

I finally made it back to my hotel around 23:30. A very long, quite mad but somehow amazing day. One thing is certain – this is certainly no ordinary holiday.

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Beyond Cerro Mesa

Our makeshift school dormitories proved to be perfectly comfortable for a night’s sleep. After taking breakfast at 7am we headed outside, ready for another day photographing at the lineside. In the meantime team supporting out tour set about packing up all the pallet beds, bedding and turning our dorms back into classrooms. They have three hours to clear all this and the kids have late lessons today. Quite remarkable.

The plan for the morning was to continue on from Cerro Mesa to get the shots around the tunnel that we missed out on yesterday. After a false departure we boarded our train and departed in earnest at 8.15. Once again the carriage we were sitting in set about smoking us all. Our tour leader said it will make us last longer!

Our double header emerges from the tunnel with no.3 leading the way

The morning photo spots involved lots of rock scrambling but were certainly well worth the effort. Two shots by the tunnel mouth, one from track level and a second from higher up, were followed by two shots of the bridge over the Rio Chico. I chose a spot at a rocky outcrop at the top of a hill summit and then tried the second from partway down, finishing up around 9.25ish.

One last shot was possible beyond this, looking down on the river and the gorge. We had only one attempt to get this right as our loco needs water (aparently not having been filled up overnight). We were back on the train and heading towards Cerro Mesa by 10am. As ways to start a day go, this was pretty marvellous.

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Winter steam in Patagonia

Our steam hauled photo charters on La Trochita begin today. The 402km long line holds the distinction of being the longest preserved railway in the world and better still, continues to use the original locomotives and rolling stock from 100 years ago. It closed to regular traffic in the early 1990s. Some sections can be travelled on tourist trains, but charters are now the only way to get anything close to the original experience.

The plan for today was an early breakfast followed by a departure at 7.40 in order to be at the right spot for sunrise. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out – the composition of the train was completely wrong when we turned up and it took quite some time to get everything shuffled around. The sunrise came and went as we wandered around the yard and in the end we had to settle for a shot around a semaphore signal just beyond the yard and then departed in earnest at 8:54 with our two 2-8-2 narrow gauge locos locos, 3 (Baldwin, 1922) and 104 (Henschel, 1922). Another semaphore shot followed, just before Empalme (circa 9.30).

Steam shuffle at Ingeniero Jacobacci

On board our train we get to enjoy the 100+ year old wooden carriages which are heated by wood burning furnaces. They really are quite something… perfectly comfortable, especially with coffee and tea served up from flasks by the staff from one of our three hotels at Ingeniero Jacobacci. However, we soon learnt that there is quite an art to using the furnace with a very careful balance between shoving logs into the stove for perfect heat and smoking out the carriage! Get it wrong and you have a choice between letting in the cold air through open windows or struggling with itchy smoke affected eyes. And your eyes do need to be open – the views of the desert landscape (90% of Patagonia is desert) and strange plants were simply stunning.

The photostops in the morning are rather special, especially one at the top of a hilltop under a volcanic cliff top which formed part of the foreground for our photos (circa 12.30). I must admit that I slightly regretted going for that shot after starting the climb. It was tough going on the upper third scrambling over rocks – and harder still coming down. This was probably the all too familiar moment on each trip where I remember that I am no mountain goat!

The view from the top

Our next photostop, on the approach to a level crossing, delivered two trains and then a fair degree of confusion. The first train was loco 3 with the water wagon, followed by 104 with our passenger cars. Loco 3 was supposed to wait for us but has gone on ahead. No-one could quite explain why, as we needed both locos to get us up the gradient. The crew on board 3 then said they couldn’t come back to pick us up as they have no brakes and would crash into us! This caused a scratching of heads and a new plan to drop one passenger coach in the hope we could make it up the gradient, but then the crew started sanding the track to try and avoid the need to do this. This got us a little further on, albeit very slowly, and then the message came through that 3 was coming back after all!

We reached the summit at 3pm and continued on, with the afternoon bringing some more photo opportunities from some false departures. However, the slow running means we had no chance of making some of the photospots planned for the day. Adding to a slightly downbeat mood, the forecast for tomorrow is terrible… heavy rain and snow.

Our train finally reached Cerro Mesa around 19:20, passing an amateur football match on the pitch alongside the railway. There was a large welcoming party of locals happy to see the rare site of a steam loco, sticking around for photos with the loco despite the rain.

Spectators at Cerro Mesa

There are no hotels in Cerro Mesa, so it had been arranged that the local school would be converted into accommodation for the night. However, things didn’t quite go to plan with the school in darkness due to a power cut. Our guides and travelling hotel crew did an incredible job of setting everything up by torchlight. I found myself in a classroom with 8 beds made of wooden pallets and a blackboard above my bed. The slats on my pallet broke when I sat down which didn’t feel like the greatest start but actually proved very comfortable once I was settled in for the night. Power was restored in time for dinner, served on one long trestle table in the assembly hall, but failed as we slept soundly in our makeshift dorms.

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Railcar to Ingeniero Jacobacci

Our international group of 37 photographers have gathered in the city of San Carlos de Bariloche today ready to begin another FarRail adventure. This time, the plan is to snap steam hauled trains on as much of the 750mm narrow gauge railway line between Ingeniero Jacobacci and Esquel as is possible today, but first we had the small matter of the transfer to our start point.

Our diesel hauled railcar on Viaducto Pichileufu

The transfer was planned as a run in a diesel railcar from Bariloche to Ing. Jacobacci but things went a little awry fairly early on. The regular scheduled Tren Patagonico service derailed just before Perito Moreno, preventing our railcar from reaching Bariloche. On the plus side, at least it wasn’t locked in on the other side of the derailment. Plan B saw us head off by coach on a 45 minute drive to Perito Moreno where we boarded our railcar around 2.30pm.

As a taster for the steam hauled legs to follow, the incredibly scenic landscape that lay beyond our boarding point was tantalising. We clambered out at the Viaducto Pichileufu at 3.30pm for some shots on both sides of the river with our diesel hauled railcar, a bit of sun and a little flurry of snow in the air. Absolutely gorgeous. Another photostop followed not too long after, and then we carried on all the way to Ing. Jacobacci, arriving at 7.30pm.

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Aerolíneas Argentinas to Bariloche

The early hours of the morning brought thunder and heavy rain. It felt like an ominous start to another travel day – particularly with recent events in mind (a few weeks ago flash flooding resulted in a long list of cancellations and delays at both of the airports in Buenos Aires). However, everything seemed to be operating as normal as I headed away from my hotel in a taxi. Such a contrast to my arrival in BA – a journey that had taken 90 minutes in late morning weekday traffic took just 30 minutes on the deserted streets of Buenos Aires on a Sunday morning.

Flight AR1648 with a Boeing 737-800 en route to Bariloche

Bariloche airport

My domestic flight with Aerolíneas Argentinas to Bariloche departed from Ezeiza International Airport (on reflection, a flight from the city centre airport at Aeroparque Jorge Newbury might have been simpler). Check in was very straightforward, albeit with the slight oddity that you check in at Terminal A but had to go to Terminal C to board your flight.

Our flight took off at 08:26. It was pretty grey outside but at least we were spared a continuation of the heavy rain that was originally forecast to last all morning. Quite bumpy on way up through the clouds and a fair degree of buffeting once we reached cruising altitude – all in all, a really horrible first 20 minutes. That never gets any more enjoyable. The descent was much smoother and we were treated to some quite spectacular scenery as we came in.

Once we landed there was an absolute scrum for luggage – a small carousel surrounded by an absolutely full flight – and then a slow exit, as all luggage is scanned before you can exit. It was great to have reached this point and be ready to join another FarRail tour.

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More sightseeing in Buenos Aires

Three and a half days soon disappeared leaving plenty more that I could happily have seen given the opportunity, so if I ever make it back here I won’t have any shortage of targets. Anyhow, here are some of the other touristic highlights from my visit to Buenos Aires…

The Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires was well worth a look inside, particularly for the mausoleum of San Martín, liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru. Nearby, the Museo Casa Rosada includes some fascinating exhibits about the Presidents of Argentina which include a cadillac used by Juan Perón and an official portrait of Juan and Eva Perón, plus some photographs of the station that used to exist on the site.

The Centro Cultural Kirchner proved a great way to spend a few hours with some terrific modern art exhibitions (including the marvellous Orlando’s Library by Daniela Comani, which re-imagines a library of books where the gender of the protagonist has been switched); a rooftop viewpoint; the preserved central post office interior; the recreated Eva Perón Hall, where she replied to requests from people seeking her help; plus a small stamp museum (which includes some lovely stamps on display commemorating La Trochita among others) and philatelic shop on the ground floor.

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and Railway Museum rounded off the list of museums, but there were plenty of statues and striking buildings to marvel over on top of this (not least the striking art deco skyscraper Edificio Kavanagh).

I easily filled my days and still left plenty that I did not have the time to get round to. If I had more time I would have liked to see the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Colón Fábrica, El Zanjón de Granados, the Museo Moderno, the Museo Histórico Nacional and taken a look at the striking Mercado de Abasto de Buenos Aires. Plenty to tick off if I end up back in Argentina…

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Teatro Colon (and a bit of railway history)

The Teatro Colon is another marvel in Buenos Aires. The building is quite simply spectacular with interiors that are more opulent than many palaces that I have visited. It is more than just showy though, with acoustics for opera that are said to be unrivalled anywhere in the world.

Before I talk more about the building, there is one little piece of railway history that needs to be mentioned. Teatro Colon was built on the site of Del Parque station, the first railway station in Argentina and the terminus of the Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Western Railway). The railway station closed in 1883, with the terminus of the railway moving to Once. Work began on Teatro Colon in 1890 and was completed in 1908. Today a small plaque on the outside of the theatre marks its important predecessor.

Plaque to mark the railway history on the spot now occupied by Teatro Colon

The initial design for Teatro Colon came from Francesco Tamburini, an architect from Italy who sought to improve upon the famous opera house La Scala in Milan. On Tamburini’s untimely death at the age of 44, the work was taken over by his colleague Vittorio Meano, who also came to an unfortunate end when he was murdered at the age of 44. This gave the theatre a reputation for being cursed among Italian architects who were keen not to add their names to this tragic list. In the end it fell to Belgian architect Julio Dormal to complete the work.

An hour long english language guided tour gave us a good look at the astonishing interiors and gave us some insights into the operation of the opera house. This place is a factory as well as a cultural venue, making all their sets in house. Originally this work was carried out at a warehouse in La Boca, now turned into a museum of past sets, but today it all takes places in an underground extension under Avenue 9 de Julio.

Interestingly, the entrance on the main road (the Avenue 9 de Julio) is the back of the theatre and mostly used for staff. The only other opera goers who would use this entrance were widows who who couldn’t be seen in public for two years. Widows entered via the back entrance after the start, taking up seats in special boxes for widows and had to leave before the finish.

The front entrance of Teatro Colon

The decoration of the interior is quite simply palatial. Most of the work is original, though the ceiling fresco was damaged by a combination of smoke plus humidity and couldn’t be restored. It was replaced by a new painting in 1956 which wonderfully includes artists backstage playing chess. Highlights of the opulent interior included a chandelier with 720 lights and a wonderful view from the boxes out to the stage (where set building was taking place for a show in the evening) with its three curtains.

One of the ironies of such an lavish interior is that musicians often gravitate to the very cheapest standing spots in the uppermost level (known variously as paradise or the chicken coop) where the acoustics are at their most perfect.

The tour certainly gets my vote as a must-see in Buenos Aires.

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Palacio Barolo – a marvel at 100 years old

One of the most interesting buildings I visited in Buenos Aires was the Palacio Barolo in the prestigious Avenida de Mayo, an unusual office block designed by architect Mario Palanti (1885-1978) and built in 1919-23 for Italian cotton entrepreneur Luis Barolo. On its opening it was the tallest building in South America, a record it held for just over a decade before it was eclipsed by the residential apartment block Edificio Kavanagh on the other side of the city.

Palacio Barolo

The office block cuts a striking profile as you approach it, with its curvaceous design and the surprising sight of a lighthouse sitting atop the tower. As I was doing my homework for the trip I read many conflicting views on the dual-language guided tours offered here, but was glad I booked up. A tour is the only way to see inside the building and get some understanding of the unusual inspiration here. I thought it worth every peso I paid.

The Palacio Barolo is modelled on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Our tour began on the ground floor where the representation of hell is reflected in the monsters atop the columns (some doubling up as lantern holders) and then took us on to purgatory (on the 4th floor) and the gates of paradise (on the 14th floor). The Swiss-built lifts in the building are still original.

The tours include the chance to climb up into the lighthouse at the top of the 22 storey tower block and enjoy the splendid views on offer, particularly the prestigious view across the Plaza del Congreso. Many descriptions of the building say that the light can be seen in Uruguay, but that is apparently an urban myth. Finally, the tours end in one of the offices with a chance to find a little more about the history of the building.

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Cemetery wanders at Chacarita

One of the less well known sights of Buenos Aires is the Cementerio de la Chacarita, which is an odd thing to say as this is the largest cemetery in the country at 235 hectares (larger than any cemetery in the UK) and still very much active today. Not exactly a hidden sight tucked away in a corner of the city! It is easily reached by taking Subte line B to Federico Lacroze.

The cemetery can trace its origins to 1871, when a yellow fever epidemic overwhelmed the city with 500 deaths a day at its peak. The situation was dire, with coffins piled up on the streets awaiting collection by an inadequate number of funerary carriages and capacity in the existing cemeteries of the city far exceeded. The epidemic would claim the lives of over 14,000 inhabitants, around 8% of the population in the city.

Panteón de la Policía Federal Argentina at the Cementerio de la Chacarita

The local authorities acquired the land at Chacarita de los Colegiales for the mass graves needed and a line was established on the Buenos Aires Western Railway (Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), running from a warehouse in the city centre to the cemetery. Two trains a day served the cemetery with two stops along the way to pick up corpses.

Fifteen years after the epidemic it was decided to establish a monumental burial complex for the rapidly growing city on the parkland next to the existing cemetery, which involved the re-location of the existing burials and space for many more. For a while it was known as the ‘Cementerio del Oeste’ but from 1948 returned to its original name of Cementerio de la Chacarita.

Unlike the compact Recoleta cemetery (14 acres) this is a sprawling site and whilst there are many notable individuals buried here, this is not solely the preserve of the rich and famous. Depending on which route you take from the entrance you will discover a crumbling network of family tombs; national mausoleums for different trades and professions; multi-storey underground pantheons; and fields with traditional graveyard plots.

Mausoleo Jorge Newbery at Cementerio de la Chacarita

Among the monuments to individuals is a striking tomb for Jorge Newbery, the acclaimed aviator, sportsman and all round popular idol who died in a monoplane crash at Mendoza in 1914 while preparing to attempt the first plane crossing of the Andes (and a name familiar to many as they travel in and out of the city centre airport that bears his name).

The mausoleum for Jorge Newbery was designed by sculptor Hernán Cullen Ayerza, depicting the lifeless body of a winged Icarus, overlooked by five Andean condors who appear to be bowing before the man who attempted to defy the laws of nature. The mausoleum took some time to come to fruition and was eventually unveiled on May 2nd 1937, with Newbery’s body transferred from its temporary resting place at Recoleta cemetery.

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Street art in Buenos Aires

Although I have only been in Buenos Aires for 24 hours but already understand why it has been described as ‘the Paris of South America’ and just how people fall so in love with it. To get a different perspective on the city again, I headed out to one of the middle class suburbs, Villa Urquiza, and joined a street art tour.

I guess I tend to associate street art with grittier urban areas and city centres, so I was a bit surprised to see street art in such a leafy residential district. As we began our walk we heard about how the organisation giving our tour, BA street art, work closely with local street artists to find locations for their art, often tailored to the interests of property owners. This unusual approach has resulted in over 250 murals across the city and a quite amazing body of work.

Tale of the parrots by Martin Ron (2013)

Our tour lasted about 2 hours and was just wonderful. The first mural, by Martin Ron, was a giant mural now a decade old named ‘El Cuento de los Loros’ (Tale of the parrots), spread across the ends of an apartment block just across the road from our meeting point. Our guide explained how it was adapted over the two weeks it was painted to include a kid who rode past on his skateboard regularly and the face of the forklift driver who helped. One local resident objected to the nudity, despite this being an obvious homage to a classic piece of art, so some very strategically positioned parrots were added!

The most poignant piece featured a gorgeous cat, which sadly disappeared afterwards. I like our guide’s optimistic take on this, saying that they liked to think it would have the art to tell it where home was.

I thoroughly recommend a tour with BA Street Art to see a side of Buenos Aires that is such a complete and joyous contrast to the bustling city centre.

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Lost in the city of the dead

The Cementerio de la Recoleta is one of the top attractions in Buenos Aires, said by some to be the most beautiful cemetery in the world and with some pretty tragic stories to match (like that of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak, who is immortalised in bronze above her tomb, wearing a wedding dress, reflecting her death in an avalanche whilst on her honeymoon). Inevitably, there are some unlikely stories too.

Cementerio de la Recoleta

The cemetery, established in 1822, sits in a surprisingly compact 14 acre plot of land, surrounded by high rise buildings. Yet, within that space an extraordinary maze like city of the dead has been established, where the great and the good from Argentinian society have been immortalised in over 6,400 striking tombs and monuments in a wide variety of styles from faux-ancient Egyptian to belle epoque. You never quite know what you are going to find around each corner.

After paying the modest admission fee to enter you are free to explore, armed with a free map, but after a while I found it simplest to allow myself to get lot and just explore the cemetery path by path, taking in all the surprises along the way. In the end I spent two and a half hours in the cemetery, not wanting to rush. It wasn’t hard to spot the tomb of Eva Peron, as there was rarely a moment where a tour group was not gathered in the narrow passageway outside.

Among the tombs I found on my wanders were the tombs of Federico Lacroze, who created the first tram line in Buenos Aires; Enrique Moscino, a pioneering military engineer; Pablo Riccheri, minister of war; Luis Ángel Firpo, boxer; Luis María de la Cárcova, who died in a plane crash in 1948; and Martín Rodríguez, politician and soldier. The AfterLife project is a great resource for looking up the details of individual tombs.

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First stops in Buenos Aires

A flick through the guidebooks left me in no doubt that there was plenty to see in Buenos Aires, certainly far more than I could fit into my four day stay. Nevertheless, I was determined to squeeze in as much as I could, not knowing if I would be back in this part of the world again.

Buenos Aires is almost back to its pre-pandemic norms, although tourist information centres around the city are still closed as a health precaution. There are other problems of course, such as rampant inflation, and you do need to get your head around the different exchange rates in operation (the official rate, blue rate and the preferential tourist rate you get for using a foreign credit card) but on the whole planning my trip proved to be pretty straightforward.

The Floralis Genérica sculpture, one of the landmarks of Buenos Aires (albeit currently broken)

Ahead of my flight I downloaded a copy of the free city map from the excellent Turismo BA website to my phone so that I could use this offline and picked up a SUBE card from a street vendor (essential for using the Subte underground railway system). Taking heed of various warnings about street crime I left my SLR camera behind and just used my smartphone for taking photos around the city.

My sightseeing began in earnest with a visit to the Museo del Agua y de la Historia Sanitaria (Museum of water and sanitary history), located in a former water pumping station (built 1887-1894) which is known as the Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes (Palace of running waters). This might not seem the most obvious place to start, but it is one of the most striking buildings of its type in the world.

It would be hard to guess the function of the palace at first sight with its French renaissance style and extraordinary decoration with 300,000 glazed terra cotta tiles from Royal Doulton (apparently all labelled with unique numbers in what the museum describes as a high-precision Meccano kit). The pumping station was used to serve the city between 1894 and 1978, but today houses the museum and also appeared to be a payment point for water bills.

Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes

The museum inside has a series of displays on the water and sewage pumping stations across the city, with some of the exquisite decorative terracotta pieces produced for this building by Royal Doulton and original architectural drawings. You can also get a glimpse of the industrial heart of this palace, where you find the tanks which would once have held 72,300,000 litres of water for the city.

Another interesting sight nearby is the former Teatro Gran Splendid which opened as a theatre in May 1919, before conversion to a bookshop in the early 2000s. Today, it trades as the El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookshop, the flagship store of the book chain. It’s not hard to see why National Geographic proclaimed this to be the most beautiful bookshop in the world.

The afternoon quickly disappeared but did its job of getting me acclimatised to the city. In the coming days I plan to visit the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires; Cementerio de la Recoleta; Cementerio de la Chacarita; Centro Cultural Kirchner; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes; Palacio Barolo; Railway Museum; Museo Casa Rosada; Museo Nacional del Cabildo y de la Revolución de Mayo; and Teatro Colon. Ideally I will find a way to gawp at Congress and the Edificio Kavanagh along the way.

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How not to fly internationally

My ever so slightly mad schedule this year has trip after trip stacked up with relatively short gaps in-between. If it seemed a bit much on paper, it has certainly proved to be OTT in reality. Anyway, once again it is time for me to head overseas. This time I am joining a tour group in Argentina to experience and photograph the incredible 750mm narrow gauge railway in Patagonia known as La Trochita.

Flight prices were a little crazy, bouncing all over the place when I booked last month, approximately six weeks ahead of travel. It was hard to make sense of what was going on, but when I saw business class seats on sale for less than economy I didn’t need any further encouragement to book – even if that meant a somewhat indirect route with Swiss.

Our plane (HB-JNK) from Zurich to Buenos Aires via Sao Paulo. Seen here on the ground at Sao Paulo.

Starting my journey, I was somewhat relieved that things were seemingly back to normal at Heathrow after the chaos of the collapse of the national airspace systems across the UK the day before.

My first flight got caught up in some delays, landing in Zurich around 45 minutes late. The next step should have been to follow the signs for transit from the D gates to the E gates but I must have gotten lost at some point, then passed through border control. I thought it was odd that they stamped my passport during transit, then it dawned on me that I had entered Switzerland. Cue panic. What a muppet…

I navigated my way from arrivals to departure security and passport control to get airside again, then jumped on the shuttle to the E gates. Another passport stamp – only minutes after the last. Talk about ways to ramp up the stress on your travels!

It was with a sense of relief that I boarded our Swissair Boeing 777-300ER for flight LX92 to Buenos Aires, via Sao Paulo. Timings were inevitably a bit odd. After taking off at 23:24 food came out relatively quickly, with service finishing up at 00:45 (Swiss time). The crew started serving breakfast just before 3:00 (Brazilian time) with our flight landing at 5:29. The breakfast was excellent (you get to make your choices on a tick-box questionnaire the night before, so it is perfectly tailored to your wishes).

Swiss breakfast on LX92

The stop at Sao Paulo lasted around two and half hours. Everyone has to disembark and clear transit security to return to the departure gates, then wait for re-boarding. I thought this was too easy, so somehow managed to lose my boarding pass along the way. I retraced my steps and used the Translate app on my phone to seek help from the gate staff, but eventually spotted my boarding pass lying on the floor after a stressful hour. Phew!!! What a scare though… I am not making this trip easy on myself.

We re-boarded our Swiss Boeing 777-300 ER (Luzern) at about 7:20 and took off at 8:18 with a nice view of the immenseness of São Paulo through a break in the clouds, followed by a second breakfast on the short leg to Buenos Aires. The business class cabin had been full out to Sao Paulo (62 seats) but for this leg there were no more than 10 of us.

After all the stresses of the build-up and during the journey I was incredibly relieved when we landed in Buenos Aires at 10:59. Thankfully I had arranged to be picked up from the airport, so had no scope to add any extra stresses to my day! My home for the next four nights would be the MGallery Palladio Hotel Buenos Aires, which quickly revealed itself to be one of the best hotels I have stayed at anywhere.