Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos

[[Image:GandQ.JPG|right |thumb |400 px|Baldwin 2-8-0 of the G&Q Line]] The '''Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Publica''' ('''FEEP''') (Ecuadorian Railways Company) is the national railway of [[Ecuador]]. The railway system was devised to connect the Pacific coast with the Andean highlands. After many decades of service the railway was severely damaged by the [[El Niño]] in 1997 and 1998 and general neglect. Major sections of the railroad have become inoperative and the [[Guayaquil]]-[[Quito]] service has ceased (see [[Trans-Andean Railways]]). The president [[Rafael Correa]] named the railroad a "national cultural patrimony" and indicated that it would be restored. The government of Ecuador has started to rehabilitate the railway and plans to have full service between Guayaquil and Quito by 2012. [[Tourist train]]s and [[railbus]]ses (autoferros) are running from [[Quito]] via [[Cotopaxi]] national park to [[Latacunga]], between [[Alausi]] to Sibambe (Devil's Nose / Nariz del Diablo), between El Tambo and Baños del Inca, between Duran and Yaguachi and between [[Ibarra, Ecuador|Ibarra]] and Salinas. ==Construction== [[Image:Llegada ferrocarril Quito.jpg|left|thumb||1908, during the construction]] The project of an Ecuadorian railway was started by President [[Gabriel García Moreno]] in 1861. The first section was opened between [[Durán, Ecuador|Durán]] and [[Milagro, Ecuador|Milagro]] in 1873, and [[Bucay, Ecuador|Bucay]] was reached by 1888. The push into the Andes was made under President [[Eloy Alfaro]] who planned to link Quito in the highlands to Guayaquil on the coast of Ecuador. For advice, Alfaro turned to Col. William Findlay Shunk, a well-known North American engineer who designed the New York El, and who had mapped a route of the InterContinental Railway (which was to connect North and South America) through Ecuador, Columbia, and Panama in 1892. The InterContinental Railway was never built. However, in 1897, Eloy Alfaro commissioned a contract with Archer Harman and a team of investors for the newly created New Jersey corporation, '''''the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company'''," ''or the G&Q, to rehabilitate and complete the railroad from Guayaquil to Quito. Archer Harman and his brother, Major John A. Harman (Col. Shunk's son-in-law) were from Staunton, Virginia. Together, Archer (G&Q financier) and John (G&Q Chief Engineer) helped Alfaro to (1) realize his dream of connecting disparate parts of Ecuador, (2) break the hold of the Catholic Church, and (3) usher the 20th Century and modernity into Ecuador.'' The G&Q Rwy line was built between 1897 and 1908, when the line reached Quito amidst celebration that lasted for days, and shortened the often lengthy trip from Quito to Guayaquil to two days. The G&Q Rwy line evolved into the Southern Division (Division Sur) of '''Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos''' (EFE). ==Operation== [[File:Alausi tourist train.jpg|right|thumb|250 px|Tourist train to the "Nariz del Diablo", 2008]] The railway represents the largest infrastructure of the country with a total length of {{convert|965.5|km|mi|0}}. Its single track uses a [[rail gauge|gauge]] of [[Cape gauge|1,067]] mm (3 ft 6.0 in). The {{convert|446.7|km|mi}} Southern Division (Division Sur) starts at the habour of [[Guayaquil]] with a ferry to Duran and then heads east into the [[Andes|Andean mountains]] where a more than {{convert|2.5|km|ft}} difference in altitude has to be overcome to reach [[Riobamba]] at {{convert|2754|m|ft}}. A major gain in altitude is made at the '''Devil's Nose (Nariz del Diablo)''' where the train shunts back and forth along the rocky promontory. From Riobamba the train heads north passing its highest point at [[Urbina, Ecuador|Urbina]] an altitude of {{convert|3609|m|ft}} to reach [[Quito]] at an altitude of {{convert|2850|m|ft}}. The {{convert|373.4|km|mi}} Northern Division (Division Norte) was completed in 1957. It connects Quito to the northern sea port of [[San Lorenzo, Ecuador|San Lorenzo]] over [[Ibarra, Ecuador|Ibarra]], [[Primer Paso, Ecuador|Primer Paso]] and [[Cachavi, Ecuador|Cachavi]]. The [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]] line branches off near Sibambe and represents the {{convert|145.4|km|mi}} Subdivision Sur. It was constructed between 1915 and 1965. The railway used to be of general economic significance for many decades. Initially steam engines were obtained from the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]]. The last set of 2-8-0 steam engines were obtained in 1953. In 1957 the first [[Alstom]] diesel-electric engines were delivered, later engines were delivered in 1968, and again in 1992. The last delivery consisted of [[Alstoms AD24]] BBB with the numbers 2401-9. Few steam and diesel engines are in an operational mode and numbers of availability conflict. Also a number of [[railbus]]ses (autoferros) are part of EFE. Since the 1997/98 disruptions no continuous service has been conducted and further degradation has made the railway almost useless. Road services have taken over passenger and freight transportation in Ecuador. At the 2008 centennial only 10 percent of the railway was open only [[tourist train]]s remain active. ==Restoration== The president [[Rafael Correa]] named the railroad a "national cultural patrimony" and indicated that it would be restored. The EFE was transformed in a public corporation: '''Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Publica''' ('''FEEP''') The first section which was reopened, was from [[Riobamba]] to Urbina, which now is only used for charter service. In 2009 a small section of the side branch to [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]] from El Tambo to Baños del Inca was reopened. In 2010 the [[Quito]] - [[Latacunga]] - Section restarted service after restoration. At the coast the section between Duran near [[Guayaquil]] and Yaguachi was reopened in 2010. Also the section [[Alausí]] - [[Sibambe]] which entails the [[Zig zag (railway)|switchback]] at the Devil's Nose is repaired. The section [[Riobamba]] - [[Alausí]] and the section [[Riobamba]] - Urbina - [[Ambato, Ecuador|Ambato]] will be restored in 2011. According to a contract the Spanish narrow gauge railway company [[FEVE]] three of the [[Alstoms AD24]] BBB will be repaired in Spain. There are plans to expand the services further to [[Rail transport in Colombia|Colombia]] and [[Rail transport in Venezuela|Venezuela]]. ==Books== * Elizabeth Harman Brainard and Katharine Robinson Brainard. ''Railroad in the Sky: the Guayaquil & Quito Railway in Ecuador 1897-1925''. Publisher: Marion, MA: Atlantis Ltd. Partnership, 2003. ISBN 0615124119 ISBN 9780615124117 * Marcelo Meneses-Jurado: ''Tren al Sol. Train to the Sun. Journey on Board the Most Difficult Train in the World''. ==External links== *[http://railroadinthesky.com Railroad in the Sky website] *[http://www.ferrocarrilesdelecuador.gob.ec/ Official site] {{es icon}} *[http://www.pbase.com/mr2c280/sa_ecuador2 2003 travel pictures from the Devil's Nose by Peter & Jackie Main] *[http://www.kellstransportmuseum.com/Ecuador/Riobamba/Riobamba.html 2005 pictures, Riobamba to Mocha] *[http://www.steaminecuador.com/html/en/diagram.htm Train stations and altitude profile between Guayaquil and Quito] *[http://www.kellstransportmuseum.com/Ecuador/Description.html Full tour pictures 2005] {{coord missing|Ecuador}} {{South America in topic|Rail transport in}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Empresa De Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos}}