In 2016, my partner and I embarked on a trip of a lifetime, to travel through South America fromsouth to north, following the Andes the whole way. My imagination had been captured a long time ago asa child not from stories of the Amazon or the Incas, but of Sentinels in Argentina! As a Sentinel enthusiastand co-owner of an S-Type steam waggon. I have always been intrigued as to what happened to the final production of steam waggons to leave the Sentinel Waggon Works, Shrewsbury, destined for theArgentine market in the 1950s, despite the production of steam vehicles having ceased many yearsbefore, being replaced by the more popular diesel lorry. Sadly on this trip, I did not discover the illusive Sentinels and missed the opportunity to visit two restorations in Buenos Aires. However this journey proved there was more steam heritage to discover, and these are my observations of South America paststeam heritage and what remains from a tourist’s point of view.Our first sighting began in Patagonia, Southern Argentina, with evidence of the Patagonia Express, anarrow gauge railway built in 1908, now a tourist service based in Esquel, running on a reduced length ofthe famous railway with an impressive 22 steam locomotives in their collection. Traveling north through Patagonia, we saw two sightings of Portable engines. The first was sited in San Martin on the Argentine border, now standing in a car park for tourists. The second sighting was over theborder in Chile, from the view of our tour bus, I could see an industrial unit with three Portable engines ofwhich one was clearly under restoration with a fresh coat of primer.

In Santiago, we visited the superb Railway Museum of Chile. This museum houses an impressive collection of sixteen steam locos, including a Kitson and Meyer loco circa 1912, built in Leeds and exported to Chile and It’s believed that only three remain worldwide. But our highlight to the bemusement of our guide Professor Jorge, was the discovery of the ‘Aqua Caballo’ (meaning ‘water horse’) wasactually a Stothert & Pitt water stand pipe from our home-time of Bath 1875, a nice reminder of home! What was great to see here was thegenuine passion for preservation of their collection, all though was notrack to run these great Locomotives. From Santiago, we had the most impressive drive through the Andes, crossing the border to Argentina, in the shadowof Mount Aconcagua, America’s highest mountain. Also catching our attention was the remains of the Transandine Railway, in various states of disrepair. Back in its hey day the railway had operated a passenger service between BuenosAires (Argentina, Atlantic Ocean) to Valparaiso (Chile, PacificOcean) which took 36 hours, which by comparison the journeyby sea took 11 days. If this railway was to be fully restored today, it would undoubtedly be one of the greatest railway journeys in the world. When we reached Mendoza, we could see evidence of the originalstation and where the Transandine Railway would switch gauges to ‘break of gauge’. Now they operate a light railway to the suburbs and to ourenjoyment the fantastic wine country of Mendoza! During a tour of one ofthe winery’s, to our amazement, we noticed an English ‘Merryweather’ fireengine, which would have been used at the turn of the century.

To see the greatest heritage site of South America, this required two days of driving across the Altiplano from Chile to Bolivia inthe ‘moon-like’ surroundings of the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flats. Abandoned 3km outside of the town of Uyuni,there were rumored to be over 30 steam locomotives. When the railway was built in 1892 the line was a vital link to the Pacificcoast. Despite the collapse of local mining and continuing attack from the Aymara indigenous Indians, the railway fell into disrepair. The train graveyard is now like an adults playground. One loco even had its on swing! Continuing North we visited Potosi, made famous for minting Silver for the Spanish conquistadors. TheNational Mint of Bolivia began with basic smelting techniques in 1572, later replaced by steam engines during the Industrial Revolution. However, coal was scarce so, often dried donkey dung was used (Acontinual theme in South America).We crossed over the border from Bolivia into Puno, Peru on the shore of the famous Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake inthe world. Moored in the harbor is the famous Yavari Steam Ship, over 30 meters long and fitted with a 60 horsepower two-cylindersteam engine. She is known as a “knock down” boat, designedto be in kit form at the shipyard, and then dismantled andtransported to remote areas where required. Although this boathad a longer journey than most before it reached the Lake. Eachpiece was to be no heavier than a load a mule could carry, dueto the railway from the Port of Arica on the Pacific Ocean onlyrunning inland 40miles, where the poor mule would carry the restof the parts over 220 miles across mountainous terrain. Also once re-constructed this Steam ship did not run on coal or other fossil fuels, instead, due to the lack of resourcesin the area, relied on llama dung! We were extremely lucky to get a personal tour of the Yavari, as the lastvisitors of the day, with our knowledgeable young guide.Our departure from Puno was in sheer luxury aboard the Peru Express to Cusco. In “Orient Express” comfort and style wepassed the shores of Lake Titicaca, climbing higher into theAndes, with majestic views from the observation carriage,whilst enjoying local music and dances of the Peruvian culture. Sadly the 10 hour trip was over all too soon for our persona lliking!

Our last train trip on the South American continent was fromOllantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, to a magnificent climb to Machu Picchu, which was then alighted by a further bus ride through winding mountain roads towards the ancient site. This is the third highest railway inthe world and impressive engineering.

Our Journey continued through to Northern Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, but sadly we could not travel onone of the great train journeys through Ecuador, as our arrival coincided with one of the worst earthquakesthe country had suffered for a long time. The more we traveled north, with vegetation turning more tropical,their seemed to be less evidence of the continents steam driven industrial past, (from a novices viewpoint). Latin America is steeped in a rich history from every facet, not only industrial past but acute culturalidentities which has undoubtedly influenced the dramatic landscapes of South America.