THE OROYA RAILWAY, THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD
[Illustration: CHOSICA BRIDGE, OROYA ROUTE.]
The central mining region of the sierra is connected with the chief
national seaport by the Central Railway, or, as it is popularly called,
the Oroya Route, one of the most important lines of Peru and the most
remarkable in the world, not only because of the altitude attained at
its highest point, sixteen thousand feet above sea level, but as a
colossal feat of engineering unequalled in railway construction. No
other railway route compares with that of Oroya as an example of daring
enterprise in the face of tremendous obstacles; and it stands a great
monument to the awakened spirit of progress which began to be shown as
soon as militarism declined in Peru, and which has become especially
evident in the moral and material development of that country within the
past decade.
The building of the Oroya railway was begun in 1870, under the direction
of a North American engineer, Mr. Henry Meiggs, with whom the contract
for its construction was signed by the Peruvian government. Within six
years, the line was opened up to traffic as far as Chicla, ninety miles
from Callao, at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, and was graded
and placed under construction from that point to Ticlio, near the summit
of Mount Meiggs, where the Galera tunnel pierces the peak at an altitude
of sixteen thousand feet, the highest place along the line. In 1877, Mr.
Meiggs died, and the work was suspended, having already cost nearly five
million pounds sterling. The war with Chile followed, bringing a train
of evils in its wake, and the government found it impossible to continue
the construction until 1891, when the line was taken over by the
Peruvian Corporation and completed to Oroya, being opened in 1893. A
branch line had been built by Mr. Meiggs from Lima to Ancón soon after
beginning his work, and to this have been added the Morocochu branch,
from Ticlio to Morococha, and the Cerro de Pasco line, the property of
the Cerro de Pasco Mining Company, from Oroya to the great mining
centre. The Oroya Route has recently been extended to Huancayo, and is
under construction to Ayacucho. It will be continued to Abancay and
Cuzco, to unite with the line connecting Cuzco with Puno, which is to be
extended to the Desaguadero River on the boundary between Peru and
Bolivia, where it will join the Guaqui and La Paz railway, to form part
of the great Pan-American system. From Cerro de Pasco northward, the
trunk line has been built as far as Goillarisquisga, and is under
construction from that point to Huánuco, to join other links in the
chain which, when completed, will extend, in Peru, from the border of
Ecuador to Lake Titicaca.
[Illustration: CHOSICA, A HEALTH RESORT ON THE OROYA ROUTE.]
From Callao to Oroya, the distance is less than a hundred and fifty
miles, but along this short route the railway passes through every
variety of scenery and climate, from the sandy level of a tropical coast
to the frozen peaks of the lofty _puna_, far above the limit vegetation.
Between these extremes lie the flourishing sugar plantations and maize
fields of the coast; orchards of chirimoyas, paltas, peaches, apricots,
granadillas, oranges, lemons, etc., that grow on the lower slopes of the
sierra; all the flowers, ferns, and mountain shrubs that nourish in
rocky glens and shady ravines under nature’s most favorable conditions,
up to a height of ten thousand feet; and, above this limit, the bare,
bleak aspect of the _puna_, where mining establishments mark the
locality of rich veins of precious metal, and the circle of the horizon
is everywhere limited by snow-clad summits. Along the valley of the
Rimac River, from the sea to its source, the Oroya railway climbs the
sierra with innumerable curves and yet without a single decline
throughout its length until the highest altitude is passed in the Galera
tunnel, and the descent begins on the slope of the inter-Andean valley.
More than twenty bridges cross the river along the course of the
railway; the mountain side is tunnelled in many places, and in others
the line hangs over precipices projecting so far out that a stone
dropped from the car as it curves along the brink falls on the opposite
bank of the river below.
[Illustration: MATUCANA, EIGHT THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA, OROYA
ROUTE.]
The journey from Lima to Oroya may be made in a day, the train leaving
the station of Desamparados at eight o’clock in the morning and arriving
at Oroya at five in the evening. It affords an opportunity to see one of
the scenic wonders of the world, and is an experience never to be
forgotten. As the train leaves the Lima station, a short distance from
the Balta bridge and within full view of the broad bed of the Rimac, the
retreating city offers only a partial glimpse of its gleaming church
towers and the avenues of shade trees that adorn its suburbs. The
picturesque Cerro of San Cristobal, with a cross illuminating its
summit, stands out in clear relief against the sky and may be seen until
the train passes behind the Andean foothills on its way to Santa Clara.
Although this point is more than a thousand feet above sea level, it
differs little in aspect from the country around Lima. Wherever the
waters of the Rimac have been brought into service to fertilize the
gardens and plantations of the valley, exuberant vegetation exists, and
abundant harvests smile under the blue skies; it is only beyond this
strip of green that the sandy plain and gray, barren hillsides are to be
seen. That the Incas had all the coast region under cultivation is
indicated by the existence of their ruined cities in the very midst of
the desert and their _andenes_ along hillsides that, to-day, are counted
of little value for agricultural purposes. At Santa Clara, a short walk
from the station takes one to the ruins of an Incaic town, which, to
judge from what remains, must have been a very populous settlement
centuries ago. Its appearance to-day is one of utter dreariness, and it
is difficult to imagine what charm such a site could have offered for
the location of a city.
[Illustration: RAILWAY STATION IN THE SIERRA, OROYA ROUTE.]
For fifteen miles beyond Santa Clara, the railway train climbs upward
until the town of Chosica is reached, the scenery increasing in beauty
as the valley narrows between the hills of the sierra and the foliage of
the mountain side grows fresher and of more gorgeous hues. Chosica is
one of the most popular health resorts of Peru, and has a delightful
climate all the year round. Situated in the midst of mountains at an
altitude of three thousand feet, it possesses many advantages as a
sanitarium for invalids, and is a pleasant place of residence for those
who like a restful and quiet retreat. The sky is blue during most of the
year, and the pure atmosphere is exhilarating to tired nerves and
over-wrought spirits. Here one may enjoy life in its simplicity, as
Chosica has not taken on the fashionable airs and expensive luxuries of
the modern spa, though supplying its greatest benefits. Aside from its
attractiveness as a health resort and a picturesque mountain city,
Chosica is important as the first distributing point for the electricity
which supplies light and power to the cities of Lima and Callao and
their suburbs.
[Illustration: CHILCA, A MINING TOWN ON THE OROYA ROUTE.]
From Chosica to Matucana, the scenery is ever-varying and always
magnificent. The train climbs five thousand feet within a distance of
thirty miles, crossing the chasm of the river many times and plunging
through tunnels that succeed one another with remarkable frequency.
Purguay and Corona are the first bridges of importance along the line.
Soon after leaving them behind, the train sweeps around the magnificent
curve of San Bartolomé, passing through its famous orchards and gardens,
and bringing into view all the glories of mountain foliage that adorn
the sierra at this altitude. Purple and white heliotrope, convolvulus,
clematis, the maguey plant, and the cactus are seen in profusion. Birds
of bright plumage and butterflies of variegated wings give life to a
scene which is impressively silent, save for the hard breathing of the
locomotive as it plods sturdily around the curves. Though the valley
broadens at San Bartolomé, it is soon enclosed again between gigantic
walls of mountains; and, a few miles further on, the Verrugas bridge,
the longest and highest of the Oroya Route, spans the space between
opposite walls of granite that rise from the river bed to tower among
the clouds. This bridge is five hundred and seventy-five feet long and
two hundred and twenty-five feet above the river, which looks like a
ribbon of silver as it sparkles at the bottom of the ravine. After
crossing Verrugas bridge, the train disappears for a moment in the
tunnel of Cuesta Blanca, emerging in the midst of the grandest scenery
imaginable as it pushes on through Surco and across the Challapa bridge
to Matucana, where a welcome half-hour’s stop is made. Matucana is, like
Chosica, a favorite health resort, and the pines and eucalyptus trees of
the neighborhood give added healthfulness to its pure mountain air. Few
people suffer from the rarity of the atmosphere at this altitude, though
it is well to spend a night here, if one can spare two days for the trip
to Oroya, the rapid ascent from sea level to sixteen thousand feet above
being a severe trial to the respiration. _Soroche_, as the mountain
sickness is called, does not attack everyone, nor is there any certainty
as to its visitation; many people have made repeated trips without
feeling any inconvenience, and have been surprised by an attack when
they thought themselves immune, while others never reach the high
altitudes without suffering from _soroche_. The degree of this most
uncomfortable experience varies according to one’s constitution. With
some it is confined to a strenuous effort “to get one’s breath,” while,
with others, the sensation is that of having the head slowly squeezed in
a vice, or inflated by some process that threatens to burst it like an
over-filled balloon. None of the phases of _soroche_ are agreeable, but,
happily, the disturbance disappears as soon as a lower altitude is
reached.
[Illustration: OROYA.]
As the railway follows the valley of the Rimac toward its source, the
river gorge becomes ever narrower, the enclosing mountains higher, and
the scenery more wildly grand and rugged. The railway train follows the
tortuous line of the gorge, zigzagging along the precipice, visible only
for a few seconds from any point along the route. After leaving
Matucana, the course is taken through the very heart of the sierra, the
train crossing first the bridge of the Negra quebrada, then the great
links of Tambo de Viso and Champichaca in quick succession, these
wonderful structures spanning the chasm at short intervals of three or
four miles. From the car window, the passenger looks down into the
depths below and up to the towering peaks, and feels much as if
travelling in mid-air. At Tamboraque, which is situated nearly ten
thousand feet above the sea, the scene changes, and the region of the
higher sierra comes into view, with its mining towns and snow mountains.
San Mateo quebrada, in the depths of which lies the picturesque town of
the same name, is hardly passed before the train crosses, a mile away,
one of the most remarkable bridges of the whole line, the Infernillo. It
stretches across a narrow ravine between two walls of rocks, both of
which are tunnelled so as to provide a passage for the railway. As the
train flashes out on the bridge from invisible depths on one side and
disappears as mysteriously on the other, the effect is singularly weird.
From this point to Galera tunnel the ascent is very steep and winding,
the train climbing five thousand feet in twenty-five miles, crossing
several bridges and passing through a number of tunnels.
All along the Oroya Route, from San Mateo to its terminus in the sierra,
are scattered mining towns of growing importance. Rio Blanco, five miles
from San Mateo, has important smelting works, and Chicla, four miles
away, a thousand feet higher up the Cordillera, lies in the heart of a
rich mineral district. It occupies a picturesque location, especially as
seen from the car window after the train has made the immense loop
necessary to carry it across the valley and up the opposite slope on its
way to Casapalca and Ticlio. From this eminence a magnificent view of
the valley appears, with Chicla nestling below and snow-clad mountains
looming in the distance.
Casapalca is a typical mining town of the sierra, with its smelters
spread over the bare, brown hillside, its great chimneys and its smoke.
It is situated at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, and has a cold
climate all the year round, invigorating and healthful. From Casapalca
to Ticlio the distance is about ten miles, and the region of perpetual
snow appears as the train pulls up the last few leagues toward the
Galera tunnel. The summit of Mount Meiggs, which is seventeen thousand
five hundred and seventy-five feet high, is nearly always wrapped in
snow, though the tunnel entrance is below the perpetual snow line.
Of the sixty tunnels along the Oroya Route, that of Galera is the
longest, measuring nearly four thousand feet in length. It is in the
middle of this tunnel that the highest point along the line is reached.
From this tunnel eastward, the train descends toward Oroya, passing
through the mining town of Yauli and skirting the bank of the
inter-Andean River Mantaro, a branch of the Perene, which, later, joins
the Ucayali on its way to the main waters of the Amazon. When the train
stops at Oroya, sunset is already approaching, and the colors of the
retiring monarch of day are to be seen reflected on the surrounding
peaks and glowing in the western sky. From the window of the little
hotel where lodging is found for the night, one looks on a humble though
interesting scene of pastoral simplicity. Llamas graze wherever the
coarse puna grass is found, and an occasional vicuña may be seen. The
altitude of Oroya is little more than twelve thousand feet, and a
greater descent is made from Oroya to Jauja and Huancayo, the latter
being only about ten thousand feet above sea level. From Oroya to Cerro
de Pasco, the railway makes an ascent of nearly two thousand feet.
[Illustration: GALERA TUNNEL, HIGHEST POINT ON THE OROYA RAILWAY, NEARLY
SEVENTEEN THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA.]
[Illustration: STONE ROADWAY ACROSS THE HUALLAGA RIVER, IN HUÁNUCO.]