The first step in the progressive policy of railway building in which
Chile has been engaged in recent years, was the construction of the
Transandine Railway via Uspillata Pass. This important line, connecting
the Atlantic with the Pacific, and giving to the Republic rail
connections with countries to the east of the Andean range, brought the
importance of better interior transportation facilities more closely to
the minds of the people, and the result has been a period of railway
building surpassing the expectation of the most radical advocates of an
aggressive industrial policy.
The history of the Transandine Railway will probably never be written,
unless it be given to the world by the Clark Brothers, who conceived
the idea, and labored for more than a quarter of a century to enlist
the assistance of the Chilean government in a plan to build the road.
Every succeeding administration, during the period in which the
Clarks were working on the scheme, was apparently favorable to the
plan. The rejection of proposals and the failure always to vote aid or
subsidy, however, was evidence of the fact that there was always secret
opposition.
During much of the time while the Transandine scheme was under
consideration, a war cloud, arising from a disputed boundary question
between Chile and the Argentine, loomed large and ominous over the
Cordillera, creating a feeling in the minds of the Chilenos that
Argentina was quite near enough, without an additional connecting link
in the way of a railroad across the Andes.
In 1901 the Transandine Railway, including the portion already in
operation, from Los Andes to Salto del Soldado, passed into the
hands of W. R. Grace & Company. Then John Eyre, manager for Grace &
Company in Chile, took up the work of promoting the undertaking. With
indomitable courage, tireless energy, and full confidence in ultimate
success, he started in to enlist government aid in building the road.
In February, 1903, Congress passed a law authorizing the President to
advertise for a term of one year, from the first of May, 1903, for
sealed proposals for the construction of the Transandine Railway. The
law also provided for a government guarantee of five per cent. annually
on a capital not to exceed $7,250,000. Grace & Company were the only
bidders. The proposal was for $6,500,000, being $750,000 below the
maximum sum on which the government guaranteed five per cent. interest.
A special commission was appointed to examine the proposal, and on June
7, 1904, the tender was accepted by the government, thus insuring to
Chile railway communication with countries beyond the mountain barrier
that had so long restricted commerce and the development of her natural
resources.
On November 27, 1909, five and a half years after the contract was
approved by the Chilean Government, the last section of rock in the
tunnel, separating the two gangs of workmen operating from different
sides, was removed, and a line of communication which had been the
dream of years was established; a line that has had a marked effect,
not only upon the two republics which it directly connects, but upon
the world. On May 25, 1910, the first train was run through the tunnel
and an all-rail route opened between Valparaiso and Buenos Aires, a
distance of 888 miles,--the first railroad across the South American
continent. Thus after thirty-seven years of work and planning,
vicissitudes and discouragements, the hopes of the promoters of
this great enterprise were realized and the Transandine Railway an
accomplished fact. The date will remain a memorable one in the history
of Chile, as it occurred in the year of the one hundredth anniversary
of the Independence of the Republic.
The Chilean terminus of the tunnel, which is 10,385 feet long, is at
El Portillo, at an altitude of 10,450 feet above sea level, and on the
Argentine side at Las Cuevas. On the Chilean side the road ascends the
mountains 7,615 feet within a distance of 46 miles, between Los Andes
and the summit, an average of 166 feet to the mile. Directly over the
tunnel, on the Uspillata pass, at an altitude of 13,000 feet stands
the “Christ of the Andes,” a statue erected in 1904, as a symbol of
perpetual peace between the two republics. It was cast in bronze from
cannons contributed by both nations. It stands upon the international
boundary line established by a commission appointed by King Edward,
after war between Chile and the Argentine had been imminent for years.
The figure representing Christ is twenty-six feet high, and placed upon
a colossal column it makes an imposing and impressive monument. In one
hand is held a cross, while the other is extended in a blessing of
peace. The inscription on one of the tablets is: “Sooner shall these
mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile
break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of
Christ the Redeemer.”
The Transandine line in Chile is made up of two systems with different
gauges of track. From Valparaiso to Los Andes the route is over the
State railways, which is of standard gauge; from Los Andes to the
Argentine frontier, including the tunnel, a distance of 50 miles, the
road is narrow gauge, 39 inches, a portion of it rack and pinion system.
This route shortens the distance to Buenos Aires, and consequently
between Europe and Chile, by about twelve days, as formerly, during a
considerable portion of the year traffic from the Atlantic and the east
coast was by way of the Straits of Magellan.