CHILE: PORTS AND TRANSPORTATION
PORTS
Although Chile cannot boast of many excellent harbors, with her
extended coast line her ports are naturally numerous; 59 is the
official number, of which 15 are primary ports with custom houses,
while the rest are dependent, save Punta Arenas, which is proudly apart
as a free port, the only one in this part of the world. The primary
ports are not necessarily those with the best harbors, but were made
such on account of the demands of commerce.
The service along the coast is similar to that of Peru except that
the boats of the Peruvian Steamship Line do not go beyond their own
shores, while there is additional service by Chilian steamers. Before
the War 40 per cent of the engaged shipping was British. Service to and
from Europe, formerly by way of the Straits, long ended at Valparaiso,
later extending to Callao, and for one or two sailings to Panamá. The
exigencies of war interfered with the execution of plans which are now
being carried out or modified. European express service below Panamá
is likely to be confined to the ports of Callao, Mollendo, Arica,
Iquique, Antofagasta, Valparaiso, and Punta Arenas, with a possible
call for coal at Coronel. Other express service may include Coquimbo
and Talcahuano. Aside from the leading coastal lines a few companies
operate smaller ships locally; on the sea, and 843 miles on the several
navigable rivers at the south. There is also service among the southern
islands and to Juan Fernandez, 400 miles to the west.
=Valparaiso=, as the most important Pacific port south of Panama,
deserves especial attention. This rapidly growing city, population
about 200,000, to one coming from the north seems quite European, with
an atmosphere more crisp and businesslike than that of courtly Lima or
picturesque La Paz. The semicircular bay is called a good harbor except
when the north winds blow, as they are liable to do in winter. Some
years ago a British steamer lying at anchor, in an unusually strong
blow was sunk with all on board. A breakwater expected to avert such
danger, has for some time been in construction; but the depth of water
off shore has made the work difficult. Freight was formerly discharged
into lighters and people into rowboats, the steamers anchoring at some
distance from shore. Now, however, a fiscal mole 100 feet long, one
half with a depth of water of 43 feet, the rest of 36 feet, provides
all facilities. Valparaiso has fair hotels, providing insufficient
accommodation for the rapidly increasing travel and business. In many
respects the city is quite up to date, but unhappily here and in
Santiago Americans in winter suffer more with the cold when sitting
indoors than in La Paz and Lima, though for walking outside it is
comfortable enough with the temperature near freezing. As a rule
dwelling houses have no heating apparatus, no stoves, but in some
hotel dining rooms electric heaters are employed, and oil stoves may
be provided for Americans in their rooms. While Chile has coal mines,
their production is insufficient for the use of shipping and of their
varied industries, and the people are not accustomed to use either the
native or the imported article for heating purposes.
The business section of Valparaiso is on a narrow strip of shore
between the bay and the amphitheatre of hills, the level sector varying
in width from two blocks to half a mile. Climbing up the slopes and
crowning the hill tops is most of the residential district. The
business section, largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1906, has
been rebuilt in a more substantial manner, and it well compares with
other cities of its size. Ascensors run by cable on inclined planes
are in general use for the ascent of the bluffs, though paths and a
few carriage roads wind steeply upward in the cañons here and there
separating the hills, some of which rise to a height of 1000 feet. The
suburb of Viña del Mar, population 34,000, a fashionable summer resort
with a fine beach and club house, distant a half hour by rail, is much
frequented by the foreign devotees of golf, tennis, and other athletic
sports.
=Other Ports.= Of the other principal ports we have observed that Arica
is the terminus of the Arica-La Paz Railway, that Iquique is important
for nitrates, Antofagasta for nitrates, copper, and as the medium of
commerce with Bolivia by the old railway to Oruro and now to La Paz;
Coquimbo as the port of a province with both mineral and agricultural
wealth. Below Valparaiso are better harbors. Concepción, the largest
city south of Santiago, 350 miles distant, is spoken of as the outlet
of the rich Province of that name, but being 12 miles from the mouth of
the Bio-Bio River it is not a real seaport and is served by Talcahuano,
9 miles away, which has one of the best harbors on the coast. For this
reason, though a much smaller city, population 24,000, it was selected
as a military port and for the Government dry docks. A little farther
south on Arauco Bay are Coronel and Lota, both important coaling
stations, at one of which all steamers call; Lota, the larger city,
has all conveniences for shipping. At the tip of the mainland in the
Straits is Punta Arenas, not visited by the regular coasting steamers,
but a port where every passing ship is likely to make a brief call.
RAILWAYS
While the Chilians have always cultivated a taste for the sea, for
strategical more than commercial reasons railway construction has
of late been strongly favored. In this medium of traffic Chile in
proportion to her area is far ahead of the other West Coast countries.
It is true that the difficulties of topography are less. The oldest
existing line in Latin America was here constructed in 1849 by a
Bostonian, William Wheelright, who later founded the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company, the earliest giving regular steamship service
to Europe from the West Coast. This first railway line was from the
port Caldera to the mining town Copiapó. The line from Valparaiso
to Santiago, also constructed by Americans, was finished in 1863.
Government ownership is popular in Chile, and of the 8000 miles of road
in operation the State owns over 5000, with considerable extensions
planned. Unfortunately six different gauges have been used, varying
from 2 feet 6 inches on the Antofagasta Bolivia Line to 5 feet 6 inches
on the Central Railway.
=The Central Railway.= This is a Government Line connecting Valparaiso
with the capital Santiago, express trains with American parlor cars
making the run of 117 miles in four hours. The road is now to be
electrified. South along the rich Central Valley, the same Railway runs
through sleeping cars to Valdivia and to Puerto Montt, the latter city
750 miles from Santiago. This section is well worth a visit, whether
from a scenic or a business point of view. A bridge 1400 feet long and
300 above the bed of the Malleco River cost over $1,000,000.
There are many branches from the main line, some of these privately
owned; most of them to coast ports, a few towards the Cordillera.
Valdivia is the most southern ocean port to which a branch extends.
Farther north, the third city of Chile, Concepción, is favored, and
Talcahuano near by. From Concepción a coast road leads south to Lota,
Coronel, and beyond. From Talca a line goes to Constitución, of some
importance for agriculture, shipyards, and gold mining. Another branch
goes to the port Pichilemu; from Santiago one extends 72 miles to the
port San Antonio, nearer the capital than is Valparaiso but a secondary
port to be improved by the building of docks. The Central Railway
obviously forms a very important part of the real longitudinal railway,
but the section which has the name Longitudinal begins farther north.
The =South Longitudinal=. From Calera on the Valparaiso-Santiago
Railway a branch leads 45 miles to Cabildo, where begins the
Longitudinal proper. This because of construction difficulties is of
narrow gauge, one metre. On account of poor equipment and service,
and the competition of steamship lines along the coast, its traffic
is at present small; but with better facilities and increase of
population it will be of much value. At last accounts there was weekly
service to Antofagasta with two changes of cars, not counting the one
from Valparaiso or Santiago in order to reach Cabildo. Here, three
hours from Santiago, the South Longitudinal is taken to the city of
Copiapó; for the Longitudinal has two sections. The ride is through a
fairly pleasant country with varied scenery, the region being partly
agricultural and partly mineral. In this section are heavy grades,
rising to 6 per cent, requiring 28 miles of the rack system. Branches
or other connecting lines here and there reach the sea. The road passes
through the important port Coquimbo, and the adjoining Serena, at which
point, 200 miles from Valparaiso, the desert land begins; though in
river valleys there is still some verdure. From Vallenar on the main
line a branch runs 31 miles to the port Huasco. A private line from
the port Carrizal, 92 miles north of Huasco and 73 south of Caldera,
crosses the Longitudinal. At Copiapó we come to the old line from
Caldera, a fairly good port, shipping copper and doing considerable
other business, though not a port of the first class. A branch in the
other direction extends to San Antonio.
The =North Longitudinal=. At Copiapó we change to the North
Longitudinal from which there is a branch to Chañaral, about 50 miles
north of Caldera, on a large but exposed bay in one of the richest
mineral districts of Atacama, with large smelting works, and exporting
gold, silver, and copper. A private (British) railway system of 184
miles, crossing the Longitudinal, serves a nitrate district and the
port of Taltal, 100 miles south of Antofagasta; a primary port on a
well protected bay, with piers fitted with steam cranes, a centre
of the nitrate and copper industries. Taltal is a modern town with
important business houses. Besides gold, silver, and copper, the
Province has some undeveloped nitrate land.
Farther on at Aguas Blancas, a railway belonging to the
Bolivia-Antofagasta Company runs to Caleta Coloso, a port six miles
south of Antofagasta and connected by rail with that city as well as
with various nitrate properties. Farther still the Longitudinal crosses
the Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway at Baquedano, where some traffic is
exchanged. It is the intention of the Government to construct its own
line to Antofagasta and to the port of Mejillones some miles north.
Beyond this crossing, from Toco on the Longitudinal, the Anglo-Chilian
Nitrate and Railway Company’s Line branches to the port of Tocopilla.
At last Pintados, the one time terminus is reached, where connection
is made with the Nitrate Railways, which go on to Iquique and Pisagua.
But in spite of this the Government Line is now being prolonged to
the former city. It is intended ultimately to extend the main line
to Arica, 175 miles farther, a section likely to be unprofitable
commercially but desired for other reasons. From Arica there is a
railway to Tacna, near the Peruvian border, hence on completion of this
section there would be through rail service from near the northern
border to Puerto Montt in the far south, a primary port on the Gulf of
Reloncavi. The length of the road from Puerto Montt to Jazpampa the
present terminus, east of Pisagua, is 1902 miles; to Taratá, the most
northern town in the mountains, the distance is 207 miles more.
The =Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway=. The Bolivian section of the
important Antofagasta Railway has already been referred to. That in
Chile deserves further consideration. British owned, like most of the
Chilian railways not belonging to the State, it is the longest and most
important of these. Although uncommonly narrow with a 2 foot 6 inch
gauge, the sleeping cars are more comfortable than some with double
the width. The road operates 835 miles of main track to La Paz, 518 of
these in Chile. There is semi-weekly service to La Paz in practically
two days, besides local trains. One thousand, two hundred and fifty
miles of track are controlled by the Company. The climb begins at once,
the road in 18 miles getting 1800 feet above the sea. At km. 36 a
branch 70 miles long goes to the Boquete Nitrate Fields, altitude 5622
feet. At Prat, km. 59, a branch goes down to Mejillones, a new port,
opened by the Company in 1906, called the finest harbor on the coast,
capable of holding the fleets of the world (it was said when these were
smaller) and so protected that shipping suffers no inconvenience from
bad weather. Tocopilla, 37 miles north of Antofagasta, has direct rail
connection with that city by a line 43 miles long. The main Antofagasta
line, crossing the Longitudinal at km. 96, at km. 116 enters the
principal nitrate district of this region and leaves it 35 miles
beyond. In this section are 24 _oficinas_, as the nitrate plants are
called, some of them models of their kind.
Going in either direction this part is traversed at night; otherwise
one might be refreshed by the sight of a little green at Calama, 149
miles from Antofagasta, at six A.M. This was a copper mining centre
in Inca days and a smelter is here now. At this altitude some persons
stop a day, a good plan if one is not sure of his heart; though oxygen
is now carried for use in emergency. At km. 254 is a short branch,
6 miles, to Chuquicamata, to be referred to later. Just beyond the
Conchi station is a graceful viaduct with six lattice girder spans
of 80 feet each, supported on steel trestle towers. This, called the
highest viaduct in the world, is 336 feet above the water of the Rio
Loa, at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet. Here a branch line runs to
the copper mines of Conchi Viejo. At San Pedro station, 195 miles,
at 10,600 feet altitude, are reservoirs blasted from the solid rock,
on which the Company spent $6,000,000 to supply Antofagasta, the
nitrate fields, and the railway with water. The water comes from three
different places, one of them 37 miles northeast and 14,500 feet above
the sea: this source capable of supplying 6000 tons of water daily
through 11-inch pipes.
The road now passes two snow capped volcanoes, from one of which smoke
may be rising, and crosses a stream of lava one-third of a mile wide
and several miles long, to the summit of the main line, 13,000 feet.
Soon after, a borax lake belonging to a British company may be seen;
24 miles long, it is the largest single deposit in the world and the
chief source of the world’s supply. At Ollague, where snow storms
occasionally impede traffic, is a branch to the rich copper mines at
Collahuasi. The Bolivian frontier is soon afterward crossed, and at
Uyuni a change is made to the broader gauge line to La Paz.
The =Trans-Andine Railway=. Of all the railroads of Chile, the
Trans-Andine is naturally the most famous, as a part of the only
trans-continental railway south of Panama; but financially, as yet it
is hardly a success. With post-war increase of traffic, there will
doubtless be an improvement. The Trans-Andine section of metre gauge
begins at Los Andes, altitude 2723 feet, 88 miles from Valparaiso.
A change is here made from the State Line, 5.5-foot gauge. It is a
distance of 43 miles to the tunnel, a steep climb up the Aconcagua
River Valley, with a maximum grade of 8 per cent; 20 miles of rack
railway are employed. There are 25 tunnels, and on the Aconcagua River
or its branches, 118 bridges. The scenery is wild and the journey
delightful. Sheds have been erected against snow and land slides. Up to
1916 the road was closed for several months each winter; but with an
increase of sheds and with a force of men continually digging, the road
was kept open through the years 1916, ’17 and ’18; it was seriously
blocked in July, 1919. While previously passenger traffic was the more
remunerative, in 1916 unusual efforts were made for the benefit of
important freight which it was impossible to ship by sea.
The tunnel is at a height of 10,486 feet, its length is 10,385 feet,
each practically two miles. The boundary line is near the middle, each
country building to that point; but the whole is operated as one line
from Los Andes to Mendoza. The line was opened in the Centennial year,
April 16, 1910, in time for the Exposition at Buenos Aires. The cost
of the Chilian section was about $15,000,000. Operation is at a loss,
interest being paid by the Government. The capitalization is $317,000 a
mile. Fifteen Trans-Andine projects have been put forward, most of them
for the south, one from near Puerto Montt. One in construction is from
Talcahuano to Bahia Blanca by way of Temuco. A road from Punta Arenas
to the Loreto coal fields is the most southern railway in the world, as
that is the most southern city. The early construction is expected of
an important road at the north from Salta in Argentina by Huaytiquina
on the border to Antofagasta. Of wagon roads there are said to be
20,000 miles.
The Arica-La Paz Railway is described on page 222.