Chiloé railway

Until before of the construction of the railway, the only land route between Ancud and Castro – the two main cities of the island – was through the old Caicumeo Road, opened at the end of the 18th century.

The first time that the idea of building a railway in Chiloé was mentioned is during the year 1899, when it is suggested by the then senator Ramón Rozas. However, the idea is discarded for economic reasons.[1]

During the first years of its opening, the trip between Ancud and Castro took about 5 hours, and derailments were common as product of the little railway experience in the island. The original stations of the main line, as described by Luis Mansilla Vidal in 1914, were the following:[2]

• Ancud
• Pupelde
• Coquiao
• Puntra
• Butalcura
• Mocopulli
• Pidpid
• Castro

However, over the years the stations would undergo various modifications, adding the stations Piruquina (between Mocopulli and Pidpid), Llaullao (between Tenten and Pidpid) and Tenten (between Llaullao and Castro).[1]

The railroad consisted of a narrow gauge of 600 mm, and to overcome the geographical accidents of the island, three bridges (San Antonio, Puntra and Butalcura) and fifteen viaducts had to be built. Likewise, the branch to Lechagua was associated with the construction of a 152 m long dock, which was projected as the starting point of a large port city in that town.[1]

In the initial plan, there also was a future expansion of the railway to Quellón, which at the time was and the construction of a branch from Mocopulli to Dalcahue.[1] However, the problems in the operation made these projects impossible, which were never realized.

The railroad track was severely affected during the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, with part of it sinking under water and several of the bridges that allowed it to operate being destroyed. Likewise, the growth of the road routes made the reconstruction of the railway unfeasible and it stopped operating since then.