That title...those words be high-praise indeed from this Narrow-Gauge Nut, sometimes referred to as "he who believes the entire NG universe revolves around the D&RGW!" :hehe:
Okay, joking aside, this is, as far as I'm concered, the "Hidden Gem" of the Narrow Gauge world. the National Railways of Ecuador's (let's see if I can spell this right) Guayaquil and Quito railroad, a 42" guage line that climbs up from the sea into the Andes Mountains. I've known of this line for ages, it seems, first hearing of it in a TRAINS magazine article some years back that had a picture of an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous 2-6-0 mogul (It's a baldwin, so that goes without saying anyway, right?) and some of the rugged mountain trackwork, which includes the switchbacks at "the Devil's Nose;" this place could give the Uintah Railroad a run for its money. Over the years, this line has been filed away in the "well, that's a neat little tidbit of info" folder somewhere in the back of my brain, yet I've never quite forgotten that little mogul, seemingly galloping along in that static picture on the magazine page, doing her best impersonation of an erupting volcano as copious amounts of jet-black smoke rolled from her stack...
Well, I've recently stumbled across some interesting websites and videos of this amazing railroad. one of the first was this one:
http://www.ferrolatino.ch/en/reports/ecuador/
which finally gave the identity of that long-lost mogul; she's No. 11 on the nation railroad system. To say I have quite the emotional affair with her is an understatement :hehe: As it turns out, she's one of the "valley" engines; she and othes like her work the flat(er) parts of the system, handing off to much burlier stablemates for the climb up the mountains. Evidence of the terrain they must conquer is found in this YT video, and many like it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-84ifNkvwik&feature=fvwrel
It is worth noting that many of these videos, and many of the photos I can find, seem to be older--like 1980s-1990s ish era. However, near as I can tell, the railroad system still operates...mostly under steam power, no less! If you have some time, give this old bastion of the iron horse a look...you may find that, like me, you've fallen for a gold-lined, red 2-6-0, cute as a button, as she romps along under a eruption of her own exhaust.
Okay, joking aside, this is, as far as I'm concered, the "Hidden Gem" of the Narrow Gauge world. the National Railways of Ecuador's (let's see if I can spell this right) Guayaquil and Quito railroad, a 42" guage line that climbs up from the sea into the Andes Mountains. I've known of this line for ages, it seems, first hearing of it in a TRAINS magazine article some years back that had a picture of an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous 2-6-0 mogul (It's a baldwin, so that goes without saying anyway, right?) and some of the rugged mountain trackwork, which includes the switchbacks at "the Devil's Nose;" this place could give the Uintah Railroad a run for its money. Over the years, this line has been filed away in the "well, that's a neat little tidbit of info" folder somewhere in the back of my brain, yet I've never quite forgotten that little mogul, seemingly galloping along in that static picture on the magazine page, doing her best impersonation of an erupting volcano as copious amounts of jet-black smoke rolled from her stack...
Well, I've recently stumbled across some interesting websites and videos of this amazing railroad. one of the first was this one:
http://www.ferrolatino.ch/en/reports/ecuador/
which finally gave the identity of that long-lost mogul; she's No. 11 on the nation railroad system. To say I have quite the emotional affair with her is an understatement :hehe:
As it turns out, she's one of the "valley" engines; she and othes like her work the flat(er) parts of the system, handing off to much burlier stablemates for the climb up the mountains. Evidence of the terrain they must conquer is found in this YT video, and many like it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-84ifNkvwik&feature=fvwrel
It is worth noting that many of these videos, and many of the photos I can find, seem to be older--like 1980s-1990s ish era. However, near as I can tell, the railroad system still operates...mostly under steam power, no less! If you have some time, give this old bastion of the iron horse a look...you may find that, like me, you've fallen for a gold-lined, red 2-6-0, cute as a button, as she romps along under a eruption of her own exhaust.
