Tren a las Nubes

“Train to the Clouds”: zigzags and spirals up the Andes to the La Polvorilla viaduct at 4,220 m.

Engineer Richard Fontaine Maury built the line without rack or cable, trusting adhesion and patient geometry to lift trains roughly 3,000 m above the Lerma valley. Completed in 1948 as part of a trans-Andean route towards Chile, its most dramatic stretch has run as a tourist service since the early 1970s, with medics patrolling the aisles offering coca tea and oxygen. Journey’s end is San Antonio de los Cobres, a wind-scoured mining town at 3,775 m on the puna.

Along the way

• Quebrada del Toro gorge
• El Alisal and Chorrillos zigzags
• Puna high desert
• San Antonio de los Cobres at 3,775 m
• La Polvorilla viaduct — 4,220 m

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 6445519 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 44 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 10 m from it
• The operator publishes this line's timetable: Tren a las Nubes — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Tren a las Nubes?

The Tren a las Nubes runs 217 km from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres.

How long does the Tren a las Nubes take?

The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 7 h for the 217 km. That is an average of 31 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 35 km/h.

Who runs the Tren a las Nubes?

Tren a las Nubes, with tourist consist.

How old is the Tren a las Nubes?

The line has been in service since 1948. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How high does the Tren a las Nubes climb?

4,220 m above sea level at its highest point.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗