Patagonia Express

We were excited about going to Esquel. We were going to ride the Patagonian Express. Esquel, a town of 60,000 residents is close to the Andes mountains, in fact the town nestles attractively among the pine clad mountains. The Chilean border is less than 100km to the west of the town.

The Patagonian Express. In 1908 the Argentinian Government decided to link central Andean states with the Atlantic coast thereby forming a network of railways throughout Argentina, freight and passengers to and from coastal ports and Buenos Aires. It wasn’t until after the First World War in 1922 that orders for locomotives and carriages were placewith Belgian and German companies. But in fact the train line to Esquel didn’t materialize until 1945.

The train that we travelled on comprised original and partly restored 1922 carriages and an original locomotive. We travelled about 20km through the mountains to Estancia Nahuel Pan and back again, a round trip of 3 hours. We both grinned from ear to ear while enjoying our experience greatly.

Those of us who have read Paul Theroux’s train travel books will know of The Patagonian Express.