Rio Turbio Industrial Railroad (RFIRT) of the coal exploitation in Santa Cruz, Patagonia Argentina

Abstract

In the southwestern of the province of Santa Cruz, in Argentina's southern Patagonia, the industrial sites of the Río Turbio Carboniferous Yards are located, including the coal mine in the border city of Río Turbio, a coal-fired power plant, and the railway line that connects it with the port of Punta Loyola in the vicinity of the provincial capital Río Gallegos.
The old Rio Turbio Industrial Railroad (RFIRT) with an extension of 285 km and its 750 mm track has unique characteristics: it is the most narrow narrow gauge in the world that is still in operation and due to advanced technical adaptations in Its used locomotives, which are still under study by specialists in the field.
With the projects of using the routes for the realization of a tourist train and its possible extension to the Republic of Chile, in another complementary project of a binational bi-oceanic train, the importance of these industrial facilities of particular characteristics nailed In the south of Southern Patagonia.