Antofagasta to Bolivia Railway

In Bolivia there had been proposals in the 1860s and early 1870s to establish a Boliva's first railway to the ports of the Pacific through the Peruvian por of Arica. A series of disputes with Peru shifted the focus of the railway to have it reach the ocean farther south through the Bolivian coastal department. The railway was expected to have great impact for the development of Bolivia increasing the state's income, integrating the peripheral coastal province, cheapen transport to coast and providing external trade that did not depend on third party. The Bolivian parliament originally rejected the plan since they favoured development of La Paz and Cochabamba in the north, the connection of these cities to the Peruvian ports and to maintain these regions as supply bases for southwestern Bolivia. Opposition by Compañía Minera Huanchaca's Chilean investors –who never controlled more than 1⁄5 of the company– was also a factor according to Guillermo Billinghurst. In Billinghurst's view Chilean interest were worried about an Litoral Department becoming increasingly Bolivian but then turned in favour of the railway once Chile took control of the region in 1879.

The history of the railway dates back to 1872 with the grant of a concession by the government of Bolivia to Melbourne Clarke & Co, the territory around Antofagasta being part of Bolivia at this date. The railway was organised as the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company. Construction started in 1873, with the first section opening late in that year, motive power provided by mules. Steam locomotives were introduced in 1876, and by 1879 the railway had extended about 150 km (93.2 mi) into the interior.

War broke out in 1879 between Chile on one side, and Peru and Bolivia on the other. One of the causes of the war was an attempt by the Bolivian government to levy back taxes on the railway. The War of the Pacific ended in 1883, and Chile gained the region around Antofagasta as well as part of Peru.

Control of the railway passed to the Company Huanchaca of Bolivia in 1887, who subsequently floated the railway on the London stock exchange in 1888 as the FCAB. The Huanchilaca company retained the right to operate the railway for a further 15 years. The line reached Oruro in Bolivia, the end of the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) section, in 1892, and branches continued to be added over subsequent years.

British business interests resumed control of the entire system in 1903. Traffic reached a point where the port of Antofagasta was unable to cope. A new port was opened to the north at Mejillones in 1906, together with a new line bypassing Antofagasta. In 1909 the FCAB purchased the FC Caleta Coloso a Aguas Blancas, a railway operating in the mineral-rich desert regions south of Antofagasta. Although also of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, the FCCCAB was never integrated into the FCAB, and always operated as a separate entity.

The entire region is a desert, with almost no rainfall. The company constructed a system of pipes and reservoirs to bring water for the railway from the high Andes, eventually becoming responsible for supplying Antofagasta with water as well.

Bolivian government interests supported the construction of a railway between Oruro and the Bolivian capital, La Paz, and this line was opened in stages between 1908 and 1913. This line was constructed to metre gauge, and was leased to the FCAB. The FCAB now had two operating divisions, one using 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, the other 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge.

Bogie exchange

The FCAB already interchanged with metre gauge railways running north–south in western Chile, and there was the prospect of connections with lines from Argentina. Thus, in 1913, the FCAB board made a decision to convert the line to metre gauge throughout. Some gauge conversion work was done in 1916, however World War I intervened, and most work was not done until 1928. In the meantime, the railway became proficient in changing bogies on freight cars between gauges at interchange points. Some branch lines and connecting railways were never converted, and continued to operate as 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railways into the 1960s.