{"id":234,"date":"2011-07-27T23:05:38","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T23:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brucebramson.com\/2011\/07\/27\/return-to-ecuador-vi-at-m-y-o-b\/"},"modified":"2011-07-27T23:05:38","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T23:05:38","slug":"return-to-ecuador-vi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/?p=234","title":{"rendered":"RETURN TO ECUADOR VI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several weeks have passed since I put up the last page dealing with what I found in the old shops at Dur\u00e1n. This page takes up where the last left off, still in 1993.<\/p>\n

Using my collection of prints taken in 1979, I bribed the guard at the gate of the new shops. These photos were taken there.<\/p>\n

It seemed the battery was still dead on Railbus Number 96: here, it is being given a tow-job by Alsthom \u00a0Diesel number 2407. That\u2019s the Guayas river just beyond the end of rail: this is where all new equipment is landed from barges to get rolling-stock onto rails of the G&Q (ENFE).<\/p>\n

Railbus 96 is looking a bit forlorn here, and clearly was not in the best of shape. Nevertheless, it departed later on fully loaded, headed uphill to Bucay (and presumably, beyond).<\/p>\n

Inside the new shops, this juxtaposition of old and new caught my eye. Number 11 was preserved in grease, and Alsthom 2403, roughly a hundred years newer, sat over pits next to it.<\/p>\n

A close look at the motion of Number 11. All the bright-work was slathered in heavy grease to protect it from rust.<\/p>\n

The other side of Number 11, carefully painted then preserved. Presumably by this time its use was reserved for charters and special occasions.<\/p>\n

A better look at Number 11. Number 17, also preserved, is parked ahead of it.<\/p>\n

Number 17 was also there, carefully preserved.<\/p>\n

Another look at Number 17.<\/p>\n

Nicely painted, Number 17 also awaits charters and special occasions.<\/p>\n

These small Atlantics were beautiful engines!<\/p>\n

Number 18, from the Sibambe-Cuenca Branch was undergoing major repairs.<\/p>\n

It is possible this engine was being cannibalized, but I rather got the impression it was being rebuilt.<\/p>\n

The smoke-box of Number 18.<\/p>\n

Builder\u2019s Plate for Number 18.<\/p>\n

I found it interesting that they used wood for lagging! I guess it worked.<\/p>\n

Engine Number 7 was also present, and appeared to be in working order. It was not preserved. It had been the yard engine in 1979, and perhaps is still was.<\/p>\n

Engine 7 had clearly been rebuilt after I saw it in 1979.<\/p>\n

The New Shops at Dur\u00e1n are in the background: in the foreground is a trailer with the remains of a locomotive, apparently on its way to a scrap yard and melt-down.<\/p>\n

I could get no clue as to what engine this had once been.<\/p>\n

Scattered around Dur\u00e1n were remains of other engines; this was the hulk of Number 55.<\/p>\n

Number 55 rusting away. One wonders whether the missing chunk of its front tube-sheet was taken out for use elsewhere, or blew out (which would have been quite an event!) It appears to have been neatly cut.<\/p>\n

Another of the several hulks rotting away. This gives an good idea of the complexity of a boiler, though, showing many of the stays that hold it all together.Weeds overtaking another rust-bucket.<\/p>\n

Yet another. My guess is these are all gone by now, as they were hauling one away when I was there.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s really not a whole lot left of this one!<\/p>\n

This is the running-gear of one of the new Alsthom Diesels, which appeared to be brand-new.<\/p>\n

Railbus 94, which I rode in 1979 was still looking good!<\/p>\n

This heap of links was in a corner of the new shops. It is hard to determine how many locomotives are represented here!<\/p>\n

The only person I saw in the few hours I spent in the new shops was this chap. shaping a chunk of metal for some purpose or other.<\/p>\n

So, there you have it: all the photos from my trip to Ecuador in 1993. As mentioned previously, I came away dejected, feeling that steam was near the end of its life on the G&Q. From YouTube videos, I deduce that numbers 18 and 44 may still be running from time to time, although there is a video of 18 being trucked to Quito (perhaps for display only?)<\/p>\n

In any case, the railroad seems to have been brought back to life, at least as a tourist attraction, which is a good thing. I recommend to anyone who loves railroads to get down to Ecuador and have a look and a ride: you won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

And, for the time being, this ends my blog. Nothing much of consequence has taken place in my life since 1993, so until something consequential does<\/em> happen, it\u2019s good bye for now. I would greatly love to get updates on the G&Q (ENFE) from anyone who has been there recently: address me at MYOB@brucebramson.com .<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several weeks have passed since I put up the last page dealing with what I found in the old shops at Dur\u00e1n. This page takes up where the last left off, still in 1993. Using my collection of prints taken in 1979, I bribed the guard at the gate of the new shops. These photos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}