The Tramways of
ORURO, POTOSÍ
and HUANCHACA
Bolivia
BY
Allen Morrison
ORURO The steam railroad from Antofagasta climbed the Andes and finally reached Oruro, at altitude 3,709 m (12,170 ft), in 1894 [see map]. It did not reach La Paz, 200 km farther north, until 1917. Oruro is one of the principal cities of Bolivia's large mining district. Two Oruro residents, Natalio Condarco and Fabio Espejo, acquired a franchise to build a street railway in 1905 and opened a line on 9 July 1907. Cars ran south on Calle 6 de Octubre to Plaza 10 de Febrero, then west on Calle Murguía. Six months later, on 22 January 1908, the Ferrocarril Urbano de Oruro ordered two trams from J. G. Brill Co. in Philadelphia, which were numbered 1 and 2. (The numbers and origin of the vehicles that opened the system in 1907 are unknown.) FUO ordered another car from Brill in February 1908 and inaugurated a new line to the railroad station later that year. The undated postcard view below shows two Brill trams and an unidentified car, numbered 4, on Calle Bolívar [col. AM]:
The second postcard shows a Brill tram and another car numbered 5. The motive power for both vehicles seems to have run off [col. AM]:
Collisions, derailments and injuries were common, especially at night on the narrow, unlit streets, and the municipal government ordered the system closed. FUO ran its last tram on 30 June 1914, after less than seven years of service.
POTOSÍ Located on the Sucre branch of the Bolivian Railway [see map] at an altitude of 4,175 meters (13,700 feet), Potosí is considered the highest city in the world. In the 16th and 17th centuries its silver mines made it one of the richest and largest cities in the world, with a population approaching 200,000. The silver rush moved to Peru and Mexico in the 18th century and Potosí's population dropped to 8,000. New industries revived its economy in the 19th century and Potosí has about 100,000 residents today. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1987. Its tramway history is very mysterious. (Potosí is one of three places with that name that had electric railways in Latin America. The other two are in Mexico: the city of San Luis Potosí and the Ferrocarril El Potosí near Chihuahua.) No information about the tramways of Potosí could be found in any document published in Bolivia or in any history or description of that city published anywhere else. The only clues to the line's existence are: (1) St. Louis Car Co. orders 954 and 955 of 17 September 1912 which specified two 4-wheel passenger trams and a flat car for Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Potosí; (2) photographs showing overhead wire and rails on Potosí streets in the album Impresiones de las Repúblicas Sud-Americanas del Oeste en el Siglo XX, published in London in 1915 [see BIBLIOGRAPHY]; (3) a photo postcard which shows a horse tram with the caption "10/5/16 Street Car Potosí Bolivia"; and (4) a description and four photographs of the tramways of Potosí published in a Special Agents Series pamphlet issued by the U.S. Bureau of Foreign & Domestic Commerce in 1918 [see BIBLIOGRAPHY]. On p. 14 of its Potosí chapter, the Special Agents Series pamphlet states: "There is also a private company which built the trolley system in the city. The equipment for the latter was bought in the United States but has never been put into regular service, owing to some difficulty between the owner and the municipality over an accident that occurred at the inauguration of the road . . . There are three cars, each capable of seating 16." A paragraph on p. 26 adds: "The equipment . . . operated perfectly for the short time that it ran. The cars proved too big, however, and have been rebuilt in the shops of the road to a size better adapted for the narrow streets and sharp corners. More powerful brakes have been fitted, also, as there are very steep grades in Potosí. The owner is a Bolivian and partial to American goods. The line is expected to be in operation soon, but at present (August, 1917), the only service offered to the public consists of one small car drawn by two mules." Here is the postcard view of the mule car. The postcard inscription, white on gray, is almost illegible [col. AM]:
This view was reproduced in the Special Agents Series pamphlet:
The two photographs below are reproduced on pages 15 and 28, respectively, of that pamphlet:
That is the evidence. Electric trams were supplied in 1913, there was overhead wire on the streets in 1915, a mulecar was photographed in 1916, electric operation had still not begun by 1917. When was the "inauguration" noted in the Special Agents Series text? What was the "accident"? We do not know the routes of either the mule or the electric cars, when, if ever, they began and ended service, or the gauge or length or their rails. If any reader has more information about the tramways of Potosí, please let the author know!
HUANCHACA The Compañía Huanchaca de Bolivia operates a railroad from Uyuni, near the salt flats in the southwestern part of the country, to Pulacayo and the silver mining district at Huanchaca [see map]. (According to legend, Huanchaca was one of the places where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed a train.) Total length of the line is 43 km and track gauge is 762 mm (30 in). The photo below shows an inspection car at Pacamayo mine in Huanchaca in 1919. Not a tram of the usual sort – but nor is it a train [col. Christopher Walker]:
The mining company also operated electric locomotives [postcard, col. AM]:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Reginald Lloyd. Impresiones de las Repúblicas Sud-Americanas del Oeste en el Siglo XX. London, 1915. This lavish 1,109-page volume contains hundreds of illustrations of every type, including two on p. 395 that show electric wire over tramway track on the streets of Potosí. No tram, just the track – but rare evidence of the existence of an electric tramway in this city. U.S. Bureau of Foreign & Domestic Commerce. Special Agents Series 167: Electrical Goods. Washington, 1918. Several paragraphs on the electric power and tramway installation in Potosí, pp. 14 and 26. Photos of the power plant on p. 15; pictures of a horsecar and an electric tram on p. 28. The source of three illustrations on this webpage. Fabrizio Cazorla Murillo. Los tranvías de Oruro, el transporte de otros tiempos. Unusual, undated online history of the tramways of Oruro, by a journalist at La Patria, the principal newspaper of that city. Superb, rare, valuable information. An email to the author brought no response.
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