Ecuador Steam & Autoferro 2003 Part 9 Ibarra to Primer Paso

A RTC charter on the Quito & San Lorenzo Railway to travel one of the operable parts of the line in September 2003. Only completed in 1957 the railway was severely damaged by heavy rainfall during the El Niño in 1997 and 1998 and by 2003 the only passable parts of the line were from Ibarra to Primer Paso and Cachavi to San Lorenzo.
In 2008 the president Rafael Correa named the railroad a "national cultural patrimony" and indicated that it would be restored. The government of Ecuador started to rehabilitate the railway and service was restored Ibarra to Salinas and Ibarra to Otavalo. However in 2020, after a change of president, all railway services ceased and by presidential decree the liquidation of the railway company commenced.
After travelling on the Guayaquil & Quito Railway I thought this may be an anti climax but this was not the case at all. Steam could only operate to the outskirts of Ibarra due to the condition of the track so it was another exciting autoferro ride from Ibarra to Primer Paso and return.
Featured are
Onboard and runpast footage of the trip.
Locos seen are
Autoferros 10, 31, 36 and 50
Q&SL Alsthom Sulzer Bo-Bo-Bo's 151, 152 & 154 (1956)
G&Q GEC Alsthom Bo-Bo-Bo 2402 & 2407 (1992)
G&Q Baldwin 2-6-0 14 (1901)

[@SDE1994]

amazing

[@bwk4528]

Great to see this. As it looks like this section is no longer accessible, it appears the terminus you arrived at is at 0 34.456 N 78 7.601 W. Whereas currently it is only opened to Salinas.

[@fGabrielEspinoza]

Muchas gracias Neil, los 9 vídeos hermosos. Excelente contribución

[@trianghornby]

Thank you, glad you like them.

[@jhonalexander1979]

Una de las mejores rutas ojalá este gobierno tome la iniciativa de reactivar el tren

[@trianghornby]

Yes I hope so to, it is one of the best railway journeys in the world.

[@fGabrielEspinoza]

Tendrías más videos del ferrocarril en Ecuador?

[@trianghornby]

Only the 9 videos on here. I have only visited Ecuador once, I was hoping to visit again to ride on the restored railway and do the sections that were closed on my visit in 2003. Maybe I will be able to do this in the future but sadly its not looking promising at the moment.

[@fGabrielEspinoza]

Se aprecia un punto de abastecimiento de agua para máquinas a vapor

[@trianghornby]

Yes i think it was many years before that steam engines were used on this line, in 2003 the track was only good for autoferros.