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Free digital pictures of Costa Rica's trains

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Gregg, Just two sections of the whole system is running today. The hurricane you refer to just damaged a short section located in the highlands west of the town of Turrialba and this is what most government official will tell everybody. The railroald was (and still is, although today it is managed by a local private organization mostly conformed by former railroad workers) a government-owned one and in reality it went bancruptcy because of extensive bureaucratic management (up to 3000 employees, mostly appointed politically over the time). The railroad was offially shut down in 1995. But INCOFER (Costa Rican Railroad Institute)has changed a lot from those days. The institution has jumped the bureaucratic tracks along which it limped into decline. By the late 1980s, it was draining millions from government coffers that sustained it (about $7.5 millons annualy just to pay for its employee's salaries). This sounds so contradictory because in early 1950's just the Pacific Electric Railroad branch generated about 25% of all government income!. Today, INCOFER's 50 remaining workers maintain the 400 kilometers of track, locomotives, cars and buildings as best they can on a yearly budget of around ¢700 million ($2.5 million). And they have it very clear in their minds: if the railroad doesn't make money, it won't survive. So far the system is partially running, one section in the Atlantic hauling mainly bananas for the Standard Fruit Co. from local plantations inland to the port of Limon, and in the Pacific slope from the port of Caldera to the country's capital (San Jose) hauling iron coils, metal rods, gravel, and other cargo. Both sections run on diesel engines. In both electrified sections, the Pacific branch (San Jose-Alajuela-Caldera-Puntarenas and the Atlantic section Rio Jimenez-Siquirres (built in the 1980's by a Canadian company) most copper wiring was taken down and stored because after closing the railroad system some people began taking the copper wiring down (robbery it) to sale it in the local black market. Nevertheless, all steel catenary was taken down too an shopped into pieces to be used as ties. The idea of having this railroad system partially running is with the hopes of giving it in concession to a bidder (international). Unfortunatelly, a couple of months ago the only two international companies interested in taking the system, rebuilding it and exploiting it for a 25-year period (the "Interocean Railway Co.", a consortium formed of Ferrovie Nord Italia S.p.A., Ansaldo Transporti S.p.A., and VIA Rail Canada Inc., and the "Consorcio Ferroviario Interoceanico", fomed by Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd. (RITES), the Organizacion de Ingenieria Internacional S.A. (ODINSA), and Construcciones Condor (Colombian) both declined (at the last minute) to make any sustainable offer for it. So now the country has the dilemma of whether scratch the whole system and sale its properties, equipment (narrow gauge), and buildings or to invest more money (and time) and give it a try for a second concession openning in the near future. As I said, in the meantime they're running mainly freight trains and occasionaly turist (passenger) trains in both sections used. The RR system consists of about 450 km and it is $200 millon worth in buildings, structures and some rolling stock (including 9 electric engines). The goverment intents to sell the idea to rebuilt the whole system to establish an interoceanic railroad between the ports of Limon in the Atlantic and Caldera in the Pacific, just like Panama (KCS and MI-Jack) did and what Nicaragua is also trying to do in cooperation with the Belgium goverment/entrepeneurs. Best regards, Rodolfo
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