The primordial need of every country is good roads and ample transportation facilities. This is more especially true of Chile, than of most countries, because the long strip of territory between the Andean range of mountains and the Pacific is characterized by narrowness and length, a configuration which is peculiarly lacking in continuity between productive centers. The nitrate fields and other rich mineral producing sections of the north are, by nature, completely isolated from the agricultural districts of the central valley, where the principal cities and towns are situated, and also from the timber zone and grazing lands of the far south.
During the first half century of the Republic’s existence little progress was made along the line of industrial development because of a lack of railway communication. The first link in the chain of Chile’s present, extensive railway systems, a line extending from the port of Caldera to Copiapo, a distance of fifty miles, was built in 1851. Later other roads were constructed, chief among which was the line extending from Valparaiso to Santiago, and from the capital south through the central valley, the great agricultural district of the country, into the coal producing and timber regions, connecting them with the seaports and commercial centers. This section of the State railways, which for many years had its terminus at Concepcion, was in recent years extended to Valdivia, an important industrial and commercial center, and in 1912 was completed as far as Port Montt. Since the building of the first line, little more than half a century ago, the railway system of Chile has grown until it now comprises over four thousand miles of fairly well equipped roads, the ramifications of which reach into every part of the country, with the exception of the territory constituting the southern limits of the Republic, including Patagonia. A little more than one-half of the railway mileage is government ownership, the other portion being owned by individuals and corporations.
TRANSANDINE RAILWAY.
The first step in the progressive policy of railway building in which Chile has been engaged in recent years, was the construction of the Transandine Railway via Uspillata Pass. This important line, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific, and giving to the Republic rail connections with countries to the east of the Andean range, brought the importance of better interior transportation facilities more closely to the minds of the people, and the result has been a period of railway building surpassing the expectation of the most radical advocates of an aggressive industrial policy.
The history of the Transandine Railway will probably never be written, unless it be given to the world by the Clark Brothers, who conceived the idea, and labored for more than a quarter of a century to enlist the assistance of the Chilean government in a plan to build the road. Every succeeding administration, during the period in which the Clarks were working on the scheme, was apparently favorable to the plan. The rejection of proposals and the failure always to vote aid or subsidy, however, was evidence of the fact that there was always secret opposition.
During much of the time while the Transandine scheme was under consideration, a war cloud, arising from a disputed boundary question between Chile and the Argentine, loomed large and ominous over the Cordillera, creating a feeling in the minds of the Chilenos that Argentina was quite near enough, without an additional connecting link in the way of a railroad across the Andes.
In 1901 the Transandine Railway, including the portion already in operation, from Los Andes to Salto del Soldado, passed into the hands of W. R. Grace & Company. Then John Eyre, manager for Grace & Company in Chile, took up the work of promoting the undertaking. With indomitable courage, tireless energy, and full confidence in ultimate success, he started in to enlist government aid in building the road.
In February, 1903, Congress passed a law authorizing the President to advertise for a term of one year, from the first of May, 1903, for sealed proposals for the construction of the Transandine Railway. The law also provided for a government guarantee of five per cent. annually on a capital not to exceed $7,250,000. Grace & Company were the only bidders. The proposal was for $6,500,000, being $750,000 below the maximum sum on which the government guaranteed five per cent. interest. A special commission was appointed to examine the proposal, and on June 7, 1904, the tender was accepted by the government, thus insuring to Chile railway communication with countries beyond the mountain barrier that had so long restricted commerce and the development of her natural resources.
On November 27, 1909, five and a half years after the contract was approved by the Chilean Government, the last section of rock in the tunnel, separating the two gangs of workmen operating from different sides, was removed, and a line of communication which had been the dream of years was established; a line that has had a marked effect, not only upon the two republics which it directly connects, but upon the world. On May 25, 1910, the first train was run through the tunnel and an all-rail route opened between Valparaiso and Buenos Aires, a distance of 888 miles,—the first railroad across the South American continent. Thus after thirty-seven years of work and planning, vicissitudes and discouragements, the hopes of the promoters of this great enterprise were realized and the Transandine Railway an accomplished fact. The date will remain a memorable one in the history of Chile, as it occurred in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of the Independence of the Republic.
The Chilean terminus of the tunnel, which is 10,385 feet long, is at El Portillo, at an altitude of 10,450 feet above sea level, and on the Argentine side at Las Cuevas. On the Chilean side the road ascends the mountains 7,615 feet within a distance of 46 miles, between Los Andes and the summit, an average of 166 feet to the mile. Directly over the tunnel, on the Uspillata pass, at an altitude of 13,000 feet stands the “Christ of the Andes,” a statue erected in 1904, as a symbol of perpetual peace between the two republics. It was cast in bronze from cannons contributed by both nations. It stands upon the international boundary line established by a commission appointed by King Edward, after war between Chile and the Argentine had been imminent for years. The figure representing Christ is twenty-six feet high, and placed upon a colossal column it makes an imposing and impressive monument. In one hand is held a cross, while the other is extended in a blessing of peace. The inscription on one of the tablets is: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”