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A geostrategic issue:
Lima, Pucallpa and the Rainforrest
Railroad to connect the waterways of the rainforrest with the city of Lima
PERU: 1.2 million square kilometers of land divided into a
coastal and mountain part and a
rainforrest part
- with very poor connection between the two halves of Peru -
In addition there is an equal third "half" - as
maritime territory .
200 nautical miles along the 2000km coastline
- and very few Peruvian ships to navigate it
One half of Peru is Rainforrest - connected to the other half of Peru with only 4 links:
1): Sarameriza - NOT ACTIVE - a port as is not yet established
2): Yurimaguas - It has the only river port in the Andes, useful for export over Paita to the Pacific Ocean
3): Pucallpa - A Productive node with a large flow. NO port - only landings and road connection to Lima
4): Puerto Maldonado - There is not much port - but there is a good land connection to Brazil
In the Andean part of Peru, all is by highways.
NO navigable rivers
In the Rainforrest part of the country, all traffic is navigating on the rivers.
There are NO roads
There are too 700 thousand square kilometers of maritime territory
But Peru IS NOT a MARITIME country. In NO WAY. The small fleet of Peruvian ships IS NOT enough to serve the imports and exports of the country, and therefore we need support from foreign carriers.
There is no "Delivery" for the export - there is a type of "Self-Service": Customers can come and pick up their purchases!
CONCLUSION: In Peru there is simply NO maritime consciousness.
(There is too a large fleet of crafts fishing eagerly, but a great part of these are under foreign control)
The rivers are very winding, but they are the only transport ways in the rainforrest
The rivers in the south-east of Peru (Yarúa River, Purús River, Madre de Dios River with Piedras River and Tambopata River) do not serve much as waterways to interconnect the country - they are running downwards and connects to Brazil
The proposal is to UNITE Peru
- connect the rivers of the rainforrest with the market of Lima -
Establish a railroad from "the gate" of the rainforrest (Pucallpa) to the Capital
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- the peruvian Rainforrest is insulated from Peru -
TOPIC-1: Where to climb a railroad
from the lowland and up the slopes of the mountain ranges
- and where to connect to the old FCA railroad
The half of the population of Peru lives in the capital Lima
The capital Lima is the main market for products from all over the rainforrest
- too very important: The port for export to the Pacific Ocean is Callao - the export to the Atlantic Ocean goes down the rivers to Iquitos.
the strategic VALUE
and the FEASIBILITY
of the current FLOW of cargo between Pucallpa and Lima
has still not been studied
Proposal from the year 1950
- for a train as never arrived in Pucallpa
1): If the best route is from Pucallpa by Carretera Marginal - La Merced - Tarma /Oroya to get to Lima by FCA
- or maybe:
2): From Pucallpa through Tingo María - Huanuco - Cerro del Pasco to arrive by FCA to Lima
- that depends of a simple decision
3): A side-leap: The geographical and geometrical center of Peru is Puerto Inca in Huanuco
the difficulties of today are the zigzags built for steam trains
Topic-2: Utility of the FCA rails
If a train from Pucallpa needs to pass the old and obsolete rails of FCA, we need to correct the line and eliminate zigzags and turntables in a way that allows electric trains to pass with high speed.
NOTE: A railway must allow freight trains to pass with at least 50km/hour - all along the length
And minimum the double speed for passenger trains
Passenger trains run on the same rails as freight trains - there is no problem of coexistence
FCA was designed in the time of Pacific war
- and took 35 years to build
Today as a transport system it is more or less obsolete
- it does not even carry passengers
Nevertheless: FCA is an impressive work seen with historical eyes.
The wild many zig-zags of the Central Andean Railroad
The idea of
the Ministry of Culture, to freely hand this railway over to UNESCO as Cultural Heritage of Humanity
That for me looks great:
The idea to change it to a Historical Monument, an on-the-site museum or a footpath for tourist and adventurous cyclists or something like that
¡ One stone less in the shoe !
In the old days, construction machinery ran on steam engines, they used chisels and hammers for drilling and black powder for blasting - and men with pickaxes and shovels loading cars as were pulled by horses. From there the construction technology has developed strongly.
Tools of today and machinery allow superior solutions to serve our needs.
The solution of today is as always: bridges, tunnels and galleries
- but now with more declination and smoother curves
the greatest obstacle is Lima itself
Topic-3: The city of Lima and Callao
Penetration in the city is very difficult for cargo - both by trains and trucks
A station is a place where an exchange is made between two or more modes of transport.
We can characterize it as a NODE between transport systems.
Although FCA today is a train for cargo only, the entire province of Lima lacks a
'Freight Station' or
'a Dry Port' as can receive the trains for transfer of their flow of cargo to another mode of transport for distribution
A cargo station is different from a passenger station and very rare we can see the two stations united in one.
It is not my impression that the province of Lima has foreseen a cargo station.
Neither has Callao, where the FCA only can arrive with their minerals to one of the 4 port terminals. No general cargo.
The problem in Lima in relation to the trains, is not the geography as in the mountain ranges, it is its lack of needed space.
IF Peru in the future decides to connect with its rainforrest = connect to Pucallpa with a cargo station in the surroundings of Lima - and with the port of Callao for export. There is no planning that has foreseen a railway more than the old FCA.
There is no room to establish a bigger station - there is NO surface room to penetrate the city with corridors and rails.
They probably need to drill underground with tunnels.
In this mode: The technical problem of connecting the rainforrest with Peru is the same Lima
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- TRAINS for PUCALLPA -
ILLUSTRATIONS:
Trains running on the Railways of the World
 :
Trains for transport of passengers
Local Trains
Local train - one wagon
:(A):
Local Train - two wagons
Regional Trains
Regional train - 4 wagons
:(B):
internal of the same regional train
Trains for medium distances
locomototive with wagons in two floors
:(C):
inter-regional train with many wagons
High speed trains for large distances
express x2000 passing a curve with a speed of 250km/h
:(D):
internal of train x2000 - common class
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- trains as we never have seen in Peru -
Special trains
Transport of road carriages
Train with mixed cargo
:(1):
Delivery of new cars
Transport of whole trucks
long distance transport of loaded trucks
:(2):
minor trucks on a "rolling road"
Transport of hangers WITHOUT driver
Transport of tank hangers for liquid
:(3):
Transport of hangers for general cargo
Loading with hangers
placing a hanger with crane (from above)
:(4):
placing hanger with fork-lift (from the side)
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- more trains for cargo -
Trains for many products
Transport of containers
Train with containers - one container on each wagon
:(5):
Dual layer containers in front of tunnel - low wagon
Material for construction
transport of long pipes
:(6):
steel bars for building construction
Transport of flammable liquid
tank wagons for liquid fuel
:(7):
LNG - Liquid Natural Gas
Agriculture and farming transport
Tank wagons for milk
:(8):
hopper wagones for grains
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- trains to connect Peru with the World -
Treains for raw material
Transport for the wood industry
Raw trunks for sawmill
:(9):
processed planks and plywood
Mineral products
tank wagons for cement in bulk
:(10):
Transport of mineral from 'Las Bambas'
Transport of mineral ore from the mines
tipper wagon unloading its 100 tons in the bottom
:(11):
wagon unloading by tipping sideways
Massive transport in Kiruna: Mine train transporting iron ore - 10-12 trains a day
Pusac web - updated December 2022