The Tocopilla railway was a mountain railway built to serve the sodium nitrate mines in the Toco area of the Antofagasta Region in Chile. With a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), it ran from the port of Tocopilla on the Pacific coast up to a height of 4,902 feet (1,494 metres), with gradients up to 1 in 24. The railway was built by a joint-stock company founded in London and was designed by William Stirling of Lima, with a detailed description of the initial operation of the railway published by his brother Robert in 1900.The line was electrified in the mid-1920s and expanded in 1930 with the addition of lines serving new areas of mining. It continued operating into the 21st century, but was forced to close in 2015 when flash flooding caused numerous washouts on the electrified section of the railroad. With the declining prospects for nitrate, it was not economical for the line to be repaired. This photograph taken in 2013 shows a boxcab on the Tocopilla railway, leading a train down towards the coast.Photograph credit: David Gubler
I am happily married and have two little ankle biters that are very cute and lots of fun.
I am an Episcopalian, and strongly so. We are at least fourth-generation Episcopalians. But I am by no means an expert on religion, despite being a church-goer for all my life, and even attending (briefly) an Episcopal school. But I do study and am passionately interested in this wonderful and vibrant religion. I help around the church from time to time, and can swing a thurible and can carry a virge.
I am college educated. I have three college degrees relating to international business and international economics. Despite having a high GPA, I can still do some really stupid things.
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