The Central Trans-Andean Railway
The Central Trans-Andean Railway
The Central Trans-Andean Railway, designed and constructed by the Polish engineer Ernest Malinowski, is the second highest railway line in the world.
At the time of its opening, in the 1870s, it was a state-of-the-art technology. Its highest point reached the altitude of almost 5000 m above sea level, which made it the highest railway in the world for over 100 years. This record was broken only after the Tibetan Railway was put into service (the first section in 1984, the whole line in 2006).
The Central Trans-Andean Railway
The Central Trans-Andean Railway was created to link Lima with the Cerro de Pasco region, rich in mineral resources, and with the fertile Jauja Valley, in order to transport the resources from the mountainous regions of Peru to the port of Lima. The impossible became possible. Ernest Malinowski designed the whole railway line and supervised its construction. In its entirety, the line from Lima to La Oroya involved the construction of 63 tunnels (in total more than 6000 m long), 61 bridges and viaducts (with a total length of about 2 km) and 10 switchbacks (reversing the direction of the train).
The most famous feature is the Verrugas viaduct built in 1872 (the longest on the route, about 200 m long). It is supported by three pillars of steel trusses, the highest of which is almost 77 m high. On the western slopes of the Andes there are numerous tunnels, sharp bends, slopes and double switchbacks. The construction of this line broke various contemporary railway records: the longest tunnel (1177 m), the highest tunnel in the world (4781 m), and the highest railway junction in the world (4818 m).
On the 100th anniversary of Ernest Malinowski’s death a monument was erected on the Ticlio Pass. Engraved on a granite block brought from Strzegom in Poland are the emblems of Peru and Poland and the inscriptions in two languages - Spanish and Polish: “Polish Engineer, Peruvian Patriot, Hero of defense of Callao in 1866, designer and constructor of the Central Trans-Andean Railway”. Above, on the stone circle crowning the monument, there is a bronze relief with an image of Ernest Malinowski.
