Central of Chubut Railway

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The Central of Chubut Railway (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central del Chubut) was a British-owned company that built and operated a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in)  metre gauge railway line in the Argentine province of Chubut in the Patagonia region of Argentina at the end of the nineteenth century.

In 1884 the Argentine government granted the Welsh immigrant Lewis Jones a concession to build and operate a railway between the valley of the Chubut River and Puerto Madryn on the southern side of the Península Valdés. With the help of Azhabel P. Bell, an engineer, Jones set up a company in Liverpool, England to finance the construction.

On 11 November 1888 a line 70 km long between Trelew and the quay in Puerto Madryn was opened. From Trelew the line was extended 50 km to Gaiman on 31 December 1908 and from there to Dolavon on 12 October 1915. In 1920 the company was nationalised and later the line was extended from Dolavon to Las Plumas.

The line was finally closed in 1961.

[edit] References

• Colin M. Lewis, British Railways in Argentina 1857-1914: A Case Study of Foreign Investment, Athlone Press (for the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London), 1983.