The Devils Nose!

Riobamba, Ecuador, 9 October 2007

The purpose of our trip to Riobamba was to take a train journey down the El Nariz de Diablo (Devils Nose). We had been told that you could sit on top of the public train but this is no longer the case. Due to an accident earlier this year (where two people had their heads removed by low hanging cable) it is now obligatory to ride inside the train (however there are a few private companies that operate trains with rooftop seats).

On arrival at Riobamba we made a bee line to the station to book our tickets for the next day (because it only operates 3 days per week) BUT it was booked out, doh!! We learned that a bunch of kids on a school trip had taken all the seats. Luckily there was an alternative option: take an early morning bus to Alusia & from here there would be a train that would take us on a return trip down the devil´s nose! And that is what we did. It was a really enjoyable day & we met lots of nice people. The train (called an autoferros), which was really a bus chassis attached to a train undercarriage, stopped at sites of interest & allowed us to get off to enjoy the views & take photos. The large windows opened allowing passengers to hang out & take additional impromptu photos. I´ve a feeling that the next accident is pending.

The round trip lasted an hour & was definitely worth the effort.

Facts about El Nariz de Diablo:

In 1899 work started on Ecuadors first railway to link the coastal city of Guayaquil with the capital city Quito. The first 100km stretch was laid without difficulty but as the tracks advanced eastwards towards the Andes it was obvious that a challenge lay ahead. The greatest obstacle which led to the line being dubbed "the most difficult railway in the world" was met when the tracks met a near vertical wall of rock, known as the the Devils Nose. The ingenious solution was to carve a series of switchbacks out of the rock which allowed the train to climb a gradient by going forwards then backwards up the tracks.

Some locals at the train station

Knit one, stitch two!