The old EMD warhorses GR12U # 401 and # 91 of the Ferronor from the 1960' are pulling a rather long train with 23 empty sulfuric acid tank cars on the way from Llanta through the valley of the Río Salado (Qebrada del Río Salado) via Montandon up to Potrerillos at 2800 m a.s.l., near Rio de la Sal. The line was part of the Diego de Almagro division of the Ferronor and was built starting 1916 by the Andes Copper Mining Company to connect the Potrerillos copper mine and smelter with Pueblo Hundido (now called Diego de Almagro), where it connected to the state railway network, which continued to Chañaral. Sadly, one of the most spectacular railroads worldwide was destroyed by heavy floods in march 2015, the 1 meter gauge line from Chañaral via Llanta up to Potrerillos in northern Chile. When you look on Google Earth nowadays, only very few remains of the right of way are visible.
