END OF THE WORLD TRAIN – a prison tale in Ushuaia, Argentina

On February 1, 2019, while on a Viking Cruise, we took a train ride on a prison train that was built by Argentine prisoners in the early 20th Century.

A prison for hard-core and political prisoners was established in Ushuaia, Argentina in 1896 and the prisoners built their own prison.

They needed a train to haul wood from the nearby forests, so they laid the tracks and built a railway to haul wood and prisoners. Today, the train only hauls tourists and has expanded to about a half-dozen small trains running on narrow-gage tracks.

The trains are duplicates of the original prison trains and there is a shop at the station to repair and build them.

Each car has about 6 compartments with six seats facing each other in each compartment. It is a tight fit and you are warned about sticking your hands, or other body parts, out the windows.

The engines are steam engines, modified to run on diesel fuel instead of firewood to reduce the danger of a fire. There are water towers to add water to the steam boilers.

You can find out about the train and buy tickets at:  Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino

The train station is about 20 minutes outside Ushuaia so you will need to be on a tour or take a taxi.

Following the train ride through beautiful country, with fields of horses, you take a bus to Terro del Fuego National Park, with its lake and hiking trails.

The trip is fascinating and the prison was closed in 1947 due to corruption and horrible prison conditions.

THINK OLD!