FLB
  
Friends of Latin American Railways
  
PR-OFFICE: Samuel Rachdi, Bahnhof,
  
CH-6422 Steinen SZ; Tel. +41/41/832.01.34; Fax +41/41/832.01.35
  
Email: info@fahrplancenter.com
  
  
Modernised train at a modernised station of the northernmost subway of Brasil in Teresina/Regional State of Piauí
   
  
VOLTA O TREM
Information Organ  of the Association Friends of Latin American Railways
  
12th Year, Number 2
06th April 2008
  
FLB NEWS
FAHRPLANCENTER NEWS
THE NEXT FLB EVENTS
  
  
FLB COMMITTEE MEETINGS
on Saturdays:
 
On 24th May 2008, 13 h 30
  
NEW AT Restaurant Sternen, Winterthur-Veltheim
(Bus etc. see below)
 
On 25th October 2008, 13 h 30
 
at Restaurant Sternen, Winterthur-Veltheim
(Bus etc. see below)
   
On 24th January 2009, 13 h 30
 
On  28th February 2009, 13 h 00
 
Board members may participate in any case
regardless if they are participating at the
main meeting or not. Please inform us!
 
  
 
 THE FAHRPLANCENTER ONLINE:
  
www.fahrplancenter.com
   
  
  
   


 
Calls for meetings, orders etc.
may also be made by email:
 
info@fahrplancenter.com
 

 
FLB IS ONLINE UNDER: www.ferrolatino.ch
    
 
MEMBERS' MEETINGS
 
on Saturdays:
 
On 24th May 2008, 14 h 30
 NEW at Restaurant Sternen, Winterthur-Veltheim
(Bus etc. see below):
  
Slide show by Stefan Wölfli
Actualities from Bolivien 
 
On 25th October 2008, 14 h 30
at Restaurant Sternen, Winterthur-Veltheim
(Bus etc. see below):
  
Slide show by Patrick Rudin
Actualities from Costa Rica and Panama
 
On 24th January 2009, 14 h 30
 Theme not yet fixed
 
On 28 February 2009, 14 h 30
Annual General Assembly and
 Slide show by Dieter Hauss, Brasil
 
 
 


 
100 years Lima – Huancayo
 
Incas del Peru offers a superb rail voyage through Peru. By train from Lima to Huancayo, then to Huancavelica, Cuzco - Machu Picchu, Cuzco - Puno, museum tram Barranco, suburban railway Lima, car barn visits, etc. Details see under
 
http://www.fahrplancenter.com/
AIFFLATicketHuancayo.html
  

  
 
The International Co-operative for the Development of Latin-American Railways AIFFLA has now been working for nearly two years. Up to know AIFFLA was heavily dependent from its mother organisation FLB. This should change now. Buy AIFFLA bonds and help to make AIFFLA independent and powerful. AIFFLA is already working. In Uruguay the organisation was helping Urutren to buy a rail bus. In Brazil AIFFLA will help restoring a Locobreque of the former São Paulo - Santos funicular railway as soon as a financing and work plan has been established. For more information look at 
 
www.aiffla.com
 
Bonds for CHF50.00 and CHF100.00 are available in unlimited quantities. Orders may be placed at: FAHRPLANCENTER, S. Rachdi, Bahnhof, CH-6422 Steinen SZ, info@fahrplancenter.com , your order will be forwarded. Interested customers in EU countries may pay to a German account, excluding high international money transfer rates.
 
Thank you for supporting AIFFLA.
  
 
Needed:

 FLB needs a new PR Manager. For details about this job, ask by email at info@fahrplancenter.com You’ll find more details in next Volta o Trem.
 


  
BOOKS ABOUT  BRASILIAN RAILWAYS:

Attention please: some titles are on a very 
limited stock, delivery as long as stock last, restocking not guaranteed!

At Fahrplancenter; Prices excluding 
postage and packing:

THE NITRATE RAILWAYS COMPANY LIMITED by Donald Binns; on 100 pages with more than 130 photographs and pictures, as well as some technical drawings, some area maps etc., describing the history of the numerous railways in the Iquique area in the north of Chile and casting a special eye on the locomotives.  Beside the Nitrate Railway are also described some narrow gauge lines (2ft6in): Agua Santa Railway, Junín Railway and Patillos Railway  Text in English, few pictures also in colour. CHF59.00 / €39,35

EL FERROCARRIL OESTE SANTAFECINO
Subtitle: Carlos Casado y la colonización de la Pampa, Tomo 1; by C. A. Fernandez Priotti; 303 p.; This book deals mainly with the colonisation west of the city of Rosario (in the province of Santa Fé) during the 1880 years and the influence which the construction of the railway line Rosario - Villa Casilda played. The book contains few b/w pictures, but much detailed text, tables on the cost and receipts of the railway, but also of the general economy, development of the population,  specimen of the  timetables, fares etc. Extension of the railway line, maps from those days; there is however NO  railway technical information (about line construction and vehicles).  Text in Spanish. 
Price CHF60.00 / €40,00

Details: 
http://www.fahrplancenter.com/
Buecherliste_Lateinamerika.html
     


   
A SERVICE OF FLB
  
In co-operation with the FAHRPLANCENTER.
  
all timetables of passenger trains from Mexico to Argentina, now on one single home page, go to:
  
http://www.fahrplancenter.com/FahrplanLatino.html
  
AND CLICK ON THE COUNTRY YOU LIKE.
  
In Deutsch; In English; En Castellano; 
Em Português-Brasileiro
   
  
  
FLB News
 
Meeting of 1st March 2008
 
On March 1, 2008 the Annual General Meeting was held at Winterthur. It was for the last time the meeting was in the East of the city. Future meetings will be in a Restaurant very close to the "birth-place" of FLB, also still at Winterthur. The official part passed by very quickly. The existing directorate was re-elected. Finances: FLB will again buy bonds at a value of CHF5'000.00 from Co-operative AIFFLA. This sum will be set aside by AIFFLA to help the ABPF Brazil project to rehabilitate a former São Paulo - Santos Locobreque at Paranapiacaba, as soon as the detailed project will be available. The publication fund received another CHF1'000.00 for future book production by FLB. After the AGM we enjoyed a slide show presented by Mr Dieter Hauss from Frankfurt. This time he showed us pictures from the Chilean city of Valparaíso, with its spectacular funiculars, American and Swiss trackless trolley coaches and the then colourful suburban trains. No pictures from this city without its buildings and the port. Thank you Mr Hauss. The final part was a dinner at the future meeting point, the Restaurant Sternen at Winterthur-Veltheim.
     
NEW MEETING POINT
 
With the move  abroad of former chairman Peter Lais, the rental fees for the rooms at the Gutschick-Mattenbach community centre have risen substantially. Furthermore cleaning the room took some time for some of the participants. Many other locations presented the same inconvenient situation. When looking around for a new meeting room, Ms Iran Bodenmann-Meli offered us to meet at her Restaurant Sterner. The restaurant consists of two open rooms, so we can’t say now, if it will be the best solution for meetings and slide shows. Therefore we could fix  the next two  meetings there. If the Sternen will not be suitable, we have the possibility to meet at another Restaurant, close to the same bus stop as for Sternen, less than 5 minutes away. In any case we will continue to go to the Sternen for dinner after the meetings.
 
How to reach Restaurant Sternen?:
 
From Winterthur main station take bus No.3 to Rosenberg until bus stop Bachtelstrasse, cross the street and then follow Bachtelstrasse towards Veltheim town centre, turn left into Löwenstrasse; the Sternen is just across the street from a school building.
  
LATIN AMERICA NEWS
  
BRASIL
 
Mato Grosso do Sul regional state is now finally backing theTrem to Pantanal. Operation may start in 2009 between Miranda and Aquidauana with a weekly trip in each direction. In a second stage the train may be prolonged to Campo Grande and not later than 2011 it may also reach Corumbá. In contrast to other tourist trains, Trem do Pantanal will be a mixed one with coaches for tourists and economy class coaches for social trips of the inhabitants of the municipality served along the line.
 
CHILE
 
On February 7, 2008 ACCPF, the Chilean Railway fans association, operated for the first time the rail bus t-1024 over the 268 km Coquimbo - Vallenar section of the metre gauge Northern Line. The 12 hour journey was free of any problems. Since this line is used by just 2 freight trains every 3 months, ACCPF seeks to operate regular tourist trains over this line in the future.
 
MEXICO
 
The city of Monterrey plans to develop 80 km of existing rail tracks around the city to create a suburban rail network. A similar network may also be built around the city of Guadalajara.
 
The federal governmentwill  invest MXN (New Peso)700m to repair the hurricane damaged Ixtepec - Tapachula railway; a small amount of this sum will be used for repairs of the Coatzacoalcos - Mérida line. Both Chiapas - Mayab lines will be operated by the federal government for an undetermined period.
 
 
URUGUAY
 
Urutren, the AIFFLA supported Production Co-operative, is officially rehabilitating a Ganz-Mavag locomotive on behalf of state railways AFE.
 
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