Ecuador

July 1976. Crossing the river from Guayaquil to Duran. The railroad headquarters is the group of ramshackle buildings pictured. When I returned in 2003 this was all gone (they would say redeveloped or something).

July 1976, The shops at Duran.

July 1976. Switching at Duran.

July 1976. G&Q trains seemed to provide a lot of employment.

July 1976. Eastbound from Duran to Bucay. This level stretch of railroad was historically handled by the little inside frame moguls with their bright red livery.

July 1976. Yaguache.

July 1976. I have no idea where this is other than it is somewhere up the hill from Bucay. A brightly painted outside frame mike handles a short freight.

July 1976. I understand the mikes were traditional painted black, but the G&Q seemed to like this bright red.

July 1976. Sibambe, the bottom of the Devil's Nose switchbacks. If you look closely you can see a train backing up the lower switchback in the top left hand corner of the picture.

July 1976. Our chartered railbus has pulled into a siding to meet a train, and our group is watching the train disappear into the distance.

Fast forward to July 2003. Jimmy Perkins and I took a Trains Unlimited tour of the G&Q. I had ridden behind the 11 in 1976, this time it was a LOT cleaner.

July 2003. The track gives some idea of the sad condition of the G&Q in 2003.

July 2003. Land slides and earthquakes had divided the G&Q into three unconnected sections. This is a "tourist train" we used on the open section from Duran to Bucay. Boxcars were newly converted to passenger cars.

July 2003. We then bussed to Alausi where this former Sibambe Cuenca mike awaited us for a day on the Devils Nose. The Sibambe Cuenca was a connecting line that connected the G&Q at Sibambe (the base of the Devils Nose) with the southern city of Cuenca. The SC has been abandoned but its engines were "adopted" by the G&Q.

July 2003. As you approach the Devils Nose downhill from Alausi, the is the first view you get of the switchbacks. It is hare to see but the upper level (that this picture was taken from) is on a shelf barely visible in the top left had part of the image. Below is the switch at the lower end of the switchback, and Sibambe is just beyond where the track disappears down the canyon.

July 2003. The lower switchback at Devils Nose.

July 2003. Two levels, two "trains". The G&Q had a lot of rail buses for local and charter service.

July 2003. Two trains on the switchbacks at Devils Nose. SC 17 was in such poor shape it could hardly move itself on the grade.

July 2003. The Devil's Nose switchbacks.

July 2003. The Devil's Nose switchbacks.

July 2003. You probably find more of these at the bottom of the hill than at the top.

July 2003. Eastbound from Alausi. This is one of the few big bridges I can remember. For a mountain railroad the G&Q did not have a lot of bridges. Note the crewmen hand sanding from the pilot. In the background is a police academy with the recruits all lined up to see the excitement on the railroad.

July 2003. Somewhere between Alausi and Guamote.

July 2003. The G&Q was in really bad shape. It was scary to see track like this.