Word: maiten
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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Ever since the Old Patagonian Express rose to fame from the pages of Paul Theroux's 1979 best seller, this narrow-gauge line in southern Argentina has been a Mecca for steam-train lovers. "We're still running the same original engines from the year 1922," says El Maiten stationmaster Marcelo Ballerini. "Tourists arrive from all over the world to ride it." Threatened with extinction at various times during recent years, this fully steam-operated line running across the dry Patagonian steppes has been kept alive by Theroux's readers and a few locals who still board it along...
Known in Argentina as La Trochita (from trocha angosta, or "narrow gauge"), the old carriages run through the foothills of the majestic Andes mountain range. The El Maiten-Esquel run is a 6 1/2-hour ride through breathtaking scenery, with the majestic peaks of the snowcapped Andes in view part of the way. As much fun as the scenery is the train itself. Visitors can stand alongside the engineer as he operates the brakes and the burner on the steep grades along the way. For the less daring there are two shorter rides, El Maiten-Vuelta al Rio and Esquel-Nahuel...
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