RAILS AND MOUNTAINS: WHEN “EL EJE CAFETERO” STARTED TO RIDE ON WHEELS

Abstract

For the old Department of Caldas, today called Eje Cafetero, the railroad was the solution for the coffee exportation, the basis of its development, and important support for the Colombian economy. Caldas was the first national producer. The adventure of building a railway in the most mountainous region of Colombia, in the first two decades of the 20th century, to carry coffee grain to a seaport, was a human, economic and technical challenge for the region. This chronicle presents the story of the first of the four railway lines that crossed trough Caldas between 1911 and 1927.