Ferronor Potrerillos - Llantas - Chañaral Line, Chile

Also the line itself is spectacular, and new spots could be found virtually after ever corner of the valley.
Above Montandón, the line follows breathtakingly along mountain slopes and rock faces. To reach this spot about 200m above the foot of the valley, some drops of sweat were inevitable when hiking up there in the afternoon heat!
After climbing right to the upper edge of the cañon, the line passes the ridge in a short tunnel. This leads into a hilly landscape, where the line further climbs to Portrerillos, passing multiple loops and tunnels. Potrerillos today is an inaccessible, uninhabited ghost town. About ten years ago, the authorites decided that the environment was too contaminated for living there any more and relocated the whole population to other towns nearby.
You can find there A EMD G12 B'B' heading an acid train up to Potrerillos. The El Salado Río got its name originally from its high salt content, which accounts for the white sediments. But unfortunately, salt is not the only substance. Between 1926 and 1975, the Potrerillos - El Salvador mines dumped 150 millions of tons of flotation tailings in suspension through the Salado river to the sea in the Chañaral Bay, contaminating not only the creek and its environment by toxic substances, but also the seashore, resulting in a displacement of the shore line of more than one kilometer further out into the ocean