The Rio Turbio Railway or Ramal Ferro Industrial de Río Turbio (RFIRT) was a 255 km (158 mi) 750 mm gauge railway which was built in the early 1950s, crossing Patagonia in order to haul coal from Argentina's only coal mine at Rio Turbio to the port of Rio Gallegos for ongoing transportation by ship to Buenos Aires where it was used to generate electricity. 850,000 tons of coal were transported each year in the line’s heyday in the mid 1960s. The railroad itself was quite unique. While a narrow gauge line it operated more like a main line coal hauling line as would be seen around the world today. Unit trains of coal up to 2,000 tons were hauled by single steam locomotives that weighed only 48 tons.
The choice of 750mm gauge resulted from a very low budget and the availability of second-hand track and wagons that could be purchased and laid at very low cost – the trackbed following the contours of the
