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The "Copiapó" was the first locomotive or "locomotive", as it was called at that time, to travel the first railway line in Chile. The locomotive, model 4-4-0, had been built in 1850 by Norris Brothers of Philadelphia (United States), the same company that was assigned to build the Caldera to Copiapó railroad. The first driver of the “Copiapó” was the Irishman John O´Donovan, popularly known as “el cara ´e fuego”, due to the color that the boiler fire gave to his reddish sideburns.

The useful life of this mythical locomotive was quite short, extending from 1851 to 1858, when it was brought to Santiago to be part of the International Exhibition of the Quinta Normal. The reason for his withdrawal was related to technical problems, caused by the lack of firewood, his original fuel; This motivated its owners to replace it with mineral coal, a material that, together with the high salinity of the water, ended up damaging the locomotive's boilers.



Later the "Copiapó" was taken to the National Museum. There it remained until 1895.

Since 1952 it has been on permanent display, in one of the courtyards of the Atacama University of Copiapó.



It is located at the University of Atacama



Copayapu 485



Copiapó is 807 km away. north of Santiago de Chile and 334 km. from La Serena. You can get:



By plane

There are daily frequencies that fly to Copiapó from Santiago de Chile in a journey of 1 hour. There are connections from other cities such as Iquique, Antofagasta and Calama.



By car

If you are traveling from the north, you must take Route 5 south. From Arica it is 1,267 km. and from Antofagasta 564 km.



If you are traveling from the south, you must take Route 5 north. From Santiago it is 807 km., From Valparaíso it is 756 km. and from La Serena 334 km. From Santiago the trip takes 10 hours.



By bus

There are frequencies from Santiago and nearby towns. From Santiago the trip takes 11 hours in trips during the day and night. Check with the respective Road Terminals.



Phone: 56- (52) 206500



The ´´Copiapó´´ locomotive was declared a national monument on May 27, 1952 and today it is preserved along with several of its cars, and can be visited by tourists throughout the year.

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