Riding the railway to the end of the world

At the southernmost tip of South America, the End of the World train isn’t just a striking railway journey past the soaring Andes—it’s also an insight into the colorful, sometimes criminal, history of Tierra del Fuego.

With a piercing whistle and a bellow of acrid smoke, the southernmost train on earth chugs off at the pace of a leisurely Sunday stroll. Built by some of Argentina’s most notorious criminals in the early 20th century, the Tren del Fin del Mundo is today an unashamedly touristy experience.

Camila, a pint-sized, olive-green steam locomotive built in the UK, is on duty for my journey. I’m wedged into a snug, overheated carriage as a booming voice on the PA interrupts tango muzak to recount, in the style of a Hollywood trailer, Tierra del Fuego’s history as a penal colony. Behind us is the End of the World station, a kitsch construction resembling an Alpine chalet, slowly disappears from view and we pass through the thickly-forested Toro gorge, the original wooden tracks periodically visible beneath their modern replacements. 

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