After 44 years Bogotanos caught a glimpse of the newly-restored locomotive number eight, a coal-powered locomotive that has sat in disrepair since 1968 in Colombia’s capital.
Turisten, a tourism company dedicated to providing antique train tours, sent the locomotive to various stations in Bogota, starting with Gran Estacion. Restoration took four months after it was purchased by an English geologist who took to the old-fashioned locomotive, reported newspaper El Tiempo.
“This locomotive has not been en route since 1968. [Its restoration] is a feat, since the number eight was turned into junk,” said Eduardo Rodriguez, head of Turistren.
“It’s a miracle of mechanics that they repaired it. I can’t believe they were able to revive it,” said an excited onlooker to El Tiempo.
Turisten will now add locomotive eight to its stable of old-fashioned trains and has plans in the works to use the train to transport passengers from Bogota to Nemocon in the central department of Cundinamarca.
