The central mining region of the sierra is connected with the chief national seaport by the Central Railway, or, as it is popularly called, the Oroya Route, one of the most important lines of Peru and the most remarkable in the world, not only because of the altitude attained at its highest point, sixteen thousand feet above sea level, but as a colossal feat of engineering unequalled in railway construction. No other railway route compares with that of Oroya as an example of daring enterprise in the face of tremendous obstacles; and it stands a great monument to the awakened spirit of progress which began to be shown as soon as militarism declined in Peru, and which has become especially evident in the moral and material development of that country within the past decade.

The building of the Oroya railway was begun in 1870, under the direction of a North American engineer, Mr. Henry Meiggs, with whom the contract for its construction was signed by the Peruvian government. Within six years, the line was opened up to traffic as far as Chicla, ninety miles from Callao, at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, and was graded and placed under construction from that point to Ticlio, near the summit of Mount Meiggs, where the Galera tunnel pierces the peak at an altitude of sixteen thousand feet, the highest place along the line. In 1877, Mr. Meiggs died, and the work was suspended, having already cost nearly five million pounds sterling. The war with Chile followed, bringing a train of evils in its wake, and the government found it impossible to continue the construction until 1891, when the line was taken over by the Peruvian Corporation and completed to Oroya, being opened in 1893. A branch line had been built by Mr. Meiggs from Lima to Ancón soon after beginning his work, and to this have been added the Morocochu branch, from Ticlio to Morococha, and the Cerro de Pasco line, the property of the Cerro de Pasco Mining Company, from Oroya to the great mining centre. The Oroya Route has recently been extended to Huancayo, and is under construction to Ayacucho. It will be continued to Abancay and Cuzco, to unite with the line connecting Cuzco with Puno, which is to be extended to the Desaguadero River on the boundary between Peru and Bolivia, where it will join the Guaqui and La Paz railway, to form part of the great Pan-American system. From Cerro de Pasco northward, the trunk line has been built as far as Goillarisquisga, and is under construction from that point to Huánuco, to join other links in the chain which, when completed, will extend, in Peru, from the border of Ecuador to Lake Titicaca.

From Callao to Oroya, the distance is less than a hundred and fifty miles, but along this short route the railway passes through every variety of scenery and climate, from the sandy level of a tropical coast to the frozen peaks of the lofty puna, far above the limit vegetation. Between these extremes lie the flourishing sugar plantations and maize fields of the coast; orchards of chirimoyas, paltas, peaches, apricots, granadillas, oranges, lemons, etc., that grow on the lower slopes of the sierra; all the flowers, ferns, and mountain shrubs that nourish in rocky glens and shady ravines under nature’s most favorable conditions, up to a height of ten thousand feet; and, above this limit, the bare, bleak aspect of the puna, where mining establishments mark the locality of rich veins of precious metal, and the circle of the horizon is everywhere limited by snow-clad summits. Along the valley of the Rimac River, from the sea to its source, the Oroya railway climbs the sierra with innumerable curves and yet without a single decline throughout its length until the highest altitude is passed in the Galera tunnel, and the descent begins on the slope of the inter-Andean valley. More than twenty bridges cross the river along the course of the railway; the mountain side is tunnelled in many places, and in others the line hangs over precipices projecting so far out that a stone dropped from the car as it curves along the brink falls on the opposite bank of the river below.

The journey from Lima to Oroya may be made in a day, the train leaving the station of Desamparados at eight o’clock in the morning and arriving at Oroya at five in the evening. It affords an opportunity to see one of the scenic wonders of the world, and is an experience never to be forgotten. As the train leaves the Lima station, a short distance from the Balta bridge and within full view of the broad bed of the Rimac, the retreating city offers only a partial glimpse of its gleaming church towers and the avenues of shade trees that adorn its suburbs. The picturesque Cerro of San Cristobal, with a cross illuminating its summit, stands out in clear relief against the sky and may be seen until the train passes behind the Andean foothills on its way to Santa Clara. Although this point is more than a thousand feet above sea level, it differs little in aspect from the country around Lima. Wherever the waters of the Rimac have been brought into service to fertilize the gardens and plantations of the valley, exuberant vegetation exists, and abundant harvests smile under the blue skies; it is only beyond this strip of green that the sandy plain and gray, barren hillsides are to be seen. That the Incas had all the coast region under cultivation is indicated by the existence of their ruined cities in the very midst of the desert and their andenes along hillsides that, to-day, are counted of little value for agricultural purposes. At Santa Clara, a short walk from the station takes one to the ruins of an Incaic town, which, to judge from what remains, must have been a very populous settlement centuries ago. Its appearance to-day is one of utter dreariness, and it is difficult to imagine what charm such a site could have offered for the location of a city.

For fifteen miles beyond Santa Clara, the railway train climbs upward until the town of Chosica is reached, the scenery increasing in beauty as the valley narrows between the hills of the sierra and the foliage of the mountain side grows fresher and of more gorgeous hues. Chosica is one of the most popular health resorts of Peru, and has a delightful climate all the year round. Situated in the midst of mountains at an altitude of three thousand feet, it possesses many advantages as a sanitarium for invalids, and is a pleasant place of residence for those who like a restful and quiet retreat. The sky is blue during most of the year, and the pure atmosphere is exhilarating to tired nerves and over-wrought spirits. Here one may enjoy life in its simplicity, as Chosica has not taken on the fashionable airs and expensive luxuries of the modern spa, though supplying its greatest benefits. Aside from its attractiveness as a health resort and a picturesque mountain city, Chosica is important as the first distributing point for the electricity which supplies light and power to the cities of Lima and Callao and their suburbs.

From Chosica to Matucana, the scenery is ever-varying and always magnificent. The train climbs five thousand feet within a distance of thirty miles, crossing the chasm of the river many times and plunging through tunnels that succeed one another with remarkable frequency. Purguay and Corona are the first bridges of importance along the line. Soon after leaving them behind, the train sweeps around the magnificent curve of San Bartolomé, passing through its famous orchards and gardens, and bringing into view all the glories of mountain foliage that adorn the sierra at this altitude. Purple and white heliotrope, convolvulus, clematis, the maguey plant, and the cactus are seen in profusion. Birds of bright plumage and butterflies of variegated wings give life to a scene which is impressively silent, save for the hard breathing of the locomotive as it plods sturdily around the curves. Though the valley broadens at San Bartolomé, it is soon enclosed again between gigantic walls of mountains; and, a few miles further on, the Verrugas bridge, the longest and highest of the Oroya Route, spans the space between opposite walls of granite that rise from the river bed to tower among the clouds. This bridge is five hundred and seventy-five feet long and two hundred and twenty-five feet above the river, which looks like a ribbon of silver as it sparkles at the bottom of the ravine. After crossing Verrugas bridge, the train disappears for a moment in the tunnel of Cuesta Blanca, emerging in the midst of the grandest scenery imaginable as it pushes on through Surco and across the Challapa bridge to Matucana, where a welcome half-hour’s stop is made. Matucana is, like Chosica, a favorite health resort, and the pines and eucalyptus trees of the neighborhood give added healthfulness to its pure mountain air. Few people suffer from the rarity of the atmosphere at this altitude, though it is well to spend a night here, if one can spare two days for the trip to Oroya, the rapid ascent from sea level to sixteen thousand feet above being a severe trial to the respiration. Soroche, as the mountain sickness is called, does not attack everyone, nor is there any certainty as to its visitation; many people have made repeated trips without feeling any inconvenience, and have been surprised by an attack when they thought themselves immune, while others never reach the high altitudes without suffering from soroche. The degree of this most uncomfortable experience varies according to one’s constitution. With some it is confined to a strenuous effort “to get one’s breath,” while, with others, the sensation is that of having the head slowly squeezed in a vice, or inflated by some process that threatens to burst it like an over-filled balloon. None of the phases of soroche are agreeable, but, happily, the disturbance disappears as soon as a lower altitude is reached.

As the railway follows the valley of the Rimac toward its source, the river gorge becomes ever narrower, the enclosing mountains higher, and the scenery more wildly grand and rugged. The railway train follows the tortuous line of the gorge, zigzagging along the precipice, visible only for a few seconds from any point along the route. After leaving Matucana, the course is taken through the very heart of the sierra, the train crossing first the bridge of the Negra quebrada, then the great links of Tambo de Viso and Champichaca in quick succession, these wonderful structures spanning the chasm at short intervals of three or four miles. From the car window, the passenger looks down into the depths below and up to the towering peaks, and feels much as if travelling in mid-air. At Tamboraque, which is situated nearly ten thousand feet above the sea, the scene changes, and the region of the higher sierra comes into view, with its mining towns and snow mountains. San Mateo quebrada, in the depths of which lies the picturesque town of the same name, is hardly passed before the train crosses, a mile away, one of the most remarkable bridges of the whole line, the Infernillo. It stretches across a narrow ravine between two walls of rocks, both of which are tunnelled so as to provide a passage for the railway. As the train flashes out on the bridge from invisible depths on one side and disappears as mysteriously on the other, the effect is singularly weird. From this point to Galera tunnel the ascent is very steep and winding, the train climbing five thousand feet in twenty-five miles, crossing several bridges and passing through a number of tunnels.

All along the Oroya Route, from San Mateo to its terminus in the sierra, are scattered mining towns of growing importance. Rio Blanco, five miles from San Mateo, has important smelting works, and Chicla, four miles away, a thousand feet higher up the Cordillera, lies in the heart of a rich mineral district. It occupies a picturesque location, especially as seen from the car window after the train has made the immense loop necessary to carry it across the valley and up the opposite slope on its way to Casapalca and Ticlio. From this eminence a magnificent view of the valley appears, with Chicla nestling below and snow-clad mountains looming in the distance.

Casapalca is a typical mining town of the sierra, with its smelters spread over the bare, brown hillside, its great chimneys and its smoke. It is situated at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, and has a cold climate all the year round, invigorating and healthful. From Casapalca to Ticlio the distance is about ten miles, and the region of perpetual snow appears as the train pulls up the last few leagues toward the Galera tunnel. The summit of Mount Meiggs, which is seventeen thousand five hundred and seventy-five feet high, is nearly always wrapped in snow, though the tunnel entrance is below the perpetual snow line.

Of the sixty tunnels along the Oroya Route, that of Galera is the longest, measuring nearly four thousand feet in length. It is in the middle of this tunnel that the highest point along the line is reached. From this tunnel eastward, the train descends toward Oroya, passing through the mining town of Yauli and skirting the bank of the inter-Andean River Mantaro, a branch of the Perene, which, later, joins the Ucayali on its way to the main waters of the Amazon. When the train stops at Oroya, sunset is already approaching, and the colors of the retiring monarch of day are to be seen reflected on the surrounding peaks and glowing in the western sky. From the window of the little hotel where lodging is found for the night, one looks on a humble though interesting scene of pastoral simplicity. Llamas graze wherever the coarse puna grass is found, and an occasional vicuña may be seen. The altitude of Oroya is little more than twelve thousand feet, and a greater descent is made from Oroya to Jauja and Huancayo, the latter being only about ten thousand feet above sea level. From Oroya to Cerro de Pasco, the railway makes an ascent of nearly two thousand feet.