Abandoned Railways Exploration Probe
June 12, 2014 9:38 AM Subscribe
Crawling the lost tracks of Latin America. Artists Ivan Puig and Andrés Padilla Domene, a.k.a. "Los Ferronautas," converted a car into a retro-futuristic rail vehicle they dubbed SEFT-1 (Sonda de Exploración Ferroviaria Tripulada, "Manned Railway Exploration Probe") to explore the abandoned passenger railways of Mexico and Ecuador.
So, first of all, this is super cool, but I'm trying to figure out - is there a practical purpose to the full customization of the pickup as opposed to just adapting it as is to a road/rail or hi-rail configuration? Is it just from the artistic aspect, or does it have some alternative fuel system? I see something about a fuel cell and solar panels in the translation, but can't quite suss it out...
posted by stenseng at 10:06 AM on June 12, 2014
posted by stenseng at 10:06 AM on June 12, 2014
stenseng: my guess is the conversion is a combination of art and utility: I mean, c'mon, the fancy grill? Pure art. But a fuel cell & solar panels might've been useful, considering they might be too far from gas stations for refills.
posted by easily confused at 10:14 AM on June 12, 2014
posted by easily confused at 10:14 AM on June 12, 2014
I don't know if I would be ok with driving over an abandoned wooden trestle in uncertain condition.
I had that reaction too. But to be fair a car is going to weigh far less than a train; my non-expert wild guess is that even if it's deteriorated enough to be iffy for a train, it might still be plenty strong for a car to use.
Even so, I hope they checked it out before attempting to cross...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:27 AM on June 12, 2014
I had that reaction too. But to be fair a car is going to weigh far less than a train; my non-expert wild guess is that even if it's deteriorated enough to be iffy for a train, it might still be plenty strong for a car to use.
Even so, I hope they checked it out before attempting to cross...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:27 AM on June 12, 2014
We had a train come to town once. It didn't turn out well.
posted by aureliobuendia at 10:29 AM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by aureliobuendia at 10:29 AM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I never got to ride a train in Mexico, but my dad has tales about riding to Mexico City & back from Tijuana in the 70's that made me really want to take a long train trip there sometime. The train station in Chapala is one of my favorite buildings in all of Mexico & fortunately, has recently been restored - I fantasized about owning a recording studio there throughout my 20's. There's a lovely little station just off the pavement on NL 1 between Nuevo Laredo & Bustamante, near a town called Candela. Stopped there for a few photos in '98 & one of the only pics I have of a dear friend who died the next year in a freak rockfall accident in a deep pit in SLP was taken in front of that station, so I'm sentimental.
I will be following the expansion of this site. Cool stuff!
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:33 AM on June 12, 2014
I will be following the expansion of this site. Cool stuff!
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:33 AM on June 12, 2014
Something of a tangent, but if bygone Mexican railways and sound art interest you I can't recommend Chris Watson's El Tren Fantasma enough, here are some details here, try this for starters: El Devisadero.
posted by nfg at 11:15 AM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by nfg at 11:15 AM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by indubitable at 9:59 AM on June 12, 2014