A Family Adventure Aboard the Tren Del Sur in Arroyo
Children seldom complain about an adventuresome ride aboard an old train. The Tren Del Sur in Arroyo provides vacationers with an excellent opportunity to combine history and sightseeing with adventure and excitement. It is a definite must if you plan to visit Arroyo during your stay in Puerto Rico.
Arroyo started life as a small town where people would stop and refresh themselves during the course of their journeys. Today it is still not a very large town, but it is certainly a beautiful one. Locally it is called ‘Pueblo Grato’ or ‘Pleasant Town’ mainly due to the natural beauty of the place. Complete with rich flora, picturesque buildings, stunning beaches and warm thermal waters, Arroyo makes for a great place to unwind and escape the stress of day-to-day living. But no vacation is complete without at least one family-orientated adventure. In Arroyo the top attraction has to be the Tren Del Sur. The train and track are really old and date back to the times when the island was once almost completely serviced by the railways. While much of the railway line in Puerto Rico was dismantled or abandoned after the economy switched from being primarily agricultural to relying mostly on manufacturing, some track remained. With the development of new interstate highways there was little need for trains anymore and they fell into disrepair. You can still see old abandoned train bridges and sections of railway line in various locations around the island. But in Arroyo the colorful history of trains in Puerto Rico comes to life on these well-maintained old narrow gauge railway tracks.
The Tren Del Sur in Arroyo takes passengers for a lovely scenic tour through the old sugar cane fields and along the coastline. The trip takes approximately fifty minutes in total and the old-fashioned carriages are pulled by three diesel electric Plymouth switcher engines. Children love the relatively short journey and adults can sit back and take in the scenery and enjoy the allure of the old train cars. If you plan to enjoy a ride on the Tren Del Sur during your stay in Arroyo, make sure to phone ahead and see that the train isn’t shut down for maintenance. It is a worthwhile addition to any visit to Arroyo.
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