A few kilometres outside the Bolivian city of Uyuni, rusting steam locomotives sit in the open desert with no railway station, passengers or timetable left to serve them. Their boilers are empty, wheels are frozen in place, and the metal has slowly surrendered to decades of wind, sun and neglect.
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| Rusting steam locomotives stand abandoned at the Uyuni Train Cemetery near the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. |
This unusual collection is known as the Uyuni Train Cemetery, or Cementerio de Trenes. It is one of the most memorable sights near the famous Salar de Uyuni, but the rusty locomotives are more than a striking photography subject. They are remnants of the railway system that helped turn Uyuni into an important cchaentre of Bolivia’s mining economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (COMIBOL)
The site also has a new place in Bolivia’s heritage story. In October 2025, Bolivia formally declared the locomotives and waggons of the Uyuni Train Cemetery cultural and historical heritage of the country and assigned government institutions responsibilities for their preservation and protection. (Bolivian Law No. 1655)
What Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery?
The Uyuni Train Cemetery is an outdoor collection of abandoned locomotives, waggons and railway equipment near Uyuni in Bolivia’s Potosí Department.
Unlike a conventional railway museum, there are no restored engines displayed behind glass. The machines remain outdoors, exposed to the harsh conditions of the high Bolivian Altiplano. Some locomotives retain recognisable boilers, wheels, chimneys and other mechanical parts, while years of corrosion have transformed others into skeletal metal structures. (Uyuni Salt Flats) That unfinished, weathered appearance is precisely what lends the place its character.
Where Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery?
The Train Cemetery is located about 3 kilometres southwest of Uyuni, in southwestern Bolivia. The site lies at roughly 3,670 metres above sea level, according to the latest visitor information. (Uyuni Salt Flats) Its location is particularly significant because Uyuni sits close to the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia’s enormous salt flat. The two attractions are frequently visited on the same trip, with the Train Cemetery often serving as an introduction to the area's history before visitors head out onto the salt landscape.
You can read more about the salt flat in our related article, Salar de Uyuni: Bolivia’s Giant Salt Flat.
Why Was Uyuni Important to Bolivia’s Railways?
The story of the abandoned trains begins with mining. During the late 19th century, Bolivia's mining industry was expanding rapidly, particularly around Pulacayo and Huanchaca. Moving minerals by mule and waggon was slow and expensive, so railway connections became increasingly important.
Historical material published by Bolivia's state mining company COMIBOL records the arrival of the railway at Uyuni on 11 July 1889. The railway network was subsequently extended toward Oruro, with the line completed in 1892. These connections helped link mining centres with transport routes leading toward the Pacific coast. (COMIBOL)
Mining, Railways and the Pacific
The railway was not built simply to serve a remote city. It was closely connected with the movement of Bolivia's mineral wealth. Locomotives carried minerals from mining districts toward Uyuni and onwards along the railway network. COMIBOL's historical account describes the railway as a major technological change that replaced older transport methods based on animals and carts, helping to open Bolivia's mining centres to wider markets. (COMIBOL) Uyuni consequently became an important railway and mining centre, with locomotives, workshops, waggons and railway workers becoming part of everyday life.
Why Were the Trains Abandoned?
The locomotives eventually outlived the railway system that had made them useful. During the 20th century, changes in the mining economy, transport systems, maintenance and railway operations reduced the need for many of the old steam engines. As locomotives became obsolete, some were moved to a railway storage area outside Uyuni rather than being immediately dismantled.
Over time, these machines were left in the open. What began as discarded railway equipment gradually became the collection now known as the Uyuni Train Cemetery. Modern accounts describe the site as a visible reminder of Bolivia's mining boom and the decline of its old railway economy. (Uyuni Salt Flats) It is worth avoiding the overly simple claim that the trains were abandoned because the mines suddenly “ran out.” The decline was the result of broader economic and technological changes.
What Can You See at the Train Cemetery?
Walking among the locomotives is almost like stepping into an industrial time capsule. Visitors can see steam locomotives, freight cars, boilers, wheels, chimneys and other railway components scattered across the site. Some machines are still surprisingly recognisable, while others have lost much of their original structure to corrosion. Others have lost much of their original structure to corrosion. (Uyuni Salt Flats)
COMIBOL's historical publications identify locomotives associated with the wider Uyuni and Pulacayo railway story, including engines built by companies such as Baldwin, Rogers and Stevenson. (COMIBOL) That makes the cemetery especially compelling for anyone fascinated by engineering or railway history. Each locomotive represents a period when steam power was essential to the movement of people, minerals and supplies across Bolivia.
Why Are the Trains So Rusted?
The setting does much of the work. Uyuni is located on the high Altiplano, where the climate is dry, windy and exposed. The abandoned trains have spent decades outside with little protection or restoration. Their once-polished metal surfaces have gradually turned orange-brown with corrosion.
Graffiti and weathering add to the visual effect, but beneath all that decay are machines that were once built for serious industrial work. The contrast is striking: heavy locomotives designed to haul loads across long distances now sit motionless against a vast, quiet high-altitude landscape.
Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery a Museum?
Not in the conventional sense. The Uyuni Train Cemetery is better understood as an outdoor historic site containing abandoned railway equipment rather than a traditional railway museum. Current visitor information describes it as an open-air collection, and recent accounts still note that the locomotives remain exposed outdoors rather than being housed in a conventional museum building. (Uyuni Salt Flats) This is part of the atmosphere. Visitors can see the locomotives in the same stark environment in which they were left, rather than looking at restored objects inside a gallery.
Uyuni Train Cemetery Becomes Cultural Heritage
The site's status changed significantly in 2025. Bolivia's Law No. 1655, promulgated on 23 October 2025, declared the locomotives and waggons of the Train Cemetery in Uyuni as Cultural Material Heritage and Historical Heritage of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The law also tasked the Ministry of Cultures, the Municipality of Uyuni, and the Government of Potosí with preservation, conservation, protection, promotion, and dissemination measures. (Bolivian Law No. 1655)
The Bolivian Chamber of Deputies described the cemetery as an important representation of the country's railway development and industrial memory. (Cámara de Diputados de Bolivia) For an abandoned collection of locomotives, that is a remarkable change in status.
The Train Cemetery and Salar de Uyuni
The close relationship between the two attractions is easy to understand. The railway helped develop the mining and transport economy of a region that is now globally associated with Salar de Uyuni. Today, visitors often encounter the rusting trains before heading toward the brilliant white salt flat. The contrast could hardly be greater. At the Train Cemetery, dark metal and rust dominate the landscape. At Salar de Uyuni, the ground can appear almost endless and white, with geometric salt patterns in the dry season and a mirror-like surface after rain. Together, they tell two very different stories about the same region: one about Bolivia's industrial past and the other about its extraordinary natural landscape.
Why Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery Famous?
The attraction has become famous because very few places combine railway history and desert scenery in quite this way. Even stripped of their working parts, the large locomotives impress, while the open landscape makes them appear almost surreal. Yet their real importance is historical. These were working machines, not artistic installations. They belonged to a railway system that helped connect Bolivia's mining regions with international trade. Today, their rusting remains preserve a physical record of that period.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Uyuni Train Cemetery?
The Uyuni Train Cemetery is an outdoor collection of abandoned steam locomotives, waggons and railway equipment near the city of Uyuni in Bolivia. It represents part of the country's industrial and railway history. (Bolivian Law No. 1655)
Where is the Uyuni Train Cemetery?
It is located about 3 kilometres southwest of Uyuni in Bolivia's Potosí Department. (Uyuni Salt Flats)
Why were the trains abandoned in Uyuni?
The locomotives became obsolete as Bolivia's mining, transport and railway systems changed. Some were placed in storage outside Uyuni and were eventually left exposed to the elements. (COMIBOL)
How old are the trains at the Uyuni Train Cemetery?
The collection includes historic steam locomotives associated with Bolivia's railway development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of the equipment is more than a century old. (COMIBOL)
Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery a museum?
It is not a conventional indoor museum. It is an outdoor historic site where abandoned railway locomotives and waggons remain exposed in the Altiplano landscape. (Uyuni Salt Flats)
Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery near Salar de Uyuni?
Yes. The Train Cemetery is only a few kilometres from Uyuni and is commonly visited as part of trips to the nearby Salar de Uyuni. (Uyuni Salt Flats)
Is the Uyuni Train Cemetery protected as heritage?
Yes. Bolivia's Law No. 1655 of 23 October 2025 formally declared its locomotives and waggons cultural material and historical heritage. (lexivox.org)
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| Old locomotives and railway waggons remain exposed to the harsh Altiplano environment at Bolivia’s Uyuni Train Cemetery. |
Conclusion
The Uyuni Train Cemetery looks like a place where trains simply ran out of destinations. In reality, the rusting locomotives are the remains of a much larger story about Bolivia's railways, mining industry and economic development. The first railway connections transformed Uyuni into an important transport hub. Steam locomotives carried mineral wealth across the Altiplano, linking mining communities with wider markets. Decades later, many of those machines became obsolete and were abandoned.
Nature did the rest.
Today, the Cementerio de Trenes stands as an unusual monument to a vanished railway age. And after Bolivia's 2025 heritage declaration, those weathered locomotives are no longer simply abandoned machines. They are now officially recognised as part of the country's cultural and historical heritage. (lexivox.org) That makes a visit to the Train Cemetery more meaningful than its eerie appearance might suggest. Behind every rusted boiler and silent wheel is part of a railway story that helped shape modern Bolivia.
References & Sources
- Law declaring the Uyuni Train Cemetery locomotives and waggons cultural and historical heritage
- Bolivian Chamber of Deputies — Train Cemetery Heritage Declaration
- Historical publication on Pulacayo, Uyuni and Bolivia's railways
- Detailed information about the Train Cemetery and Salar de Uyuni
- Tourism information about Uyuni and the Cementerio de Trenes
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