Why British steam trains were abandoned in Bolivia

A closer look

Forget polished museum pieces guarded by velvet ropes. High up in the desolate Andean plateau, Bolivia boasts an apocalyptic playground of imported 19th-century British steam locomotives. Originally hauled over the ocean to build a booming mining network, these iron giants were unceremoniously abandoned to the salt winds when the industry collapsed in the 1940s. Now, they sit as a gloriously rusted jungle gym for tourists, proving that even monumental engineering feats eventually become fodder for Instagram.