El Maitén


El Maitén is a town in Argentina in Cushamen Department on the margins of the Chubut River, on the northwest of Chubut Province, in Patagonia. In older times it was the intermediate point in the railroad tracks of the Old Patagonian Express between the towns of Ingeniero Jacobacci and Esquel.

Location

The town is located south of the 42 parallel, at AMSL. Ex-Provincial route 40 runs through it on a north–south direction, which connects to the city of Esquel south.
Other connecting routes to El Maitén are National Route 243 towards El Bolsón and Bariloche in Río Negro Province, and Provincial routes RP 4 and RP 71, connecting to Cushamen and Epuyén respectively.
El Maitén lies south of Ñorquincó, east of El Bolsón, and northwest of Cushamen, and northeast of Epuyén.

Geography and climate

The town of El Maitén lies on the right margin of the Chubut River. The river's valley is of Glacial origin, and in this region it runs in a North-South direction on the first highlands of the Andes on the West, and the ancient formations of the Patagonia to the East. The topography is mountainous, but of lower elevations, always under.
This geographic region is a clear example of the transition between the humid wooded Andes areas to the West, and the classic more arid steppes of central Patagonia. Typical native trees of the area are the Austrocedrus chilensis, Coihue ', Ñire ', and over 2,000 meters AMSL the Lenga .
The climate is semi-steppe, with humid winters with occasional strong snows and an annual precipitation between,.

History and economy

What started as a rural community was influenced greatly by the arrival of the General Roca railroad to the area in 1939, on a branch that continued to Esquel. This branch was completed and opened in 1945, and El Maitén was selected as the site of its maintenance sheds and locomotive warehouse. This changed the town towards a railroad-based economy until the 1970s, when the Argentine railroad industry started a steady decline.