by 1935 Pisagua was the northern terminus of a network of main and branch lines, with a connection to Iquique, the principal terminus of the line. Trains climbed from sea level at Pisagua to the interior plateau via three reversing zig-zags and a heavily graded line. Supplies for the interior towns and nitrate works were hauled up from the coast, and nitrate for export made up the return load. The principal traffic was always nitrate, after which came fuel, passengers, perishables, parcels, general merchandise, and livestock. Water for the steam locomotives and the town relied on two wells at Dolores (see map), from Pisagua, which today still derives its water from this source. Decline When the nitrate boom came to an end, the port of Pisagua could keep some degree of importance because of its new role in the fishmeal industry. However, at the end of the 1950s, Pisagua lost most of its population and economic base and went into precipitous decline and even ceased to be the third town in importance of Tarapacá province (after Arica and Iquique). Pisagua as a prisoner site Pisagua has often been used as a concentration camp for political prisoners. This happened during the rule of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (for male homosexuals), as well as that of Gabriel González Videla (for communists, anarchists and revolutionaries) and more recently, during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship (for left-wing militants). Many bodies have been found under the waters of the port and several graves have been discovered in Pisagua since the end of Pinochet's military regime. Pisagua is geographically isolated, with the ocean on one side and a big desert on the other. Pisagua today The earthworks, embankments and cuttings that carried the railway into the town are clearly visible on the bare ground. The old railway station still stands in Pisagua itself, where there are other interesting (although semi-derelict) buildings made with Oregon pine wood. Good examples are the turret of the clock, the municipal theatre, and the hospital, all dating from the nitrate period. Today, Pisagua is no longer the proud and rich port that once was but a small and isolated village with a population of just 260, included in the municipality of Huara, which has only 2,600 inhabitants itself. References External links "Canzoni contro la Guerra" - Pisagua "Voices of a Natural Prison: Tourism Development and Fisheries" Port settlements in Chile Populated places in