Copiapó has the distinction of having been the terminus of the first railway in South America, and the city marks this with a monument near the old railway station. The line to Caldera, opened in 1851, was built to serve the silver mines — it predates the railways of Brazil and Argentina, and for that matter most of the railways of Spain. The engineering challenge of crossing the desert between the mines and the port was considerable, and the line's success inspired railways across the continent.
The original station building survives in modified form, and a historic locomotive — a replica of the original Copiapó engine — is displayed as a monument in the city. For anyone interested in railway history or the economic history of 19th-century Latin America, this is a more significant spot than it might initially appear.