At the very beginning, goods and passengers were carried by steam locomotive trains and then by railcars, nicknamed "chanchitas" due to their lack of comfort.

n 1897 Colonia Sarmiento was founded by National decree N° 12161, by request of Welsh settlers that had the intention of establishing in the valley located between Musters and Colhue Huapi lakes, which they considered fertile lands for livestock.

During the first years, the transport of merchandise that the intense commercial activity of Sarmiento generated, was made with carriages to the port of Camarones, with high costs and risks.

Original project included to build a 150-km straight line to connect Comodoro Rivadavia Colonia Sarmiento although it would be extended to 200-km.

According to Clement Dumrauf, the railway was not expanded due to British settlers that were interested in preserving the Patagonia region only for sheep farming.

[6][page needed][7] Other reasons for the cancellation of the project were the crisis caused by World War I, some politicians that considered that the Government had to devote its funds to the Pampa region, and the death of Roque Sáenz Peña in 1914.

[4] Comodoro Rivadavia had an oil refinery that worked at a capacity of 340 m3 (12,007 cu ft) per day, serving both lines of the railway in Chubut Province.

[9] During the 1920s the branch to Astra refinery was completed, that was financed by the company due to their interests in the transport of passengers, goods, crude oil and bricks.

In 1924 the FCCRCS was used to transport materials for the construction of the San Jorge lighthouse from Colonia Sarmiento to Astra station in Comodoro Rivadavia.

Other companies that made their contributions were YPF (donating AR$ 25,000), Astra (bricks and lime), Compañía Forrairrilera de Petróleo (trucks).

This project proposed to join Holdich and Las Heras stations in Santa Cruz Province through a branch that also connected with the Patagonian Railway.

In spite of this, the Argentine state made significant investments for the FCCRCS, acquiring railcars (even a refrigerating coach), 13 wagons for livestock, as well as remodeling stations and building houses for the employees.

[8] On August 12, 1960, another accident occurred when a Ganz Works unit returning from Colonia Sarmiento lost brakes at El Sindicato, crashing a Drewry railcar that was leaving Comodoro Rivadavia at that time.

[20] In the late 1970s the lack of investments in the railway was made felt in the rolling stock, with steam locomotives, Ganz and Drewry railcars that were obsolete by then.

The employees of the FCCRCS made their best to keep the line active, sometimes collecting missing spares from Temperley, Tolosa and Haedo workshops, after driving from the Patagonia to Greater Buenos Aires.

The de facto government led by Jorge Videla also ordered rolling stock was destroyed and sold as scrap.

In 1991 a group of neighbours proposed to establish a heritage railway that would run from Sarmiento to the Bosque Petrificado (Petrified Forest, 38 km.

The train would depart from that city, crossing Don Bosco and Astra, with an additional branch to Caleta Córdoba and San Jorge lighthouse.

[29] The rail ties were intercepted and seized by the local police in Trelew, totalizing four tracks with 100 tons of material with an estimated value of AR$1,000,000.

They studied the ports of Comodoro Rivadavia and Madryn, searching for a route that allowed trains to join Aysén Region in Chile.