THE RUNAWAY TRAIN TO THE CLOUDS

By Pablo Martin Aguero

Copyright 2014, by Pablo Martin Agero
Photo: Movitrack (www.movitrack.com.ar)
Note: This short story is a work of fiction. Only the Tren a las Nubes, Govern-
or Juan Manuel Urtubey and the geographical places mentioned are real. Any si-
milarity with real incidents is a mere coincidence.
Index:
1. Introduction
2. Acknowledgments
3. Chapter 1: The Interrogation
4. Chapter 2: The Colombian Meeting
5. Chapter 3: The Argentine Connection
6. Chapter 4: The Train to The Clouds
7. Chapter 5: The Jailhouse Effect
8. Chapter 6: Campovecchios Plan
9. Chapter 7: Campovecchio Meets Smith
10. Chapter 8: The Pandemonium

11. Chapter 9: Alex Smith is Dead
12. Chapter 10: The Interrogation Ends
13. Chapter 11: How The Bomb was Deactivated
14. Chapter 12: The Aftermath
15. Chapter 13: Gaviria Found Dead
16. Chapter 14: Epilogue
17. Main Consulted Sources
18. Data About The Author

INTRODUCTION
The idea of writing The Runaway Train to The Clouds was on my mind for
many years. In fact, I wanted to write a short story similar to Speed, the film
directed by Jan de Bont and starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, but I
thought that the event could take place on a train instead of a bus. In a way, I
was inspired by songs called Runaway Train that were published in the 90s.
For instance, a band called Soul Asylum and British pianist/singer/songwriter
Elton John recorded tunes called Runaway Train (the latter features the legend-
ary British guitarist/singer/songwriter Eric Clapton), so I decided to write a story
with that name. But I lived in a small town called Sancti Spiritu and the fact of
becoming a writer was just a dream, that is why I decided to leave the idea aside.
Many years later, when I decided to move to Brandsen, in Buenos Aires, I became
known as a writer/translator/researcher by people (but not by the Press) around the
world thanks to my collaborations with Scribd, SlideShare and Wikipedia,
which made my dream come true, in a way. I also collaborated with my friend Joe
Tripician on an e-book entitled Joe Tripician: Obras Seleccionadas Volumen 1,
which is available on Scribd and Amazon. One day, I decided to write and pub-
lish a short story called Cash, based on true facts, which had a moderate success
on Scribd, so I decided to focus on research. But in June 2014, I made a research
about the Tren de las Nubes (Train to The Clouds) in order to write my second
short story, which is also based on true facts, but it is entirely fictitious. Though it is
very short, I hope that some day it may be the base for an interesting film.
Sincerely,
Pablo Martin Aguero, Brandsen, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 2014.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my parents, Mariano and Ana Maria; my sister, Mariana;
my friends Joe Tripician and Serge Levin; and all the people who have supported me
during all these years, come rain or come shine.
This book is also dedicated to the memory of Mirko Barragan, Clever Fiordelli and
Michael Crichton.

Chapter 1: The Interrogation
It is a cold, sunny day in Salta, a northern province in Argentina. Julian Mansilla,
a workingman from Purmamarca, located at the foot of the Hill of the Seven Co-
lours, looks at the cold blue sky, gets into his car, an old red Falcon, and drives
towards the Police Station in Cerrillos, Salta. There, four military men are wait-
ing for him: Sheriffs Felipe Gonzalez and Jorge Colombini, Colonel Mauricio Ba-
rrios and Lieutenant Miguel Campovecchio, a cold, introverted and ironic man
from Buenos Aires, best known as Sarcofago (Sarcophagus). He had written
a long list of questions to ask Mansilla about a recent incident that took place in
Salta and he is investigating: the attempt to kill Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey
and a lot of innocent people (including tourists) by blowing out the Tren a las
Nubes (Train to the Clouds).
Mansilla arrives at 10:30, sweating as a false witness, shakes hands with the mili-
tary men and sits down nervously. Campovecchio stands in front of Mansilla and
the interrogation starts:
- Tell us your full name and occupation, seor.
- My full name is Julian Niceforo Mansilla, seor.
- Whats your occupation?
- Im a workingman at the Tren a las Nubes. But Who are you? I
I dont know
- Im Lieutenant Miguel Campovecchio.
- Youre not salteo,
- No, Im from Buenos Aires.
- With all respect, seor, what are you doing here? This is not your juris-
diction!
- Thats not your problem, seor Mansilla! Just answer my questions!
Where were you on Saturday, June 17?
- At home, Lieutenant!
- Doing what?
- I I was sick, seor! I had a fever! I was in bed!
- Were you in bed all day?

- Yes, Lieutenant!
- And who replaced you?
- Fernando Quiroga, Lieutenant! My cumpa!
- You mean, your compere!
- Yes, Lieutenant!
- And hes a friend of Mister Gaviria!
- I dont know
- Seor Manuel Gaviria, Pablo Escobar Gavirias cousin! He lives in Buenos
Aires.
- Thats why youre here
- Tell me, who put the bomb, Fernando?
- He just did
- What Gaviria told him to do!
- So you know Gaviria!
- Well
- And you know, well, you knew, Alex Smith.
- El rubio!
- The same.
- Yes, I knew him, Lieutenant!
- How did you meet him and Gaviria?
Chapter 2: The Colombian Meeting
A tall, dark man is sleeping in the nude on a bed with clean, white sheets. He is
waiting for a hot Colombian brunette. Suddenly, someone knocks at the door.
The man says: Come in, mamacita linda! The door opens and a masked man
enters and shoots at the naked man. Hours later, the corpse of the tall, dark man
is found together with the dead body of an attractive Colombian young girl.
Meanwhile, the masked man is talking business with a rather fat, tough guy
with dark hair, wild brown eyes and a moustache. The masked man is Fernando
Quiroga, an Argentine exhile from Salta. The other guy is Manuel Gaviria, a
cousin of the infamous Pablo Escobar Gaviria, both wanted by the Interpol for
robbery, murder, drug dealing, gun traffic and prostitution. Of course, they are
hiding under several aliases. Their plan is easy, at least for them: Quiroga just
wants to kill Governor Urtubey, from Salta, as a kind of reprisal for the search
and prisonment of many drug dealers in that Argentine province, taking into
account that most of the drug comes from Colombia. That is why they decide
to attempt against Urtubey. Suddenly, Gaviria thinks about Alex Smith, an A-
merican ex model and actor who became involved in the mafia world in 1993,
when he met Gaviria and Quiroga in a Colombian brothel owned by the form-
er, where Smiths girlfriend, a hot Colombian teenager named Stefi Soria, work-

ed at that time. Things got worse when Soria was found naked and dead in
Smiths bed. Later, he admitted that it was an accident that took place during
a sexual game, though Smith really killed Soria after admitting that she was
also Quiroga and Gavirias lover. Smith was forced to leave Colombia and
flew to Salta, Argentina. There he met Quirogas compadre, Julian Niceforo
Mansilla.
Chapter 3: The Argentine Connection
Soon, Smith and Mansilla became partners in crime as el rubio and el
cumpa, killing, robbing, raping and drug dealing. Of course, the local police
started searching for them, so they decided to move to Buenos Aires, where
they met Pablo Escobar Gavirias wife and children who were hidden using
aliases after Gavirias murder in 1993. Some months later, Lieutenant Mi-
guel Campovecchio, also known as Sarcofago, heard as a kind of rumour
that Gavirias relatives were hidden in Buenos Aires and decided to invest-
gate. In 1998, Gavirias wife and kids admitted the truth at the Argentine
press. Meanwhile, Smith and Mansilla were imprisoned, but they managed
to escape thanks to a number of Gavirias soldados camouflaged as guards.
In 2000, Mansilla got a job as a workingman in the Tren to the Clouds,
in Salta and Smith decided to change his way of living and became a
Maths teacher, but cheating (he said he was a Maths cheater instead of a
teacher). At that time, he had seduced several headmistresses, school girls
and teachers thanks to his short fair hair and blue eyes. But Smiths adven-
tures at schools ended abruptly when a saleswoman accused him of molest-
ing her 12 years olds daughter. Then, Smith became a reclusive with some
of Gavirias men and learned how to make explosives. Soon, Smith became
an expert at making bombs, so he worked for Gaviria in many missions.
That is why Smith was hired once more by Gaviria for a new mission:
blowing out Urtubeys car with him inside. But Smith had another plan:
blowing out the Train to the Clouds. That would be great, much better.
But there is a problem: Urtubey has to be on the train, but how? Quiroga
had the answer: a meeting on the train with the Governor in order to make
a truce. That would be a nice trap.
Chapter 4: The Train to The Clouds
It is one of Argentinas main tourist attractions. There are many options to
choose: the Classic Option is a return travel that lasts from 7:05 to 23:30
(about 217 kilometres). It starts in the train station of the city of Salta, pass-
es through the Valley of Lerma and the Quebrada del Toro, and arrives to
La Puna. It also crosses twenty nine bridges, passes through twenty one

tunnels, two so-called loops and zig-zags and thirteen viaducts. There are
also two stops, the first one in the train station of the town of San Antonio
de los Cobres and the second one in the viaduct of La Polvorilla. Each stop
lasts about thirty minutes. You can also have breakfast and some snacks on
the train. Some of the services included are a helper by wagon, medical as-
sistance, video and bilingual guides. Finally, it returns to the above mention-
ed train station.
Chapter 5: The Jailbreak Effect
It is 1:00. A number of masked men arrived at the train station of the city of
Salta by van. They carry guns and backpacks, some of the guys act like guards,
while the rest run to the train and mantle a bomb beneath it. One of the guys
synchronize his watch with the one on the explosive. The mans watch features
three set of hands: the first one indicates the local time, the second one is a
kind of chronometer and the third one is synchronized with the watch on the
bomb. Another guy checks everything on his laptop and communicates with the
other ones. They all have headphones, iPods, cell phones, iPads, tablets and all
the nano-techno-gadgets you can imagine. Then, some experts check every part
of the train for the so-called Jailbreak Effect. It means that every system has
to be blocked at the same time, so it could make an explosion. The term Jail-
break Effect was taken from the album Jailbreak, by the legendary Irish
Rock group Thin Lizzy, released in 1976. The booklet of that album features
a futuristic short story about a group of rebels that escape from jail using a
similar plan.
Chapter 6: Campovecchios Plan
Lieutenant Miguel Campovecchio drinks a cup of hot coffee at the Police Sta-
tion. In front of him, two police men beat a semi-naked man, one of Gavirias
men who had been arrested some days before.
- Wheres Gaviria now?
- Hes in Colombia.
- And whats his plan?
- Killing Urtubey the gover nor of Salta
- Whys that?
- Its a revenge for my friends in jail
- Who are going to kill Urtubey?
- El Rubio and El Cumpa.
- Tell me their bloody names!
- Alex Smith and Fernando Quiroga...

- And where will it be?
- On the Tren Nubes
- The Tren a las Nubes!
- Yeah!
- When?
- Next Fri
The prisoner falls to the ground and dies. Then, Campovecchio orders the police
men and Colonel Mauricio Barrios to follow him. They are going to Salta.
Chapter 7: Campovecchio Meets Smith
Campovecchio, Colombini, Gonzalez and Barrios get into the train and sit down
in a tactical way. Colombini sees Governor Urtubey talking to another man he
recognises as Quiroga and Campovecchio sits down just next to a handsome man
with fair hair and blue eyes. He knows that guy is Smith by a hidden photo he has
brought. Smith stares at Campovecchio and notices he is a military man, a Lieute-
nant. Smith tries to be polite but Sarcofago knows that the other guy is faking.
Meanwhile, the guides explain to the foreign tourists every single place they see,
while Mariana, a nice, pretty saltea sings Soy de Salta y hago falta (Im from
Salta and they need me) while beating a snare drum.
After ordering some breakfast, Campovecchio turns and looks at his mates: they
understand the message, the guy next to Sarcofago is Smith, who also under-
stands the message. Campovecchio notices it when he sees the other man check-
ing his watch and looking a bit nervously to the nice landscape through a window.
Suddenly, Campovecchio listens to a girl saying Seor, su desayuno! He thanks
the waitress and then, he stares at her as she bends to serve breakfast to another
passenger. She has a beautiful ass. But soon, another passenger says something to
the waitress who looks angrily at Campovecchio, who just smiles as a naughty boy.
As he sits comfortably, he sees that Smith has put a set of headphones connected
to a tablet. The screen shows a kind of frequency waves, the icon of a chronometer
and a series of letters as codes. Smith excuses Campovecchio in a fake polite way
and puts the tablet away from the Lieutenants view. Sarcofago feels upset and
turns to look curiously at the train while he drinks his coffee, that is getting a bit
cold. Then, he feels something ticking under his feet, Campovecchio looks down
and then to Smith. Suddenly, the Lieutenant started thinking about the waves, the
chronometer, the codes and that strange looking watch. Now, the ticking is more
intense. Smith grins as a perverted guy as he presses a button and sighs. Then, he
says to Campovecchio:
- How was your breakfast?
- Nice!, the Lieutenant says.

- Now comes the dessert, Lieutenant!, Smith says, looking at his feet.
- What the hell?
Campovecchio realices it: it s a bomb ticking right beneath his feet!
Chapter 8: The Pandemonium
Campovecchio stands up and says:
- Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Miguel Campovecchio! There is a
bomb!
Smith grabs Campovecchio, draws his gun, points to the Lieutenant and says, an-
grily:
- What the hell are you doing, Lieutenant! Are you trying to be a hero?
Campovecchio tries to get rid of Smith as Quiroga threats to kill Urtubey, but Co-
lombini shoots at Quiroga at one leg and the criminal falls, letting Urtubey go.
Quiroga is shouting and cursing on the floor, as Colombini looks at Gonzalez and
then at Campovecchio, who nods. Colombini shoots Quiroga down and everybody
screams. Now, Colombini helps Urtubey as Gonzalez and Barrios point at Smith.
Campovecchio shouts at Smith:
- You dont have no choice, bastard! Surrender!
Chapter 9: Alex Smith is Dead
Smith pushes Campovecchio to the ground and points at Gonzalez. As he pulls
the trigger, Sarcofago draws his gun and grabs Smith, saying:
- Deactivate the bloody bomb or Ill kill you!
Smith gazes at Gonzalez, who is bleeding, as Barrios assists him. Meanwhile,
Campovecchio grabs Smiths arms and takes his gun off. Then, he puts his gun
on Smiths back and takes the strange looking watch off the criminal.
- Nice watch, Alex Smith! Thanks!
- How do you know my name?
- I know everything about you, mofo! Now, deactivate the bloody bomb!
- I wont deactivate it!
- Ok! Ill do it!
- You dont know how to do it!
- Ill learn!
- You wont

- I told you! If you dont deactivate the bloody bomb, Ill kill you! Bye,
Smith!
Campovecchio pulls the trigger, Smith falls to the ground and dies. Gonzalez closes
his eyes in pain as Barrios and Campovecchio go on assisting him. Then, Barrios
helps Gonzalez while Campovecchio tries to deactivate the bomb.
Chapter 10: The Interrogation Ends
Mansilla clears his throat and watches a clock on the wall. It is 12:00 and the interro-
gation goes on. Meanwhile, Campovecchio stares at the working man and asks:
- So, where is Gaviria?
- I dont know
- Youre lying, Mansilla! Where the hell is Gaviria?
- Are you going to kill me as you killed Smith?
- He was a criminal, like Quiroga and Gaviria. And you are an accomplice of them
if you dont collaborate.
- Ok! Hes here!
- Here! Where? In this room?
- No, in Salta!
- Take us to him!
- Ill take you to him if you tell me how you deactivated the bomb!
- You, bastard!

Chapter 11: How The Bomb Was Deactivated
The train stops at the station of San Antonio de los Cobres. Gonzalez and Barrios go
to the toilet while Colombini and Campovecchio decide to go back to the train.
Campovecchio goes beneath the vehicle and finds the bomb still ticking. Then, he
sees the watch that is synchronised with Smiths watch and five buttons. Each one
has letters: A, D, W, S and JB (Activate, Deactivate, Watch, Synchronization and
Jail Break). Campovecchio finds it difficult to decipher all those letters, so he just
tries to deactivate the bomb by trial and error. For instance, when he presses JB, the
systems of the train get blocked, so the passengers cannot get into the train when the
thirty minutes of the stop ended. Then, Campovecchio presses the button again and
the systems re-start. But the train leaves the station when Campovecchio is still be-
neath the train. Soon, he presses D and the bomb deactivates, but he cannot get out.
After a while, Campovecchio starts knocking at one of the doors of the train. Co-
lombini sees his friend and asks one of the helpers of the wagon to open the door,
but as he refuses to help, Colombini takes off his gun and shoots at the door, break-
ing it. Campovecchio pushes the door and gets into the train again. His mates con-

gratulate him, but the other passengers, the helpers of the wagons, the waitresses
and the bilingual guides look at him as if he was a madman. That annoys Campo-
vecchio, who wants to say: Hey, I saved your lives, I risked my life for you and
you treat me like if I was crazy. Who the hell do you think you are?, but he keeps
silent. He sits down and says to Colombini: Lets get out of here! So, when the
train stops at the viaduct of La Polvorilla, Campovecchio, Gonzalez, Barrios and
Colombini get out of the train, go straight to the bus station and go back to Bue-
nos Aires.
Chapter 12: The Aftermath
Soon after that, Governor Urtubey asks Campovecchio and his friends to return to
Salta in order to congratulate them (of course, Urtubey admits that he was shocked
by all the pandemonium that took place on the train, that is why he did not thank the
police men properly). So, Campovecchio and his team return reluctantly to Salta,
where Governor Urtubey and his staff receive and congratulate them. But after a de-
licious meal, Campovecchio asks Urtubey some questions: how did he meet Quiro-
ga?, Why did he accept to talk to Quiroga if the Governor did not know him?, Why
didnt the guards act properly? and Where is Gaviria? Of course, Urtubey answer
the same as Mansilla: I dont know! (Yo no s!). Campovecchio recalls an Yng-
wie Malmsteens song: I Dont Know and smiles. Its the same: I dont know, I
dont know. Why do people keep on saying those three silly words? But as Campo-
vecchio and his friends are leaving, a fat policeman ask them to go to the police sta-
tion of the city of Salta, in Cerrillos. The policeman wants to know exactly what
happened on the Tren a las Nubes. At the police station, Campovecchio tells every-
thing, but the policeman and his cumpas do not believe a word. Then, another police
man arrives and says that a guy named Julian Mansilla had phoned and that wanted
to talk about the incident on the train. So, the fat policeman ask Campovecchio and
his team to go away, but they decide to rent two hotel rooms. When the day comes,
Campovecchio and his friends return to the police station in Cerrillos and pay the
fat policeman and his cumpas some pesos, so they go out de parranda. Then, Campo-
vecchio and his team wait for Mansilla, and when he comes, the above mentioned
interrogation starts.
Chapter 13: Gaviria Found Dead
After the interrogation, Mansilla goes out of the police station and sends an SMS
to Gaviria: Estn yendo! (Theyre going!). So, when Campovecchio and Co-
lombini enters Gavirias house (Barrios and Gonzales stay in the car), they find
Gavirias corpse on his bedroom floor. He had shot his head off. Finally, Campo-

vecchio and Colombini gets out of Gavirias house and drive towards Buenos Ai-
res.
Chapter 14: Epilogue
Sheriffs Felipe Gonzalez and Jorge Colombini still work at the police station of
Buenos Aires.
Colonel Mauricio Barrios moved to Bahia Blanca. He married Yanina Marini, a
History teacher at a Liceo Militar.
Lieutenant Miguel Sarcofago Campovecchio resigned at the police station soon
after the incident on the Tren a las Nubes. He still lives in Buenos Aires with Ire-
ne, his wife, and three children.
Julian Niceforo Mansilla was found dead a few days after the interrogation. His
wife and children disappeared. It was rumoured that Gavirias soldados were in-
volved in those incidents.
The Tren a las Nubes is still an Argentine tourist attraction. Many tourists from
different cities of the world go for a wonderful travel. Of course, some of them
ask about the incident, but the guides do not want to talk about it. They just say
It is a rumour or It is a legend, though the door that Colombini shot is still a
bit broken (it was badly repaired and only the glass was changed) and even some
passengers admit that there are blood stains on the seats and fragments of plastic
and glass under the seats. But the guards, the helpers, the waitresses, the train
driver and even Mariana, the nice, pretty saltea that sings Soy de Salta y hago
falta as she beats her snare drum, does not say a word about it, as if the incident
had not happened, as if it was just a myth, a legend, though it was true.

MAIN CONSULTED SOURCES
1. Article Cultura y Turismo Salta Tren a las Nubes (Culture and Tourism
Salta Train to the Clouds).
2. Album Jailbreak (Imported CD Version), by Thin Lizzy, Vertigo, 1976.
3. Album The One (CD Version), by Elton John, Phonogram, 1992.
4. Article about Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey (www.wikipedia.org).
5. Album The Seventh Sign (CD Version), by Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Spitfire
Records, 1998, 2000.

DATA ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pablo Martin Aguero was born in Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina, on June 16, 1978.
He is an English teacher, researcher, translator and writer. He is also the autor of
Charles Louis Frederic de Brandsen: Su Biografia, published in 2011 and available
in a digital version on Scribd and SlideShare, where Agero also have published
several books, articles and translations about topics such as Nanotechnology, History
and Music. He also writes articles about Cinema and Music for Wikipedia. Aguero
has collaborated with American filmmaker, writer and playwright Joe Tripician on
the e-book Joe Tripician: Obras Seleccionadas Volumen 1.
Nowadays, Aguero lives in Brandsen, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Scribd: www.scribd.com
SlideShare: www.slideshare.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pablo-aguero