Querétaro, Qro.: a chronology of
railroad development:
part 2
1908 (February 29) National
Railroad Company of México reorganized as
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (NdeM). (Garma Franco, Railroads in México, v.2 p.354; González y González, Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XIX, p.77)
1908 Josefa and María de
la Mota are reported to have constructed a 600mm gauge tramway, the Tranvías de El Lobo, from
Hacienda El Lobo, 20 kilometers southeast
to estación La Griega of
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México. A branch, which may have come later, extended from
the main route at Hacienda de Amascala, 10 kilometers
northwest to Santa María de Begoña. (México. Secretaría
de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas. Dirección de Ferrocarriles. Estadística 1923, 1924, y 1925 hoja: [p.84])
1908-1909 Connection tracks, belonging to the
FC Nacional de México were constructed between the Nacional de México and
1909 (February 1) Ferrocarril Central Mexicano merged into Ferrocarriles
Nacionales de México. (Garma
Franco, Railroads in México, v.2
p.354)
1909
(December 15) Federal concession no.337 was
issued for Ferrocarril Querétaro
a San José Iturbide [Guanajuato].
(México.
Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria, 1923-24, p.63, 71)
1912 (July 4) Concession
311 for Ferrocarril de Acámbaro
a Querétaro, having lapsed,
was reconcessioned under number 373. (México. Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras
Públicas, Memoria, 1923-24, p.64, 65,
78)
1912 (July 6) Concession
no.337 for Ferrocarril Querétaro a San José Iturbide, having lapsed, was reissued
under concession
no.375. (México. Secretaría de
Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria,
1923-24, p.64, 71)
1912 (August) Construction
began on the Ferrocarril de Acámbaro a
Querétaro from both directions, at the public crossing
of highway “Pueblito”, kilometer 3.540 from Querétaro. There was also
construction from the Acámbaro end at Jerécuaro, in the direction of Querétaro. (México. Secretaría
de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria, 1912/13 p.203-204)
1912 The two private rural tramways are
identified, with a slight difference in length from earlier reports: estación La Griega to Hacienda de
Begoña (22 km) and Querétaro
northwest to Hacienda de Jurica. (Frías, Valentín
“Ensayos sobre odografía queretana.” in: Memorias de Société Scientifique Antonio
Alzate, Tomo 32, cited in González y González, Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XX,
p.49)
1912 Línea A between Hércules and Adjuntas (15.0
kilometers) was one of thirteen segments on the NdeM
system identified as made redundant by absorbing Ferrocarril
Central Mexicano, and abandonment proposed. (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, Annual
Report, 4th, 1911-12 p.24)
1914 (January) The Compañía
by 1915 The NdeM operating division structure through Querétaro was: Línea A Division de México-Querétaro, Distrito de San Juan (San
Juan del Río-Irapuato); Línea B Division de
México-Querétaro, Distrito de González (Huichapan?-Empalme
González) (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de
México, Annual Report, 8th,
1915-16 p.43-44, compared by extrapolation
with later annual reports)
1916 (August
14) Concession no.375 of Ferrocarril Querétaro a San José Iturbide expired and was not reissued. (México. Secretaría
de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria, 1923-24, p.64, 61)
1916
(November 16) The concession for Ferrocarril de Acámbaro a Querétaro lapsed and reissued a second time; Concession 373 was replaced by
no.388. (México. Secretaría
de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria, 1923-24, p. 64, 65, 78)
1916-1917 The territory San Juan del Río to
1916-1918 The Compañía
de Tranvías de Querétaro
lost much of its assets due to the civil war. Part of the track was removed on
the route along Calle Juárez
between the two railroad stations, and many of the animals were appropriated by
the military. Because of this, service was reduced, becoming highly irregular,
and the tariffs significantly raised. Eventually, in November 1917, a
government order demanded that the company resume its timetables, among other
things. Also, much traffic and revenue had been lost due to disruptions in the
operations of the textile mills in the area.
(González y González, Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XX, p.55, 218-223)
1917-1918 NdeM Línea
A was reported taken up from Conexión La Griega to Conexión Mariscala, km A-228.2 to A-263.6, with the traffic diverted
to Línea B between these points. This being the
period of the Revolution, the materials were probably in high demand elsewhere.
Ownership of the real estate in the vicinity of the
1918 Gasoline motor units, pulling the same cars formerly
handled by mules, were introduced on the El Pueblito
route of
1919-1920 NdeM’s territory San Juan del Río-Celaya (Línea A) returned to the
México-Querétaro Division as part
of the extended Distrito de
San Juan del Río (México [Buenavista] to Celaya). (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, Annual
Report, 12th, 1919-20 p.36)
1923 Information is reported on the two private
animal-powered, 600mm gauge rural tramways in the Querétaro
area: Ferrocarril de la Hacienda de Jurica, from the city of Querétaro
12 kilometers northwest to Hacienda de Jurica
(inaugurated in 1900), had four plataformas. Tranvías de El Lobo, inaugurated in 1908, 20 kilometers
southwest from Hacienda El Lobo to estación La Griega, with a 10 kilometer branch from Hacienda Amascala northwest to Santa María
de Begoña, with 17 employees, two coaches, and seven plataformas. Both handled freight (primarily agricultural
output) and Tranvías de El Lobo also carried
passengers. They were said to have survived the revolutionary period relatively
undamaged. (México.
Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas. Dirección de Ferrocarriles. Estadística 1923, 1924, y 1925 hojas:
[p.84, 89]; González y González, Transporte
en Querétaro en el Siglo XX, p.217)
1923 Tranvías de Querétaro (gauge
1435mm) reported 25 kilometers
total in lines “Nacional”, “Circuito”, “Cañada”,
“Pueblito”; 12 employees, 40 “obreros”, three gasoline motors, ten coaches, eight plataformas; partly animal powered. (México.
Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas. Dirección de Ferrocarriles. Estadística 1923, 1924, y 1925, hojas: [p.84, 89])
1923 Competition with the tramways began to
appear, in the form of motor buses running to Hércules,
La Cañada and El Pueblito.
Within a few months the tramway company’s revenue fell by 60%. (González y González,
Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XX,
p.223-224)
1924-25
Ferrocarril de Acámbaro
a Querétaro had suspended passenger service. Only 54
kilometers were operated, and this did not include the Querétaro
segment. The 600mm gauge railroad possessed five locomotives (of which only one
was needed; the others were spare), three passenger cars, 40 boxcars, 10
gondolas, 18 flatcars, and 8 other equipment.
(México. Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras
Públicas. Dirección de Ferrocarriles. Estadística
1923, 1924, y 1925, hojas: [p.15, 27, 33, 36, 44])
1925 Ferrocarril de Acámbaro
a Querétaro Sección de Querétaro is reported as 28.0 km, of which 25 km
was not operated,
between Hacienda San Rafael and
Casa Blanca in the south part of Querétaro. (México. Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras
Públicas. Dirección de Ferrocarriles. Estadística
1923, 1924, y 1925, hojas: [p.44, 69, 72]))
1926 Ferrocarril de Acámbaro
a Querétaro entry in Ingresos y Gastos de Explotación
and equipment: statistics are entirely blank. Tonnage handled is reported for 1920-25, noticeably declining each
year. (México. Secretaría
de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas, Memoria,
1926, 1927-28, hojas: [p.3, 9, 19, 34, 38])
by 1927 (December 5) The Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México through
Querétaro was being operated as the División México-Querétaro. Línea A was
the Distrito de La Griega (San Juan del Río to La Griega) and Distrito de
Celaya (Mariscala to
Celaya); Línea B was the
Distrito de Escobedo (Huichapan to
Empalme Escobedo [formerly named
Empalme González]). (Ferrocarriles
Nacionales de México División de México-Querétaro Horario No.6, 5 de Diciembre
de 1927)
1929 The state governor, Abraham Araujo,
demanded that Tranvías de Querétaro
modify its trackage on the lines Circuito
and Estación, to vacate from certain streets where it
was felt the traffic too congested, and also to implement gasoline motor units
in place of mule traction on the entire network (thoughts of electrification
were rejected for lack of funds). A deadline of August 15 was decreed, and with
no action toward it by the tramway company, on August 20 the two cited lines
were shut down. Service continued to El Pueblito from
Casa Blanca (Calzada Fernando de Tapia near the
corner with Calzada Melchor
Ocampo) and to La Cañada
from the Garita de
1931 (December 6) On this date NdeM redesignated its División de México-Querétaro as the División
de Querétaro, separating some
parts for transfer to the
División de México. There were
certain territorial changes
and redesignations on the districts
also: the Distrito de San Juan del Río (Línea A) extended from México [Buenavista] to La Griega; Línea B became the Distrito de Huichapan
(Empalme Tacuba to La
Griega), the Distrito de Querétaro (La Griega to Querétaro), and the Distrito de Escobedo (Querétaro to
Empalme Escobedo). Línea A to the west
(railroad north) became the Distrito de Irapuato (Mariscala to
1932 The administration of Tranvías
de Querétaro, President (since 1916) J. N. Galbraith,
a North American residing in México City, and the local manager Mariano de la Isla, were not interested in improving or maintaining
adequate service in the face of increasing road competition, deteriorating
infrastructure, and demands of passengers, employees, and government. In
consequence, service was abandoned sometime during the year, and the city of
1933 The cooperative society Unión
de Tranviarios de Querétaro
[also cited as the Sociedad Cooperativa
de Tranviarios] had been formed in 1932, in an effort
to resume the tramway service. In 1933 it took over the assets of Tranvías de Querétaro and
received permission to operate two lines: Querétaro
to El Pueblito (also known as Villa Corregidora), nine kilometers for passenger and freight,
operated with gasoline motors, “...running daily and making intermediate stops
on Calle de Nicolás Bravo,
to the Jardín Principal de Villa Corregidora,
with intermediate points of Casa Blanca and El Jacal.
The cost is 10 centavos per person and the trip time, 35 minutes.” The other
was a freight track of 1.5 kilometers from the Molino El Fénix
to NdeM’s freight station on Línea
B. This was said to run along Calle de Vergara, where no
tramway route had been recorded before. With a “plataforma”
and gasoline motor unit, it could handle 15 tons per trip, with a charge of one
peso per ton. [More likely, it was along Calle Juárez, part of the former “Estaciones”
line.] (González
y González, Transporte en Querétaro en el
Siglo XX, p.216, 229)
circa 1933 Ferrocarril de Acámbaro a Querétaro abandoned. There had been two
segments: Guadalupe (near Acámbaro) to Hacienda de Gamboa (76.0 km) and Hacienda de
1936 The company “Compañía Explotadora de Anuncios en los FF.CC.” was noted
as a member of the Cámara de Comercio de Querétaro. Presumably this business
was involved with posting advertising in trains and railroad stations and/or
employing the on-train news and sundries vendors. (González y González,
Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XX,
p.288)
by 1937 (September 1)
Slight modifications were made to territories of districts on NdeM’s División de Querétaro. Línea B, Distrito de Querétaro (La Griega to Querétaro), and Distrito de
Escobedo (Querétaro to Empalme Escobedo) were combined into
the new Distrito de
Escobedo (La Griega to Escobedo). Distrito de San
Juan del Río (Línea A) and Distrito de Huichapan (Línea B) were shortened to commence
at Lechería (Estado de México) at
the México end, not directly affecting
Querétaro. (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (y Líneas
Administradas) División de Querétaro Horario No.3, 1 de Septiembre de 1937)
by 1939 Tramway service of Unión
de Tranviarios de Querétaro
could not overcome the deteriorated infrastructure and other problems, and had
run only sporadically in the early 1930s. By the end of the decade it had
disappeared. The private tramway to Hacienda de Jurica
vanished about this time also. (González y González, Transporte
en Querétaro en el Siglo XX, p.230; Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (y
Líneas Administradas) División de Querétaro Horario No.3, 1 de septiembre de
1937; Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México y Anexos División de Querétaro
Suplemento No.8 al Horario No.3, 1 de octubre de 1943)
1930s to
early 1940s Passenger train service at its peak
showed five pairs of trains running through Querétaro.
Two of these pairs ran México to and from Nuevo Laredo, using Línea B (by way of Huichapan)
east of Querétaro. The other three pairs ran to and
from México over Línea A (through San Juan de Río), through Querétaro to Irapuato. From there one pair extended to Ciudad Juárez, one pair to Manzanillo,
and the terminal of the third pair varying between Zacatecas
and Guadalajara during different periods. There was also a local passenger train
scheduled from Querétaro to Irapuato
and returning the same day. Several freight and express trains were also
carded, with schedules using different routing combinations over time. In
general, gradients favored southbound trains via Huichapan,
while northbound the routes were more equal; 1.5% was the maximum both
directions on both routes. (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México División México-Querétaro Horario No.6, 5 de Diciembre de 1927; Ferrocarriles Nacionales
de México División de Querétaro Horario No.7, 20 de Julio de 1930;
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (y Líneas Administradas) División de
Querétaro Horario No.3, 1 de Septiembre de 1937; Official guide of the railways and
steam navigation lines of the
United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba, January 1930, March 1937, September 1944)
1940
(February 26) A tragic accident took
place between Querétaro and Las Adjuntas
at kilometer B-276. A monument,
made from a broken steam locomotive driving wheel, was erected at
the spot (now kilometer Juárez-251.9 due to recent redesignation)
reading “A los compañeros Evarista
R. Huerta, Manuel F. González, Genoveno Vazquez y Alfonso Alvaredo que
perdieron su vida en este lugar el día 26 de Febrero de 1940, víctimas del
cumplimiento del deber”. (observations by Todd
Minsk, November 2002)
1946 (October) Development of Zona Industrial La Era on the northwest side of Querétaro began with the construction of a railroad spur by Fábrica Industrializadora “El Clavel”, to serve the factory of Productos Lácteos Mexicanos, S.A. (the “Carnation” brand), that was put into operation August 1948. Zona Industrial La Era later became known as La Antigua. The zone was connected to the main line railroad with a short branch built north from the NdeM, on a wye at kilometer B-269.8 and B-270.2. Several other factories with spurs were established in the same area through the 1950s, including La Concordia, Kellogg’s de México, Ralston Purina and Singer Mexicana. This area is sometimes referred to as Espuela San Pablo. Recent (early 2003) factories along it are Seshin México (on the former site of Singer), Nestle Purina/Carnation, Pilgrim’s Pride, Reciclajes del Bajio, and Cemex Querétaro, but only Pilgrim’s Pride appeared to be an active rail customer, with 15 tracks at its processing plant and grain elevator. The plant of Kellogg’s de México is located elsewhere on Carretera Campo Militar, with the railroad spur diverging south from the NdeM main line. (González y González, Transporte en Querétaro en el Siglo XX, p.102-113; observations by Todd Minsk. February 2003)
1948 (January) NdeM inaugurated CTC dispatching (Control Centralizado de Tráfico) on Línea B between estación La Griega and Mariscala, the first
such installation in the republic apart from an earlier project described as
“experimental”, between México and Lechería, Estado de México. (Campos
Ríos, Guillermo, “El proyecto de modernización ferrocarrilera de Miguel Alemán”
in Memorias del Tercer Encuentro de
Investigadores del Ferrocarril p.57,59)