Federico Lacroze (4 November 1835 – 16 February 1899) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

businessman and railway entrepreneur of French descent. He created the first

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and his

Buenos Aires Central Railway The Buenos Aires Central Railway (BACR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Buenos Aires) was an Argentine railway company which built and operated a railway line from Buenos Aires to the city of 4 de Febrero in Santa Fe. History On 2 Octobe ...

helped link the provinces of Entre Ríos,

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...

and

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

by rail to Argentina's capital. Lacroze is buried in

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, includi ...

Biography

Federico Lacroze was the second of eight children born to Juan Lacroze, who had immigrated at a young age to Argentina. He began working from a young age at the Mallmann bank until he was 20 years of age when he moved to

Chivilcoy Chivilcoy is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, the head town of the Chivilcoy Partido. It has 64,185 inhabitants according to the . Tourism February Carnivals In the month of February, a three-day carnival is held over an extended ...

, where he started a business with activities in agriculture. His relationship with the railway industry began in 1866 when he proposed constructing a railway line between Luján and Salto. The proposal was turned down given budgetary constraints as a result of the

war of the triple alliance The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

. By the 1870s, Lacroze (together with other Argentine businessmen) proposed the construction of a tram system in the city of Buenos Aires. After some debate in the

Argentine National Congress The Congress of the Argentine Nation ( es, Congreso de la Nación Argentina) is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate ...

, the proposal was approved and Lacroze began the construction of Buenos Aires' tramways together with his brother Julio. The first segment was completed in 1871 and its route passed through approximately sixty blocks from the

Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time know ...

Plaza Miserere Plaza de Miserere is one of the main plazas (squares) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located alongside the Once de Septiembre Station of the Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Sarmiento railroad) in the heart of the Balvanera neighborho ...

. During this time he also created what was at the time the longest horse-driven railway in the world, from Buenos Aires to

Rojas Rojas is a surname found throughout the Spanish-speaking world, especially in Latin America. Rojas may refer to: People A *Adrián Rojas (born 1977), Chilean professional football player *Aguelmis Rojas (born 1978), Cuban long-distance runner ...

. Parts of this line were then electrified and joined with the province of Entre Ríos to create what is today the

General Urquiza Railway The General Urquiza Railway (FCGU) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril General Urquiza), named after the Argentine general and politician Justo José de Urquiza, is a standard gauge railway of Argentina which runs approximately northwards from Buenos Aire ...

. In the neighbourhood of Chacarita he created an underground station which he intended to be the central terminal for his

, however this would eventually become a station for Line B of the

Buenos Aires Underground The Buenos Aires Underground ( es, Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, links=no), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaz ...

and the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that serves the

Urquiza Line The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter rail line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operated by the Buenos Aires Underground operator Metrovías. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the neighborhood of Chacarita, to General Lemos ...

and

was moved above ground. Lacroze was also a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, becoming a member of the Logia Regeneración Nº 5 in 1857. He died in Belgrano in 1899 and was buried in

.¿QUIEN FUE FEDERICO LACROZE? (1835-1899)
- La Chacrita Online

Tramway Rural gallery

File:Tranvía Brill Semi-Convertible (truck Radiax 11ft wheelbase) - Revista Brill (Lacroze - Tramway Rural).png File:Coche 608 (Lacroze - Tramway Rural).png File:Tranv%C3%ADa_a_caballos_tipo_jardinera_(Lacroze_-_Tramway_Rural).png File:Interior tranvía Brill (Lacroze - Tramway Rural).png File:Tranvía fúnebre - exterior (Lacroze - Tramway Rural).png File:Tranvía especial para casamientos (Lacroze - Tramway Rural).png

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacroze, Federico 1835 births 1899 deaths People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of French descent Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Argentine Freemasons

Biography

Tramway Rural gallery

See also

References