:''This article is part of the

history of rail transport by country The history of rail transport began in the BCE times. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used. Ancient systems The Post Track, a prehistoric causeway in the va ...

series''

In 1856 started the studies to make the first railway of the country that would go from

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

Paraguarí Paraguarí (; gn, Paraguari) is a city, ''distrito'' and capital of Paraguarí Department in Paraguay, located 66 km from the country's capital, Asunción. At the 2002 census it had a population of 22,154.Encarnación. In the area of

urban rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...

, the capital city of Asunción was served by

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 ...

s from 1871 until around 1995.

The railways in the Americas

The beginnings of the railways in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

were in 1831 when the steam railway arrived in the town of Albany, NY,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On August 9 of the same year, with the still primitive machine called “Bull” imported from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, was made the first journey of this locomotive that pulled three small coaches with a capacity of only 6 passengers each. It was 36 years after, on October 23, 1867 that was inaugurated the railway that went from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, known with the name of “Union Pacific Road”. Later on,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

was the second country of this continent to have a railway. In 1834 the construction of a railway that would connect La Habana with Guinness (Unión) commenced; it covered and was opened four years later, in 1838. The third country to have one was British Guyana (Georgetown-Plaisance 1848), then

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

(Lima-Callao 1851) then

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, with a railway that went from Caldera to Copiapó (1851). The construction was directed by the North-American Engineer William Wheelwright; this was followed by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(Praia de Estrela-Fragoso in 1952). In

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, the first railway was inaugurated on August 30, 1857. It extended from Buenos Aires to Moreno. On February 22, 1862 started the work to build a railway that would go from

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 ...

to Ensenada, and the person in charge was once again the Engineer Wheelwright. The same Wheelwright directed the construction of the Argentine Central Railway, used to link

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

with Córdoba that started on April 20, 1863. In Paraguay the intentions to have a railway manifested in 1856, but only 5 years later was possible to have one working. On June 14, 1861 was made the first journey from the station to the port of

, so it could be said that the railway in Paraguay was one of the first to function in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

A project on rails

The possibilities of starting the construction of the railway in Paraguay were given in 1854, during the government of Carlos Antonio López, who hired English engineers in charge of the studies made to start the first railway line that would go from Asunción to Paraguarí. In 1856, soldiers of the army engineer corps worked on the tracks and platform. In England, the firm BLYTH proceeded to fulfill the requests of the Paraguayan government with locomotives, wagons, rails, etc. The construction of the track Asunción-Paraguarí was in charge of George Paddison, an English engineer hired by the government. All kinds of accessories for the stations were built from models, with local materials. Between 1857 and 1859 the engineers George Thompson, Henry Valpy and Percy Burrell were incorporated in the project, which helped to speed the work. The first local railway line started working in June 1861; it went on a short track from the central station in Asunción to Trinidad. Six months later the track was extended to the city of Luque. The extension was inaugurated on December 25 and according to the journal “El Semanario” it was a source of great joy for the citizens. “The locomotives have been functioning since 5 am until 12 pm, and it would be necessary to add three more trains to take the people that expected to get a ride and that came not only to Luque but also to Trinidad. In Luque were organized games, dances and a masquerade, in Trinidad, there were also bullfights” (transcript from the journal). In 1862 the rail tracks extended to

Areguá Areguá () is the capital of Central Department in Paraguay, located from the capital, Asunción. The city lies between Ypacaraí Lake to the east and hills to the west. Areguá is known for its colonial architecture and historic cobblestone s ...

Station Saint Francis

Of the public buildings that were finished before the war of 1870, the most noticeable are the Palace of Government and the Railway Station, which are still nowadays true icons of Asunción City. The original name of the Central Railway Station was “Estación San Francisco” (Saint Francis Station), although it was originally known also as “Plaza San Francisco” (Saint Francis Square). Today the building is still an attraction because of its architectonic proportions and its beauty, and it is not hard to imagine that it was even more outstanding in the time it was built. The architect Alonzo Taylor directed the construction. Taylor came from Europe in the ship “Río Blanco” on May 6, 1859 and he also directed the construction of the Palace of Government along with architect Raviza. The journals of the time made many references to the Saint Francis Station. In 1863 the journal “El Semanario” wrote: “The construction work in the station is progressing well, soon the building will be complete and this beautiful construction will be considered one of the icons of the city”. On July 30 of the same year, the journal also described a ball that took place in the main hall of the station, offered by chiefs and officers in honor to the President on his birthday.

Tramways

Asunción tram (ex-Brussels 9003) on Calle M Estigarribia in 1986

Asunción was served by a

system for almost 125 years. The city's first tram line opened in 1871, initially using horse-drawn trams and steam-powered trams. Electric trams were introduced in 1913. The first electric trams were operated by the Asunción Tramway, Light & Power Company (ATL&P) and were built by the United Electric Car Company, of England. In 1914, the Compañía Americana de Luz y Tracción acquired the system after ATL&P's bankruptcy. Six trams were purchased from

Società Italiana Ernesto Breda Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. History The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It original ...

, in Italy, in the 1920s, and later from the American manufacturer

J. G. Brill Company The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almost ...

and in the 1930s and 1940s from Argentinian builders. The system reached its maximum extent in the 1930s, with 37 km of track served by 10 routes, worked by a fleet of 33 motor trams and 26 trailers. In 1945, when the direction of traffic flow on several streets in the city centre was reversed, tram lines 1–4 were closed, but CALT built a new line 5, between the city centre and the neighbourhood of Las Mercedes. The system was nationalized in 1948. It was closed in 1973, but was reopened in 1975, and then-operator Administración del Transporte Eléctrico began to import used trams from the Brussels, Belgium, tram system, ultimately acquiring a total of 17 from Brussels by 1980. Only a single route, 5, was reopened in 1975, but route 9 reopened in 1978; however, the latter closed again the following year, leaving only route 5 in operation for the remainder of the system's history. After the mid-1980s, the only tramcars in service were the 9000 series, two-axle ex-Brussels cars built around 1960. The last tram service was discontinued around 1995, followed by formal closure in November 1997.

References

External links

Paraguay-fotos
Dead link, March 30th, 2021)

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Rail Transport In Paraguay

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...