![1891 Poor's Mexican National Railroad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/1891_Poor%27s_Mexican_National_Railroad.jpg)
The National Railroad of Mexico (''Ferrocarril Nacional de México'') was one of the primary pre-
nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
in 1880 as the Mexican National Railway (''Ferrocarril Nacional Mexicano''), and headed by General
William Jackson Palmer
William Jackson Palmer (September 18, 1836 – March 13, 1909) was an American civil engineer, veteran of the Civil War, industrialist, and philanthropist. During the American Civil War, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general and receive ...
of the
Denver and Rio Grande Railway, it completed a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
main line from
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
to
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...
in September 1888 after an 1887 reorganization as the Mexican National ''Railroad''. At its north end, the
Texas Mexican Railway
The Texas Mexican Railway was a railroad that operated as a subsidiary of the Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway.
On January 1, 2005, Kansas City Southern took control of the Texas ...
, owned since 1883, ran east from
Laredo to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
at
Corpus Christi; a second Gulf connection was completed in 1905 through a branch from
Monterrey to
Matamoros. Other branches included a cut-off from Mexico City through
Querétaro to
Celaya
Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality ...
and an incomplete
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
extension from
Acámbaro
Acámbaro is a city and municipality in the southeastern corner of the Mexican state of Guanajuato, on the banks of the Lerma River, and the oldest of the 46 municipalities of Guanajuato. Acámbaro was originally a Purépecha settlement which w ...
to
Uruapan
Uruapan is the second largest city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located at the western edge of the Purépecha highlands, just to the east of the Tierra Caliente region. Since the colonial period, it has been an important city economic ...
. (Another piece of the latter, from
Colima
Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima i ...
to
Manzanillo, remained with the Mexican National Construction Company, and was acquired by the
Mexican Central Railway
The Mexican Central Railway (''Ferrocarril Central Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1880, it opened the main line in March 1884, linking Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez, ac ...
in 1905.
[Powell, p. 130]) In 1886 the railway commissioned
Abel Briquet to take a series of photographs, which provide documentation of the railways at that time.
After reorganisation in 1902
The company was reincorporated again in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
in February 1902 as the National Railroad of Mexico, and completed
standard-gauging the main line in November 1903. The National subsequently acquired three narrow gauge companies in central Mexico. First it leased the
Michoacán and Pacific Railway in 1900, giving it branches from
Maravatio to
Zitácuaro
Zitácuaro, officially known as Heroica Zitácuaro, is a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name, which lies at the extreme eastern side of Michoacán and bo ...
and
Angangueo
Angangueo () is a municipality located in far eastern Michoacán state in central Mexico noted for its history of mining and its location in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. The municipal seat is the Mineral de Angangueo. It is located in ...
. In 1903 it acquired the
Interoceanic Railway of Mexico, which included a main line from Mexico City to
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
and a number of branches, in exchange for the
Mexican government
The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republi ...
gaining control of the National. Finally, in 1906, the
Hidalgo and Northeastern Railroad, from Mexico City northeast to
Tortugas,
Pachuca
Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...
, and
Irolo, became part of the National Railroad of Mexico's system.
[Fred Wilbur Powell]
The Railroads of Mexico
Stratford Company (Boston), 1921, pp. 133-135[ Manual of Statistics Company (New York)]
The Manual of Statistics: Stock Exchange Hand-Book
1908, pp. 210-211
Six years after the government gained control, the properties of the National and Hidalgo and Northeastern were transferred to the
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (better known as N de M and especially in its final years as FNM) was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of Porfirio Díaz), a major railroad con ...
(''National Railways of Mexico'') in January 1909. (The Michoacán and Pacific, Interoceanic, and the latter's subsidiaries remained separate companies.)
[ Poor's Manual Company (New York)]
Poor's Intermediate Manual of Railroads
1917, pp. 928-946 Following privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
for freight service in the 1990s, the old National Railroad of Mexico, including most of the Interoceanic, formed the majority of Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (now Kansas City Southern de México
Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), is a company dedicated to freight transportation using rail in the northeastern part of Mexico. KCSM is fully owned and operated by Kansas City Southern ...
).
See also
* Garza Revolution
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Railroad Mexico
Defunct railway companies of Mexico
3 ft gauge railways in Mexico
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Railway companies established in 1902
1909 disestablishments in Mexico
Railway companies disestablished in 1909
Porfiriato
Mexican companies established in 1902