Rail transport
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 p ...
in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
currently consists of a passenger
metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
system in the island's metropolitan area of
San Juan. Its history can be traced back to the mid-19th century with the construction of a limited passenger line in
Mayagüez. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Puerto Rico's rail transport system expanded significantly, becoming one of the largest rail systems in the Caribbean at the time thanks to an
economic boom
An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP. The explanation of fluctuations in aggregate economic activit ...
in agriculture industries, especially the
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
industry. The rail system was expanded to include passenger travel with a direct line from the island's northern capital of
San Juan to the western and southern cities and towns, greatly improving travel and communication within the island. However, the entire system was soon overshadowed by the arrival of the automobile, and by the 1950s was completely abandoned. Small remnants of this system still exist in some parts of Puerto Rico, some conserved for
tourism purposes.
History
Early Mayagüez passenger system
Although Puerto Rico did not have a national railroad system until the last decade of the 19th, between the 1870s and 1890s, the city of
Mayagüez did have a small passenger rail system for transporting its residents, mainly along the current
Mendez Vigo Avenue.
[''Puerto Rico: Society and Culture Before the US Invasion of 1898: Transportation''](_blank)
Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC) It was originally proposed by Jose A. Gonzalez y Echevarría in 1870 under the company ''El Ferrocarril Urbano de la Villa de Mayagüez'' (the Urban Train of Mayagüez),
[''The Mayagüez Trans-Way, First Urban Rail System of Puerto Rico''](_blank)
(El Tranvía de Mayagüez, Primer Ferrocarril Urbano de Puerto Rico), New Mayagüez Foundation, Inc. (Fundación Nuevo Mayagüez, Inc.) with the line being built between 1872 and 1875. The simple
street railway system consisted of small wagons on rails pulled by horses, and connected the center part of the town with the ''Playa'' sector (now Port sector). It faced numerous difficulties, including inclined routes and poor street conditions, which were troublesome for the animals. The system stopped in 1887 after the company was unable to obtain certain permits, but was revived in 1893 after a proposal by the company ''Sociedad Anónima Tranvia de Mayagüez'' (the Mayagüez Tramways Anonymous Society) and renewed operations in 1895.
The new system operated more efficiently, offering more comfortable cars and more stops, including one in the town Market Place (''Plaza del Mercado'') and another in the Guanajibo neighborhood. The routes were altered to pass through
McKinley Street, which was less inclined and with better road conditions than previous routes benefiting both the ride and the horses. It lasted until 1912, when the Mayagüez Tramways Anonymous Society ceased operations and was replaced by the Mayagüez Tramway Company in 1913.
The third operator of the system introduced new larger electric-powered cars, although the service was now limited from the ''Playa'' sector directly to the Balboa neighborhood. It remained active for 13 years, but after a major earthquake hit Mayagüez in 1918, coupled with the recent arrival of the automobile, it was shut down permanently in 1926.
San Juan Tramway
![Rails To Nowhere](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Rails_To_Nowhere.jpg)
In 1878, engineer-entrepreneur Don Pablo Ubarri was granted a permit to build and operate a passenger
steam tramway between
San Juan and the town of
Río Piedras
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
.
[ San Juan: Historia Illustrada de su desarrollo urbano, 1508-1898 - Aníbal Sepúlveda Rivera. San Juan 1989, pp. 209-211. Centro de Investigaciones CARIMAR.] This interurban system was the beginning of colonization of the hinterland of the walled city of San Juan.
In 1901, the
San Juan Light & Transit Co. replaced the steam tram by a new electric
tram system
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 ...
. The stops or ''paradas'' along the avenue were numbered, from 1 in Old San Juan to 40 in Río Piedras. The numbers became so identified with the locations that some street maps still show them today. In 1911 a new line going through
Condado in
Santurce is constructed by the
Porto Rico Railway, Light & Power Co. Locally referred to as the ''Trolley de San Juan'', or ''San Juan Trolley'' in English, it crossed the streets of San Juan from 1901 to . During its heyday, it was the most modern electric tramway system in Puerto Rico, rivaling
New York and
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, the cars had such features as steel arch roof bodies, improved ventilation, up to 65 seated passengers capacity and air operated front and centre doors, with more than of tracks and 36 passengers coaches, it transported nearly 10 million passengers a year. A stroll cost ten cents.
The event of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the creation of the San Juan-Santurce Omnibus Line, the
White Star Bus Line and the
San Felipe (1928) and
San Ciprián
San Cibrao (the name is Galician; also known by the Spanish-language San Ciprián), is an industrial and fishing town, part of Cervo (which is both a settlement and municipality of the Lugo Province) in Northwestern Spain. The population of ...
cyclones in 1932 caused serious damages to this transit system.
National railroad system
The main Puerto Rico rail system was created during the late 19th century and was significantly expanded during the early 20th century due to a growing
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
industry in the island.
[Pumarada O'Neill, L. (1980). ''Trasfondo histórico del ferrocarril en Puerto Rico''. Mayagüez: Centro de Investigaciones de Ingeniería, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, págs. 5-7. ] Its origins can be traced back to 1874, when a Spanish engineer proposed building a
steam railroad line along the coast of Puerto Rico. The study for this project served as a base for the definitive construction, which began in 1888. It would take almost 20 years to complete the whole route from San Juan to Ponce.
[Pumarada O'Neill, L. (1980). ''Trasfondo histórico del ferrocarril en Puerto Rico''. Mayagüez: Centro de Investigaciones de Ingeniería, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, págs. 8-9, 25. ] The main system began operations in 1891, when the northern line was built between San Juan (in the Martín Peña sector) and the town of
Manatí, followed by extensions to the towns of
Carolina (to the east) and
Arecibo
Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...
/
Camuy
Camuy () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Lares and San Sebastián; east of Quebradillas; and west of Hatillo. Camuy is spread over 12 barrios and Camuy Pueblo (the downtown area and the admini ...
(to the west) the following year. When the United States
invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, the system already had approximately of railroad tracks.
![Train Station in Yauco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Train_Station_in_Yauco.jpg)
Passenger travel began to flourish in 1902 when the
American Railroad Company from New York acquired the system.
[Violeta Landron,]
''The Train: Memories and Nostalgia on Rails''
(El Tren: Recuerdos y Nostalgia sobre Rieles), ''Fiestas Patronales 2000'', Vega Baja, PR, Pg. 44 In 1904, a southern line was constructed between
Hormigueros and
Yauco
Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana G ...
. The northern line was expanded towards the west of San Juan to include the towns of
Arecibo
Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...
and
Aguadilla
Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla i ...
. One of the most significant projects of this line was linking the main rail line through
Quebradillas and
Isabela, requiring the construction of tunnels and tall bridges, including the
Guajataca Tunnel
Guajataca Tunnel is a railroad tunnel that connected the town of Isabela and Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. The tunnel is one of the most significant work of the remnants of the national railway system that connected the island during the first half ...
completed in 1904.
In 1907, the northern line of San Juan was connected to the southern line of
Ponce, finally connecting the northern and southern portions of the island.
Before its demise, the Puerto Rico railroad system had some of track and served almost all coastal towns, carrying freight into the Island and transporting agricultural products to the ports for shipping overseas.
[''An Island Grows, 70 Years of Economic Development in Puerto Rico, 1877 - 1947'' (1947) Biblioteca UPR.] The construction of the national railroad system produced tunnels and bridges which were noted for their architecture and local importance.
The
Puente Blanco
The Puente Blanco ( en, White Bridge) is a historic railway bridge that spans hundred and fifty feet deep and thirty six metres wide gorge across the Quebrada Mala Canyon, near Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. The bridge is the only reinforced concret ...
, completed in 1922, and the
Caño San Antonio rail bridge completed in 1932,
were designated as
Historical Places by the
U.S. National Park Service in 1984 and 2009, respectively, while the Guajataca Tunnel was designated as a Historical Monument by the
Puerto Rico Legislature in 2000.
Many of these structures were designed and built under the supervision of Etienne Totti,
who was at the time the head engineer of the American Railroad of Porto Rico and would become the first president of the
Puerto Rico Professional College of Engineers.
Transport by rail greatly improved the everyday life of Puerto Ricans, since passengers could now travel between the largest cities, San Juan and Ponce, in record time. Previous trips used to take several days by horse and wagons, but the regular train greatly reduced traveling time to around 10 hours. There were four main trains operating all day and night during the system’s peak years, with Train No. 1 departing at 7:00am from San Juan and arriving in Ponce at 5:00pm. Tickets for this one-way trip cost $1.50 for first class and $0.95 for second class in 1950.
The system was such an important part of island society, that famed composer
Manuel “Canario” Jimenez composed a ''
Plena
Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico.
Origins
The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...
'' song titled ''La Máquina'' (The Machine) about the daily trip between San Juan and Ponce.
Tragedy on election day in 1944
On the early morning hours of November 7, 1944, the American Railroad Company of Puerto Rico suffered the most violent accident in its history.
[''La Tragedia del 7 de noviembre de 1944''](_blank)
(The Tragedy of November 7, 1944) by Haydee E. Reichard de Cancio, El Nuevo Dia
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
, Por Dentro Section, Pg. 116, December 7, 1996, retrieved on July 31, 2006 Train No. 3 was traveling from San Juan to Ponce carrying passengers to their different hometowns for the island general elections to be held that same day. It stopped at the Jimenez Station in Aguadilla for a routine
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
and fireman exchange with Train No. 4 which was heading towards San Juan. The engineer assigned to Train No. 3's ride from Jimenez Station to Ponce was Jose Antonio Roman, an experienced freight train engineer, but who had never worked in passenger travel.
When the train left the station at 2:00am, it was hauling six passenger cars with hundreds of commuters and two freight cars.
![Cuesta Vieja, street in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Cuesta_Vieja%2C_street_in_Aguadilla%2C_Puerto_Rico.jpg)
At 2:20am the train started to descend a hill section known as ''Cuesta Vieja'' (Old Hill) in Aguadilla at what some witnesses described as an exaggerated speed. When the train reached the leveling-off point at the bottom of the hill it
derailed. The steam locomotive crashed into a ditch and one of the freight cars crashed into one of the passenger cars, killing many inside. Witnesses described the scene as horrendous, with some accounts stating that parents were throwing their children out the windows to save them from the wreckage.
Chief of Police Guillermo Arroyo stated that the locomotive (No. 72), the express car, and three second class passenger cars were completely destroyed. Oscar Valle, an Aguadilla correspondent to the local ''
El Mundo'' newspaper, summarized the scene in a more dramatic way: "The locomotive suffered a terrible explosion as it derailed, and the impact was so strong that 3 passenger cars were converted into a fantastic mound of wreckage."
In the end, 16 passengers lost their lives, including the engineer and the fireman, and 50 were injured in the crash.
Downfall
Image:San Juan Terminal.jpg, The former San Juan railroad terminal
Image:Mercedita Train 2.JPG, Abandoned Central Mercedita Plymouth DE 50-ton locomotive in the Mercedita Serralles Refinery near Ponce
Image:Puente_del_Tren_Santurce_PR.JPG, Old train bridge in the San Juan district of Santurce, near San Juan Central Park
Image:Exposed Rail San Juan Port.jpg, Exposed rails at the Old San Juan
Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...
Port, facing the old "Calle del Tren" (Train Street; today an exclusive bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
street)
When Puerto Rico
changed its mostly agricultural economy to a manufacturing one, and the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments started investing heavily in interstate
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
s and
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s, the railroad business in the island soon collapsed. The system was almost lost when the American Railroad Company filed for bankruptcy in 1947.
In an effort to save the system, former employees reorganized the company and formed the
Puerto Rico Railroad and Transport Company
The American Railroad Company (ARR) owned and operated a railroad in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, ...
serving as
stockholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
s,
but by then the system could no longer compete with the increasing number of automobiles, trucks, and buses on the island. Passenger travel ceased in 1953, while the commercial service (mostly for the sugar cane industry) continued operating until 1957. Small portions of the system remained operational for local industries, including the Mercedita and Arroyo sugar refineries, until the collapse of the sugar cane industry in the early 1990s.
The last remaining part of the system used in operations was a small rail line located in the town of
Arroyo, which was used exclusively for tourism purposes until 2005.
[TravelandSports.com]
Tren del Sur de Arroyo
/ref>[PRFROGUI.co]
/ref> The rest of the system was either torn down to make room for new development, recycled (rails were melted and recycled and certain rail bridges were converted into road bridges), or simply abandoned. Remnants of the main system and lines can still be seen in some parts of Puerto Rico.
File:Abandoned Mercedita with tracks.JPG, Remnants of the Mercedita Refinery and Central Mercedita rails near Ponce
File:Old train tracks at Central Igualdad in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.jpg, Old train tracks at Central Igualdad in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...
File:Guajataca tunnel 2.JPG, Entrance to the Guajataca Tunnel
Guajataca Tunnel is a railroad tunnel that connected the town of Isabela and Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. The tunnel is one of the most significant work of the remnants of the national railway system that connected the island during the first half ...
in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
Quebradillas (, ) is a town and municipality of the island of Puerto Rico located in the north-western shore bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of San Sebastián; east of Isabela; and west of Camuy. Quebradillas is spread over seven barrios and ...
Tren Urbano
The Tren Urbano is a heavy-rail commuter metro system serving the cities of Bayamón, Guaynabo
Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spr ...
and San Juan. It is the only active rail system serving the general public in Puerto Rico, with 16 stations along a route. It is electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
by third rail at 750 volts of direct current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...
. The line's construction started in July 1996 with the purpose of relieving traffic congestion in the San Juan metropolitan area, and was inaugurated January 2005 to mixed reactions. With a final estimated cost of $2.25 billion, nearly $1 billion more than original estimates,[''Tren Urbano PR another way low transit ridership forecast''](_blank)
TOLLROADSNews, November 20, 2005, accessed April 13, 2007. the project has been criticized by government watchdogs, especially for its low passenger use of approximately 24,000 daily passengers (2005 est.), compared with original projections of 80,000.
Upon its inaugural opening, there were initial plans to extend the Tren Urbano rail system to outlying suburbs of the San Juan metro area, including a light interurban rail system from San Juan to Caguas originally scheduled to be completed in 2010. However, these designs have not been finalized and no construction work has commenced yet. The proposed Caguas rail project remains postponed as of September 2019.
Other systems
Chemex Railroad
The Chemex Railroad (a.k.a. Port of Ponce Railroad) was a short, industrial railroad located in the southern city of Ponce and was the last remaining operational freight railroad on the entire island until it ceased operations sometime in 2010.[Railroads of Puerto Rico: Ferrocarril Chemex](_blank)
Brief information and photographs of the Chemex Railroad operation in Ponce. It first began operations in 1988 under the control of CHEMEX Corporation
The Chemex Coffeemaker is a manual pour-over style glass coffeemaker, invented by Peter Schlumbohm in 1941, manufactured by the Chemex Corporation in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
In 1958, designers at the Illinois Institute of Technology said that ...
's predecessor PharmaChem, a supplier of chemicals to Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry, which primarily used the railroad to ship inbound chemical products via a railroad ferry connection from Mobile, Alabama in the U.S. mainland to the marine terminal within the Puerto de Las Américas.[American Shipper](_blank)
Article: ''Where the Rail Meets the Water''
The entire rail system consisted of an eight-track railroad yard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...
, a railroad ferry terminal, and two diesel switcher locomotives.[Google Maps – Ponce, PR](_blank)
Observations from a Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
satellite image with a view of the Port of Ponce (Chemex) railroad yard. The two engines, an EMD SW1
The EMD SW1 is a Diesel locomotive#Diesel–electric, diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors Corporation, General Motors' Electro-Motive Diesel, Electro-Motive Corporation (later Division) between December 1938 and November ...
and EMD SW9
The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in Ontario Canada from December 1950 to March 19 ...
, made up the primary locomotive roster to assist in most of its switching activities and the loading of rail cars onto barges
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
. About twice each month from the Port of Mobile
The Port of Mobile is a deep-water port in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It is the only deep-water port in Alabama. It was ranked by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as the 9th largest port by tonnage in the nation during 2014, with ...
, the railroad ferry service transported an average of 24 tank car
A tank car ( International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.
History
Timeline
The following major events occurred in ...
s throughout each voyage, delivering and receiving both loaded and unloaded cars from the terminal to the rest of the national U.S. rail network.
Train of the South
The Train of the South was an historic
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, 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 ...
plantation line dedicated exclusively for tourism in Arroyo. Several passenger wagons pulled by a Plymouth WDT 40-ton diesel locomotive transported visitors on an hour-long guided tour along old sugar cane fields. This line has been temporarily closed in 2005, but there are petitions to revive and extend the system.[Government of Puerto Ric]
State Historic Conservation Plan 2006-2010
(Spanish)
El Parque del Tren
El Parque del Tren was a little train within a park dedicated exclusively for park attendees. It was also the last remaining rail line open to the general public until the inauguration of the ''Tren Urbano''. It consisted of a locomotive with various passenger cars which would carry visitors around a large recreational park in Bayamón. As part of early 2000s reconstruction efforts, the park was demolished to make way for the ''Tren Urbano''.
RadioSabor.es
Some of the park's areas have been remodeled and it now features some of the things the park had in the past, such as a blue-water lake. The area is now known as "Parque del Nino" or "Children's Park".
See also
* Defunct systems
* List of Puerto Rico tramways
* List of Puerto Rico railroads
* List of United States railroads
About 700 railroads operate common carrier freight service in the United States. There are about of railroad track in the United States, nearly all standard gauge.
Reporting marks are listed in parentheses. RailincSearch MARKs accessed Febru ...
* Rail transport in the United States
Rail transportation in the United States consists primarily of freight shipments, with a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads extending into Canada and Mexico. Passenger service is mainly mass transit and commute ...
* Transportation in Puerto Rico
Transportation in Puerto Rico includes a system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ports and harbors, and railway systems, serving a population of approximately 4 million year-round. It is funded primarily with both local and federal gov ...
* Metre-gauge railway
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
* List of gauges used on Puerto Rico tracks
References
Further reading
* Jack Delano (June 1990), ''De San Juan a Ponce En El Tren'' (''From San Juan to Ponce in Train''), University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
,
Ponce, Puerto Rico train lines:
* Roger Aponte Pargas. El desarrollo histórico del tranvía eléctrico de Ponce: 1898-1927. Ponce: University of Puerto Rico, 1987.
* United States Army Corps of Engineers. Port Facilities at Ponce, Porto Rico ic Washington 1927.
* Eduardo Neumann. Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Ponce, 1913 eprinted 1987 "Carros Eléctricos" section. pp. 114–115.
* Poor's Manual of Railroads. New York, 1868-1924. Section on "Ponce Electric Co." p. 2500. 1912 edition.
* Stone & Webster Public Service Journal. Boston, 1907-1915 (continued as Stone & Webster Journal 1916-1932). Issues of 1907, 1908 and February 1928.
* United States. 57th Congress, 1st Session, Senate. Document No. 76: Electric Street Railway, Ponce, P.R. Washington, 1901.
* José Jimeno Agius. Población y Comercio de la Isla de Puerto Rico. Memoria de 1885. Madrid, 1885 eprinted in 1918 in Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico, vol. V Survey of citizens and commerce. p. 294
* Adolfo de Hostos. Tesauro de Datos Históricos. 5 volumes, Río Piedras, 1990-1995. Thesaurus of Puerto Rican history. "Ponce – Tranvía" section, Vol. IV, p. 391.
* Archivo General de Puerto Rico. Fondo de Obras Públicas. Inventario Sub Fondo Ferrocarriles y Tranvías. San Juan, 2005. List of railroad and tramway proposals. Ponce tramway section, pp. 139–141 (tramway proposals in 1864-1865).
External links
Railroads of Puerto Rico
– A site dedicated to the history of railroading in Puerto Rico.
Tren Urbano Home Page
(English)
{{1944 railway accidents
Rail transport in Puerto Rico
Heritage railroads in Puerto Rico
3 ft gauge railways in the United States
Narrow gauge railroads in Puerto Rico
Transport disasters in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
1891 establishments in Puerto Rico