Ferrocarril Económico Correntino was the informal name for some former

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

State-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

railway lines in

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

that used a gauge of . Railway locomotives used firewood as fuel, running at a maximum speed of 20 km/h, therefore a trip between Corrientes and Mburucuyá in length took nearly 26 hours. The first line, named "Ferrocarril Primer Correntino", operated from 1892 to 1904. After its closure part of the rail tracks were removed and the other part continued operating as a freight train for the sugar cane mill with the same name. The second line was "Compañía General de Ferrocarriles Económicos de la Provincia de Corrientes", added part of the previous railway operating from 1912 to 1927 when it was acquired by the Government of Corrientes and renamed "Ferrocarril Provincial de Corrientes". With the railway Nationalisation in Argentina the FCEC was added to the General Urquiza Railway in 1948. The line was definitely closed in 1969 and its tracks lifted.

History

The Bolla railway

Italian entrepreneur Francisco Bolla, owner of sugar cane mill "Ingenio Primer Correntino" had requested for a railway line to transport both, goods and passengers. On December 18, 1890, the Provincial Legislature promulgated a Law granted Bolla a concession to build and operate a railway line. The Law specified a 600mm-narrow gauge and the use of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s for the railway. Law also granted Bolla's company the lands where the railway would be built, also exempting company from paying duties for a period of 30 years. For its part, the company had to run a minimum of three trains a week, whose fees would be established by the Government of Corrientes itself. The first section was built from Primer Correntino cane mill to San Luis del Palmar, being opened on September 23, 1892. Nevertheless, the Provincial Government realised that the company had extended the line from San Luis to the Arroyo Riachuelito and was constructing another branch to the city of Corrientes without permission. Because of that, the Government suspended the construction by decree on July 17, 1896. Works were finally resumed on September 14, giving also new concessions to the company. When the line from the city of Corrientes to San Luis del Palmar was finished in 1898, the railway was officially inaugurated. It had a total length of . The railway had 3 steam locomotives, two

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Kraus and one Tubize made in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. When the Bolla's company went into bankruptcy, the railway ceased operations in 1904. Concession was cancelled and the Government ordered railway tracks to be removed. Only the San Cosme-Paso de la Patria and the branch to Puerto Italia sections were removed. The line from Primer Correntino mill to San Cosme continued running as a

freight transport Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been exte ...

until 1969 when it was definitely closed.

Dodero's administration

On September 23, 1908, a new law was promulgated. It granted concession to shipping entrepreneur Carlos Dodero. In 1909 works began to extend the line to Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Caá Catí, where General Paz station was built. After the acquisition of rolling stock and properties, the line was opened in 1912. Rail tracks from Primer Correntino mill to Corrientes station had been lifted so it had to be rebuilt. Another 178-km branch was constructed from Lomas de Vallejos to Mburucuyá.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

engineer Mauro Herlitzka was in charge of works. Fc economico corrientes 1914

One of the locomotives acquired by Dodero was an Orenstein & Koppel 0-6-0 built in Germany. That locomotive is currently serving at Tren del Fin del Mundo in

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

, where it came in 1993. Other similar machines are exhibited at Concordia and Paraná stations, as well as in the Scalabrini Ortiz Railway Museum of

Retiro, Buenos Aires Retiro is a ''barrio'' or neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the Puerto Madero and San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, San Nicolás, and on the west by the Recoleta, Buenos ...

Final years

After the Dodero's administration failure, the railway was taken over by Banco Francés del Río de la Plata and then by the Provincial Government in 1927 until the line was

Nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

during

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

's administration in 1948, becoming part of General Urquiza Railway. The lack of maintenance and the floods that deteriorated the line resulted in the definitive closure by the Government in 1969. Soon after the entire line was dismantled. In 2009, there were some attempts to reactivate the railway, running trains from Santa Ana de los Guácaras and the Primer Correntino mill,"Dos meses para que el trencito El Económico retorne a los rieles"
, El Reportero Ferroviario (ERF), 20 Jan 2009 although it was never carried out.

References

External links