The Interoceanic Railway of Mexico (''Ferrocarril Interoceánico de México'') was one of the primary pre-

nationalization 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 p ...

railways of Mexico. Incorporated in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in 1888 to complete an unfinished project and compete with the

Mexican Railway The Mexican Railway (''Ferrocarril Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in London in September 1864 as the Imperial Mexican Railway (''Ferrocarril Imperial Mexicano'') to complete an earlier p ...

, it completed a

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 ...

main line from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

in 1891. Branches included Mexico City to

Puente de Ixtla Puente de Ixtla is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It stands at . The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality reported 66,435 inhabitants in the year 2015 census. The town get ...

(the constructed part of an incomplete line to

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

to Cuautla, Atencingo to Tlancualpicán, and a cutoff between

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and Santa Clara (bypassing Puebla). Through subsidiary Mexican Eastern Railroad, the Interoceanic acquired a branch from San Marcos to

Teziutlán Teziutlán is a city in the northeast of the Mexican state of Puebla. Its 2005 census population was 60,597. It also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding Teziutlán Municipality. The municipality has an area of 84.2 km2 (32.51 ...

in 1902, and in January 1910 it began operating the Mexican Southern Railway from Puebla to

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

under lease. 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 republ ...

acquired control of the Interoceanic in 1903, and subsequently sold it to the

National Railroad of Mexico The National Railroad of Mexico (''Ferrocarril Nacional de México'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Colorado in 1880 as the Mexican National Railway (''Ferrocarril Nacional Mexicano''), and heade ...

in exchange for ownership of that company.Fred Wilbur Powell
The Railroads of Mexico
Stratford Company (Boston), 1921, pp. 139-147 Manual of Statistics Company (New York)
The Manual of Statistics: Stock Exchange Hand-Book
1908, pp. 163-164 Although the National Railroad became part of

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México ''Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México'' (better known as N de M and after 1987 as Ferronales or FNM) or ''National Railways of Mexico'' was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of P ...

(''National Railways of Mexico'') in January 1909, the Interoceanic and its two subsidiaries remained separate companies. Poor's Manual Company (New York)
Poor's Intermediate Manual of Railroads
1917, pp. 928-946 Following

privatization Privatization (rendered 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 w ...

in the 1990s, Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (now

Kansas City Southern de México Kansas City Southern de México, S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican railroad and operating subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC). The company was founded in 1996 as Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana , a joint venture between KCS a ...

) acquired most of the main line of the former Interoceanic, while several branches, including the old line to Puebla and the Mexican Southern, were assigned to

Ferromex Ferromex (syllabic abbreviation of ''Ferrocarril Mexicano'', 'Mexican Railway') is a private rail consortium that operates the largest (by mileage) railway in Mexico with combined mileage (Ferromex + Ferrosur) of and is often classed with Nort ...

. A portion of the former Interoceanic and a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

have been preserved as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in Cuautla.

References

External links

*�
Rinconestudiantil.com: Photos of the heritage railway in Cuautla
*�

{{authority control Heritage railways in Mexico Defunct railway companies of Mexico 3 ft gauge railways in Mexico Museums in Morelos Railway museums in Mexico Railway companies established in 1888 Railway lines opened in 1891 Railway companies disestablished in 1903 1891 establishments in Mexico Transport companies disestablished in 1903

See also

References

External links