El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-06-06
A STUDY OF MEXICAN RAILWAYS.
The Railroad Field In Mexico is Not
OVer-CrOWded.

Horace r. Hobart, editor OF the Rail
way Age, made an extended tour OF
Mexico recently and had the following
TO say regarding Mexican railways:
Twenty years ago there was only one
steam railway in MexicO-the pioneer
line Of the Mexican Railway Company.
from Vera Cruz to the capital, 263
miles. 1t was not until 1880 that the
work of connecting that country with
the United States by trunk line from
Ell Paso to Mexico City was commenced,
and it is only fourteen years siuce the
connection was completed. Now Mex.
leo has almost 1000 miles of stsam
roads, besides some 500 miles of tram
ways, which carry passenger and
freight traffic, and the framework of Q
great system of internal transportation
is now we'll outlined. Considering the
many neutrality-suspicious. financial,
typographical and ethnographical--in
the way of railroad building, il 10 sur
prising that so much was accomplished
in the ten years within which nearly
all of this mileage las been construct
ed. But if comparison 10 made with
the United States it will appear that
the work is as yet far from complete.
In round numbers, the two countries
now compare rs follows:
Area Square Mtles-Mexico. pa, 900:
ulVCu Sb0S0ot opOOO,OOO. IsbhWoySs
Miles-Mexico, 1000; United States,
1920 Square Miles to Railways
Mexico. los: United States, 20. To-
habitants TO Mile of Railwsy-Mexico,
I,714; United States, 357.
On the basis of tae present railway
mileage of the United States. compar-
ed with area, Mexico should have 81.
600 miles of lines. instead of its pre-
sent 1000 miles. On the present basis
roads in the United States, Mexico
should now have 30, 800 miles of rail-
way. The existing railways form but
the skeleton of the system that will be
necessary to the full development of
which the country is capable. The
total mileage of all railways now in
operation in Mexico is q little less
Jan 900 miles.
Mexico in the 1920 miles of line has
two distinct systems of railways, those
of standard and those of narrow t3-foot)
gauge. In no other country has the
battle of the gauges been fought on a
basis go near to equality. For q time
the narrow gauge was the leader, in
point of mileage, and now freight and
passenger cars with trucks of 3-fOot
gauge can run from Corpus Christi,
Texas, to the City of Mexico, and
thence via Vera Cruz to Alvarado, on
tuS GuiI, UT Viz uSDl6 UO O6x6C6, q
distance. in either case, of nearly l.
400 miles, without breaking bulk. The
extension Of the Mexican Southern to
Tehuantepec, as proposed, would give
q continuous narrow gauge routs from
the Rio GTande and beyond, almost to
the southern boundary of the country,
aud from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Pacific.
There was much to be said with
reason, when the battle was raging, in
favor of making three feet the national
railway gauge of Mexico. A noun
tsinous country throughout it's whole |
length, making heavy grades, |
numerous curves and much rock
work necessities of rail. |
way construction, it cannot be denied |
that Mexico could have saved many |
millions if all her railways had been |
built on the narrow gauge. Nor will |
those who have inspected such lines as |
she Mexican National, the Inter -oceau.
% and the Msxiean Southern question