The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1916-05-11
RAILROADS IN MEXICO
SYSTEM HAS BEEN BUILT IN COM
PARATiVELY SHORT TIME.
To the Late President Porfirio Diaz
the Country Is Largely Indebted
for the Existing Lincs-Eads'
Dream OF Ship Railroad.

The railroads Of northern Mexico,
the use of which was fraught with
grave moment to the punitive expedi-
tionary force under General Pershing,
because of the serious question of
transporting supplies, is the subject
of an informative bulletin issued by
the National Geography society OF
Washington.
"The railway system Of Mexico has
mileage which exceeds by 25 per
cent the combined mileage of all the
other countries of North and South
America, with the exception of Can
ada the United States, Argentina and
Brazil" says the bulletin. This vast
system has been built up in 45 years,
for while there was tiny track from
Mexico City to the suburb of Quad
alupe as early as 1854, it was not until
1873 that President LerdO inaugurated
the first important line, that which
runs from Vera Cruz to the national
capital. President LerdO was opposed
to the building of railroads across the
desert plateaus of northern Mexico,
for he believed, it is said, that these
arid plains afforded certain security
against the political and commercial
influence Of the United States. Presi-
dent Porfirio Diaz had a far broader
vision, however, and during his long
regime railroad building was one of
his chief concerns, SO that when he
retired from the presidency these
steel arteries Of commerce had
crossed the United States border at
six places-Laredo, Ell Paso, Nogales,
Eagle Pass, Preside and Brownsville,
and 100000 people were carried
annually, together with 100000 tons
Of freight.
'One OF the most interesting fea.
lures of the railroad system under
Diaz was his insistence that the Amer
lean managers of the merged Mexican
national railroads should employ,
whenever possible, Mexican conduc-
tors, brakemen, telegraph operators,
fiagmen and section fOremen. In this
way he hoped to build up substan-
tial middle class from among the
poems. one Of tie crying needs Of the
country.
THE first railroad connecting Mex
leo City with the United States border
was that to Ell PasO, opened by Presi-
dent Diaz 32 years ago. This line has
been extended in recent years to Tam
picO on the east and to Guadalajara
on the west, and now embraces a
system of 1000 miles.
"The shortest line from Mexico City
to the United States $500 miles) is
that of the National railroad, which
crosses the border at Laredo.
when the four important railroad
systems known as the Mexican Gen.
trail, the National, the International
and the Interoceanic were fused into
the National railroads OF Mexico, the
government retained a majority Of
the capital stock of 615,OO0.000 pesos.
"All of the railroads in northern
Mexico are equipped with American
locomotives, passenger and freight
cars, and Pullman accommodations
are to be had on most of the lines.
The first-class passenger rates are
slightly higher than on American lines,
but there is lower secOnd-class rate,
by which the poems profit. Distances
are measured in kilometers-four
cents first class and one and One-half
cents second class. Restaurants at
the important stations serve table
d'hOte meals for one dollar, and the
trains usually make 25-minute stops
for breakfast, luncheon and dinner.
THE poems are like children in their
eagerness to ride on the trains, and in
the mining sections where small lines
are used in hapdling ores it is a diff
ficult matter to keep the natives of
the cars.
Although Mexico produces a large
quantity Of coal it Is Of q cheap grade
and the railroads as a rule either i'm
port their fuel or else burn oil, which
is produced in great abundance, es-
pecially in the Tampico region.
"The lines in the north are operated
on Mexican time, which is "a minutes
faster than American time at Ell Paso
and SO minutes faster at Laredo.
THE most interesting railroad in
Mexico is that 192-mile stretch Of track
which connects the Atlantic and Pa
eific seaboards across the isthmus Of
1'ehuantepec. 1t was here that Eads
dreamed of a ship railroad which could
lift vessels by huge derricks from the
harbor at Salina Cruz and swing them
on trains which would transport them
across the continent to CoatzacoalcOs,
where they would be lowered into
the roadstead.
The proposed Pan-American rail-
road. being built by American capital,
Is expected some day to establish a