page_title: Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Promotional piece for the Ferrocarril del Sud of Argentina, describing services and cities connected by the train.
context_page_description: The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, 5 ft 6 in, British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward Lumb in 1862 and the first general manager was Edward Banfield after whom the Buenos Aires suburban station of Banfield was named, when it opened in 1873. After president Juan Perón nationalised the Argentine railway network in 1948 it became part of the state-owned company Ferrocarril General Roca.
context_section_description: On March 7, 1864, works began where the Constitución railway station is placed nowadays. Previously, a big celebration had been held, with a ceremony attended by President of Argentina Bartolomé Mitre and Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Mariano Saavedra.
  The first section of the railroad (77 km from Buenos Aires to Jeppener) was inaugurated on August 14, 1865. By December it had been extended to Chascomús (113 km). A total of 11 estaciones were built on this path: Plaza Constitución, Barracas al Sud (current Avellaneda), Lomas de Zamora, Glew, San Vicente (current Alejandro Korn), Domselaar, Ferrari (then Coronel Brandsen), Jeppener, Facio (then Altamirano), Gándara and Chascomús.
  The rolling stock was composed by 8 locomotives (manufactured by Robert Stephenson and Company), 38 first and second class wagons, by Brown, Marshalls and Co. Ltd. and 184 wagons for freight transport.
  The line was single track with the exception of the path between Constitución and Barracas, where a double track was built to facilitate the transit of the trains due to the workshops and rolling stock depots operated in Barracas.
  As time passed, some station were added, such as Barracas al Norte (current Hipólito Yrigoyen, 1866), Burzaco (1867) and Lanús (1868). The Great Southern Railway did not extend their tracks until 1870 but the profits increased year after year. In 1870 the line carried 516,993 passenger and 54,116 tonnes of freight.
caption: Advertisement for the urban services, c. 1913.
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