The Buenos Aires Central Railway (BACR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Buenos Aires) was an Argentine

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

company which built and operated a railway line from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

to the city of 4 de Febrero in Santa Fe.

History

On 2 October 1884 entrepreneur

Federico Lacroze Federico Lacroze (4 November 1835 – 16 February 1899) was an Argentine businessman and railway entrepreneur of French descent. He created the first tram line in Buenos Aires and his Buenos Aires Central Railway helped link the provinces of ...

was granted a concession to build a 47 km

horse-drawn railway Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways. The terms plateway, tramway, dramway, ...

from the Chacarita station of Buenos Aires (later demolished and replaced by Federico Lacroze terminus) to Pilar. On 6 April 1888 the line was opened by the "Tramway Rural" company and was extended by 53 km to Zárate on 27 July of the same year. From 1891 the company was allowed to operate trains using steam locomotives. The BACR also planned to extend the line across the Santa Fe Province with the aim of reaching

Villa María A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...

in Córdoba, but due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the company could not import the materials needed to extend the line. The BACR built another line from Fátima to Salto, reaching

San Andrés de Giles San Andrés de Giles is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative seat of the San Andrés de Giles Partido San Andres de Giles Partido is a partido of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. The capital of the partido is S ...

on 24 May 1889, Heavy on 17 December 1892,

Carmen de Areco Carmen de Areco is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative centre for Carmen de Areco Partido. History In 1779, Viceroy Vértiz ordered Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bergezé de Ducás to reinforce the line of defence ...

on 15 March 1894 and finally Salto on 1 December 1896. On 26 August 1897 the company changed its name by Provincial decree to "Ferrocarril Rural de la Provincia de Buenos Aires" and on 11 October 1906 it changed its name again to "Ferrocarril Central de Buenos Aires". The line was extended from Salto to Rojas on 15 March 1909"El Federico" by Ariel Labrada
Historias de Rojas website and reached 4 de Febrero, on 29 July 1915."La estación Toro como hito fundacional de Presidente Derqui", by Alberto Allindo & Walter Belfiore
on Derqui website (Archive) In 1913 the BACR linked with the

Entre Ríos Railway The Entre Ríos Railway (ERR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Entre Ríos) was a British-owned railway company that built and operated a railway network in Entre Ríos Province, between the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, in Argentina. History The compa ...

(ERR), which passengers took after crossing the river by ferry. Once the transhipment was done, the ERR carried passengers to the neighbouring cities of

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

Salto (Uruguay) Salto () is the capital city of the Salto Department in northwestern Uruguay. As of the 2011 census it had a population of 104,028 and is the third most populated city in Uruguay, after Montevideo and Ciudad de la Costa. Location and geography T ...

and

Uruguaiana Uruguaiana is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located on the eastern shore of the Uruguay River bordering Argentina. Opposite to Uruguaiana, and joined to it by a road/railway bridge, lies the Argentine city of P ...

(

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

). Branch lines to San Martín and to

Campo de Mayo Campo de Mayo is a military base located in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, northwest of Buenos Aires. Campo de Mayo covers an area of and is one of the most important military bases in Argentina, including Argentine Army's: * General Lemos Co ...

in Greater Buenos Aires were opened on 20 February 1911 and 30 November 1914, respectively. Interchange was possible with the French-owned line of the Compañía General de Buenos Aires in Salto, with the broad gauge line of the British-owned

Central Argentine Railway The Central Argentine Railway, referred to as CA below, (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Argentino) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, British companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company had been establis ...

in San Martín (GBA) and with the broad gauge line of the British-owned

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway (BA&P) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The original concession wa ...

in Caseros.

History

See also