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The Mexican Southern Railroad was a passenger and freight railroad in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
connecting Oaxaca with Puebla. It was chartered in 1881 by a consortium of Mexican and American investors including former President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
. Construction delays plagued the company and by 1885, it was bankrupt. Under new ownership, construction was completed in 1892. The line became profitable for its owners until nationalized in 1936.


Investors

The idea for the Mexican Southern sprang from discussions between former United States President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
and Mexican politician
Matías Romero Matías Romero Avendaño (24 February 1837 – 30 December 1898) was a Mexican politician and diplomat who served three times as Secretary of Finance and twice as ambassador of Mexico to the United States during the 19th century. Early life ...
. Romero and Grant had been friends since the late 1860s, when Romero represented Mexico as ambassador to the United States while Grant was serving as commanding general in Washington. Grant had been interested in Mexico since his service there in the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
in the 1840s. While there, Grant had developed a sympathy for the Mexican people and later supported their rebellion against
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Maximilian, the foreign prince installed by French troops while the United States was fighting its
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. After leaving office, Grant visited Mexico in 1880 before attempting to be nominated for a third term as President. When that effort failed, he turned his attention to building a post-presidential career in business. Romero was also focused on business, and especially with the idea of attracting foreign investment to Mexico. After seeing the success of the Sonora Railway Company in doing so in 1879, he turned his attention to railroads and Grant. Even before the
1880 Republican National Convention The 1880 Republican National Convention was held from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York (state), N ...
, Romero approached Grant about railway promotion. That October, with Grant's political chances foreclosed, Romero visited him in the United States and offered him the presidency of a potential railroad, which he hoped to build south 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 ...
to the Guatemala border. The governor of the southern Mexican state of
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 ...
granted Romero a concession to build there. Romero and Grant held a banquet at
Delmonico's Delmonico's is a series of restaurants that have operated in New York City, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Manhattan. The origin ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to pitch the idea to wealthy American investors. That winter, they worked to convince the
New York state legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...
to incorporate the venture, which they did on March 1, 1881. Grant served as president of the new company, with
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
executive Grenville Dodge as vice president and
Russell Sage Russell Risley Sage (August 4, 1816 – July 22, 1906) was an American financier, railroad executive and Whig Party (United States), Whig politician from New York (state), New York, who became one of the List of richest Americans in history, rich ...
, another railroad man, as treasurer.


Construction and operation

Grant and Romero left for Mexico City later that month. After lobbying the government there for two months, they received permission to construct the railroad, and Grant returned to the United States. The Mexican government's terms included no subsidy and required construction to be complete in ten years. Because of its prominent president, the new venture received a great deal of attention in the American press. ''
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'' published an article about it describing the company and its aims: The investors' ambition exceeded even that description, as Grant obtained a concession from the Guatemalan government to continue the railroad a further 250 miles into that country. At the same time, Grant joined American President Chester A. Arthur in lobbying Congress to approve a free-trade agreement with Mexico, which they declined to do. Meanwhile, surveying of the Mexican Southern's route continued slowly and by 1883 construction had barely begun. In 1884, the company ran out of money and the northern segment was placed in receivership. The southern segment followed in 1885 with the failure of Grant's other business interests in New York, and the Mexican government declared the charter forfeit. Grant died later that same year. The Mexican government awarded the Mexican Southern's former charter to Governor Luis Mier y Terán in 1886, but the company was quickly bankrupt again. A British company, Read and Campbell, acquired the company in 1888 and, at last, began construction. The company by then had limited its ambitions to that of a regional railway and only planned to build from
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 Oaxaca. Beginning in Puebla, the line reached Tehuacán in January 1891. It reached the Tomellín Canyon later that year. Construction reached
Oaxaca City Oaxaca de Juárez (), or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surrounding munici ...
and was complete in November 1892. Mexican President
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
presided over the opening day ceremonies. Two short branches were later constructed out of Oaxaca. The company also acquired a
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
line between Tehuacán and Esperanza. The railroad was successful enough to pay
dividends A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...
between 1897 and 1914. There was soon enough commerce on the line to require the company to borrow train cars from nearby railroads. Proposals to extend the road to
Tehuantepec Tehuantepec (, in full, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec) is a city and municipality in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The area was important in pre-Hispanic per ...
were raised from time to time, but never executed. In 1909, the Interoceanic Railway of Mexico obtained a lease of the Mexican Southern. The Interoceanic, a division of the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, was nationalized in 1936. Mexico privatized the railroads again in 1995, but nearly all passenger rail service, including the Puebla-Oaxaca stretch of line, has been suspended since 1997. The former Oaxaca station was converted to a museum in 2003.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{refend Defunct railway companies of Mexico Railway companies established in 1881 Railway lines opened in 1892 Ulysses S. Grant Transportation in Oaxaca Transportation in Puebla 1881 establishments in Mexico