Joe Cullum Wrote:
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> Interesting about Santiago... Wood products?

I'm not sure what the commodity was. I wish now I would have looked into it. There was a language barrier problem to some extent.

> Wonder if it was profitable? Probably wasn't since LFCD does not operate to Tepehuanes...

I imagine you're right. To have continued the service would have required the maintenance of many miles of track and they probably crunched the numbers with the amount of traffic and it didn't make economic sense.

> Did you locate any freight south of Oaxaca City to Tlacolula and Taviche or East of Tepa?

I seem to recall the branch to Tlacolula had already been abandoned or was down to just freight-only status, otherwise, we would have looked into riding the service on it. The train we rode to Taviche set out a boxcar at Zimatlan but I didn't figure out what the commodity was. It might have been NdeM company material. Where was Tepa and what line was it on?

> Or anything to Peto and Sotuta?

We saw some boxcars being set out and picked up at Acanceh, the town where the Peto and Sotuta branches split, but didn't determine what the commodity was. Nothing beyond there. Nothing on the Tizimin Branch, but we did see some tank cars loaded with asphalt on the Valladolid line. They were probably using the asphalt to improve the roads so they could hurry up and discontinue the passenger trains! The branch to Progreso was freight-only so we didn't check that out. It would have been interesting to know what was being shipped in and out of the port. I had heard they were running some sort of commuter service on the Progreso line for awhile and it even used cars that required high-level platforms. Tizimin had a pretty good sized station, run down of course, and I couldn't find any trace of it in looking at some recent aerial photos. It's also very difficult to trace where the rail lines were in that part of the country. I wonder if there are any good topo maps of Mexico.

[i]> It looks like only a triweekly coach service was offered. If only they had a couple Budd RDC's...

Yeah, the government could have promoted rail service but then the emphasis switched to buses. If you're a bus fan, Mexico is heaven on earth. There are bus terminals in Mexico City that almost look like airport terminals. I just read the other day where there's a proposal to start up a nationwide rail passenger network. I doubt if it will get beyond talk. A lot of the infrastructure is now gone and it would be hard to say if the private concessionaires would like the idea.

> Great stuff Arthur, keep em coming! Exeter Joe

Thanks! I've got a few more photos!