Here's a photo I took on March 11, 1997, TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, when I rode NdeM Trains 326 and 325 on a round trip from Durango to Regocijo in the state of Durango in Mexico.

Here we see the locomotives of train 326 passing the station as they were doing some switching work in the village of Purísima, the junction where the branches to El Salto (Aserraderos) and Regocijo divided. The train crew was assembling some freight cars to take to a shipper on the Regocijo branch. Several months after I took this photo, the train was discontinued and the lines to Regocijo and El Salto were ripped up. With the privatization of the national railroad network, no concessionaire was interested in operating these particular lines.

Almost all that remains now in Purísima are abandoned buildings. The beautiful and ornate train station in the city of Durango has been repurposed for a non-rail use as the tracks are now gone.

Here's a GOOGLE aerial photo showing where the Purisima station is located and you can "zoom back" to see where it is in relation to everything else. If you look closely, you can still trace where the rail lines used to be, although it's getting more difficult with the growth of trees and new road construction.

[goo.gl]