More railfanning in Mexico

Ed M Mar 9, 2008

  1. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Last weekend we went on another of our trips with the group of railfans from down here. This time 50 of us headed out Saturday morning from Mexico City in a chartered bus. We headed for Toluca, Acambaro and Celaya, which are all west to northwest of Mexico City. Here are a few of the more interesting shots from the trip.

    First, my usual disclaimer. I can’t recognize one “diseasel” from another. All the locomotive types that I mention here I found through various on-line roster info sources. So if I mistakenly refer to an SD40-2 as a PA-1, feel free to correct me.

    The line from Mexico City to Toluca is a secondary line for KCSdeM. Their north south mainline heads northwest from Mexico City. This line has much less traffic, and mainly services the large industrial corridor around Toluca. By the way, Toluca is the capital of the state of Mexico. And, at 2,679 meters, or 8,790 feet above sea level, is the highest state capital in Mexico.

    Here we see one of a series of novel crossing signs located along the industrial corridor just east of Toluca. These are made of concrete and are somewhere between 12-15 feet high (+/-). In this area the tracks run between the highway and the frontage road. So there are a whole series of spurs that turn off and cross the frontage (service) road at almost regular intervals.

    [​IMG]

    We had some permission letters for the visit, but as usual down here, final interpretation is up to the locals. At the Toluca yard we were allowed to wander around (within limits) but were very restricted in what we could photograph. But here are a couple of shots. First is a new SD70Ace, #4066, in the “Retro Belle” paint scheme.

    [​IMG]

    Fran got into better position and snapped one of #4066 together with #4083.

    [​IMG]

    Heading away from the yard in the bus, I grabbed a quick shot of this old consolidation stuffed and mounted in a traffic circle. NdeM #269 is a 3’-0” narrow gauge loco, built by Baldwin in 1921. I believe that she is a sister to the #279 that still operates down here in Cuautla.

    [​IMG]


    More to follow....


    Ed
    .
     
  2. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Just a bit farther on, we stopped for an unplanned foto op as we saw TFM GP38-2 #1104 doing some local switching.

    [​IMG]

    From Toluca we pressed on to Acambaro, in the state of Guanajuato, still following the KCSdeM secondary line. Just before reaching Acambaro, we caught up with a train of autoracks and containers. It stopped a couple of kms short of Acambaro awaiting clearance. Taking advantage of the stop, a couple of guys from the group headed back to chat with the crew, while the rest of us waited for the train at the next crossing.

    Finally the train started up again, and here she is starting up the grade towards Acambaro.

    [​IMG]

    As she got nearer we could see something different on the front of the locomotive. Yup, the crew had allowed our guys to ride the front of the locomotive, displaying the club banner. By the way, the locos are KCSdeM #3359 (C30-Super7R) followed by #3456 and 3416 (both C30-Super7N’s).

    [​IMG]

    Not exactly a photo roll-by, but a nice shot as the train slow rolled the last half mile into Acambaro.



    [​IMG]

    More to follow...

    Ed
    .
     
  3. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Another 15 railfans, from Guadalajara and Uruapan, joined up with us at Acambaro. Plus we had several fans and museum members (ex-railroaders0 from Acambaro. This all made this the biggest get together of railfans down here outside of our annual convention.

    Acambaro used to be a very important rail center, with a large shop setup. Now, like many other places, it mainly sees run through trains. The shops are closed, not many cars get switched in the yard, and most of the local action is related to m-o-w equipment and crews.

    Here’s a shot of the old station. It’s in pretty good shape. KCSdeM has control of the building as part of their concession for this package of the rail system, but they only use one room as an office for security guards. Part of the building is loaned to the local “Friends of the railroad – Acambaro branch” who maintain a nice, if small, museum in the space. They, and the city, are trying to get control of the entire building. We’ll see how that turns out. We did get a special welcome from the local group, and a tour of the museum. They also hosted a small reception for us!

    [​IMG]

    They have two old steam engines stuffed and mounted on display outside. The first is NdeM #903, a consolidation built by Baldwin in 1910. I believe this one was originally narrow gauge and later widened to standard gauge.

    [​IMG]

    The other is probably the best known steam locomotive in Mexico. It’s NdeM #296, “La Fidelita”. Built here in the Acambaro shops, it rolled out on June 14, 1944. Lots of people down here think that it was the only steam locomotive built in Mexico. Close but not quite. Her sister, #295 was also built here in 1942, and there was a small 0-6-0 built in the Aguascalientes shops. But neither of the other two survived. This one was later standard gauged.

    By the way, she was christened “La Fidelita” when she came out of the shops in honor of the deceased daughter of the master mechanic of the Acambaro shops who was in charge of her construction.

    [​IMG]

    Of course, the group photo was obligatory. So here is a large portion of the group spread out over “La Fidelita”.

    [​IMG]

    More to follow...

    Ed
    .
     
  4. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    There was one switcher in the yard at Acambaro, but I’m not sure whether this was a regular assignment or not. But here is TFM #1035, a MP-15AC.

    [​IMG]

    This was one of the more interesting cars sitting around in the yard. The green paint and the shape of the patch over the old logo to the right of the door shows this to be an old FCP (Ferrocarril del Pacifico) boxcar. It is now patched for TFM and is used by m-o-w crews.

    [​IMG]

    More to come...

    Ed
    .
     
  5. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    This was also unique. It’s an old boxcar converted into a caboose supply shack. At least that’s a loose translation of “Equipador de Cabuses”.

    [​IMG]

    And yes, there are some cabooses still hanging around Acambaro, although I think that they are almost entirely assigned to m-o-w crews. Here are a couple of shots of TFM cabooses in the yard.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    More to come...

    Ed
    .
     
  6. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    After finishing up at Acambaro we headed off to Celaya, just a bit north, still in the state of Guanajuato. Celaya is interesting because the main line of Ferromex (Line A) crosses this secondary line of KCSdeM (Line NB). Definitely a good place to look for some action. Unfortunately, after dawdling around all day we managed to arrive late, just as we were losing the light. I did grab off a couple of quick shots, even if the light was fading.

    First is a shot of the diamond itself. That’s Line A, the FXE mainline, running top to bottom in the photo. The small yard at Celaya (also not very active these days) lies just out of the picture at the top. Beyond the yard the line splits, with one branch heading for Guadalajara and on up the coast (the old Southern Pacific de Mexico route) and the other branch heading for Aguascalientes and on to El Paso. Behind me the line heads for Mexico City.

    The KCSdeM line, NB, at the left is the line coming from Mexico City via Toluca and Acambaro. By the way, that includes KCSdeM’s branch line over to the pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas, which is becoming more important for KCSdeM in container traffic. To the right the line continues north to a junction with the KCSdeM mainline from Mexico City about half way to San Luis Potosí, then on to Laredo. The KCSdeM line has a pair of sidings to the south of the crossing and a long passing siding to the north.

    The junction itself has a pair of connections. I’m not sure how much traffic gets interchanged here.

    [​IMG]

    There were two KCSdeM C30-Super7MP’s sitting on the siding just north of the crossing, #3499 and #3493.

    [​IMG]

    At that point the group packed up and prepared for a long ride back to Mexico City. But since Fran and I had never seen Celaya (not an overly touristy place), we had decided to spend a couple of nights there and do a bit of sightseeing. Fortunately that also gave me an opportunity to head back to the crossing in daylight and see a couple more trains.

    When we got back there the next day, a couple of C30-Super7N’s, #3456 and 3412, had brought in a northbound train. They, and the two locomotives that were there the night before, spent over an hour making moves to set out part of the train, and to pick up a number of cars that had been sitting on the sidings. Unfortunately, between the cars and all the posts and signs there was no way to get a good clean shot of the 4 locomotives working together. But I did get these.

    First is a shot of 3456 and 3412 pulling a cut of cars out of one of the sidings, as they cross the FXE mainline. No, that’s not a radio that the brakeman is paying attention to, it’s a cell phone.

    [​IMG]

    I wanted to show this shot of the side of 3412 because of the interesting patch job. Actually, I’m not sure if they painted just the center door panels or whether they are replacement doors. Either way it’s different.

    [​IMG]

    More to follow...

    Ed
    .
     
  7. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    And speaking of different, here’s an old Louisiana Midland boxcar patched for LFCD (Linea Ferrocarril Coahuila Durango). A good candidate for a prototype for someone who wants to do some extreme weathering.

    [​IMG]

    Most action at Celaya is Ferromex, as it is their main line. Here we have a couple of locomotives pulling a short container train as they approach the crossing of the KCSdeM line. They are FXE #4531 (AC44CW) and #4652 (ES44AC). To me they look the same, but my sources say they are two different locos. Diseasels, who can tell?

    [​IMG]

    Fran got into a better position and got this shot of the same two locos, with me blocking part of the view. It is a nice paint scheme.

    [​IMG]

    And here we have FXE #3101, an SD40-2 still in the two tone blue “Pitufo” (Smurf) paint scheme, running light back towards the Celaya yard.

    [​IMG]

    Just one more post to go. Hang in there.

    Ed
    .
     
  8. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Last train shot we got was this one, FXE #4655 (ES44AC) and #3107 (SD40-2) pulling a train of containers northbound.

    [​IMG]

    I’ll finish up the trip report with this shot of a mural in the city hall at Celaya. It is part of a series representing historical moments in the city’s past. This one is of the Battle of Celaya during the Mexican Revolution. The large face in the mural represents Venustiano Carranza, who was president at the time of the battle. Note the use of the pilot as a beard, the face drawn over the smokebox cover, roadbed shapes as shoulders and the brown smoke representing hair. The mounted soldier at the right is General Alvaro Obregon, who defeated the forces of Pancho Villa at Celaya. Railroads played a key role in the development of military campaigns during the revolution, especially in the northern half of the country

    [​IMG]

    That’s about it. I took more photos, but a lot weren’t worth uploading. Our group is talking about having another outing early in June. I can’t wait.

    Regards

    Ed
    .
     
  9. Stourbridge Lion

    Stourbridge Lion TrainBoard Supporter

    16,680
    130
    184
    Great Stuff Ed!!!!!!!

    :tb-cool: :tb-cool: :tb-cool: :tb-cool:
     
  10. firechief

    firechief TrainBoard Member

    303
    0
    13
    Great pictures and story, but there's just something not right about railfans taking a bus!

    Dave.
     
  11. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

    13,326
    499
    149
    I like the smurf paint the best. That is a serious rail fan trip. I was surprised at how many others went with you. I know guys here in the USA who rail fan, but I don't know of any rail fan clubs.
     
  12. MP333

    MP333 TrainBoard Supporter

    2,704
    208
    48
    Great stuff Ed! I sure didn't know that some steamers were built in Mexico.
     
  13. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

    9,898
    29,182
    148
    Great stuff Ed! :) :) Looks like it was lots of fun. :)
     
  14. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Tell me! Unfortunately that's the only choice down here. Not even any charter trips available by rail.
     
  15. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    It's not really a "club" but more a loose group of people who like trains. Most of us know each other casually through participation in one of the Mexican railfanning and model railroading forums. Some are model railroaders, some are railfans, and a few are actual railroaders. One guy is a manager at a travel agency. He's the one who first proposed chartering a bus for a railfan trip a couple of years ago. Since then we've made about 8 trips, including a couple where we caravaned by car. I've posted trip reports on a few of them.

    Regards

    Ed
    .
     
  16. Triplex

    Triplex TrainBoard Member

    3,214
    1
    44
    Note that the ES44AC has thicker "wings" and three radiator panels below them instead of two.
     
  17. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

    9,709
    2,730
    145
    Ed, thanks for the railfan report. Looks like you guys have just too much fun down there south of the border. I can't wait until steam starts up again here in the US, should be about May.
    :tb-biggrin:
     
  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Nice to know those railroaders were friendly to the fans.

    What is the greenery growing between rails? Looks like a garden vegetable of some kind.

    Boxcab E50
     
  19. Ed M

    Ed M Passed away May 2012 In Memoriam

    1,836
    273
    30
    Overall our experience with railroaders in all parts of Mexico has been super. They're still pleased that people actually take an interest in their work, and have almost without exception been friendly and cordial. Members of the group (not all, of course) got invited up into the cabs of 4 different locos on this trip alone. That yard switcher in Acambaro made a couple of trips up and down the yard carrying some of the group.

    Now the private security guards employed by KCSdeM, FXE and FSRR are another story. But those are usually just typical low level security guards who only know what they're instructed to do, and who have no tie, interest or attachment to the railroad.


    Hey, you're asking me? If you think I'm bad at identifying diseasels, I'm worse at weeds. But yeah, it does look like something you could make a salad out of. I took a few shots of r-o-w on this trip as I'm getting into ballasting, and want to weed it up right.

    Regards

    Ed
    .
     
  20. inch53

    inch53 TrainBoard Member

    317
    17
    16
    Ed,, great photos from down south.
    We’ve been seeing some of engine out of Mexico thru here [CSX, Indy – St Louis tracks] , TFM, Ferromex, an KCS de Mexico. Mixed in with the KCS [in old and new belle colors] Schneider inter-mobiles on their way to Columbus OH.
    No photos yet, but I’ll catch one sometime when the weather gets better.
    inch
     

Share This Page