Good Afternoon Coffee Clubbers, Now that I finally wrote up our trip to Newfoundland this summer, I suppose it’s time to report on our trip to the National Railfan and Model Railroader Convention that we went to back at the start of August. Not much by north of the border standards, but it’s the only game in town down here. This year was the tenth annual convention. The convention was planned to be held in Oaxaca. But due to ongoing problems in that city stemming from a massive teachers’ strike (which is still going on, now in its 5th month), a last minute change switched the venue to the national Railroad Museum in Puebla. That’s where they held the convention last year. Uncertainty over the location, the last minute change, and the fact that many had visited Puebla the year before, all contributed to a noticeably reduced attendance. No matter, those of us who went enjoyed ourselves. As is our habit when traveling to Puebla, we stopped overnight in Apizaco, in the state of Tlaxcala, just about an hour before getting to Puebla. Apizaco has always been a railroad center, dating back to the time of the first railroads in Mexico. Nowadays, between privatization of the railroads, and centralization of services, the shops have been closed and activity in the yard is minimal. But it’s a good place to watch trains. It’s on the mainline of the Ferrosur line between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. Here’s a shot of the yard and local freight switcher #6798 (a GE C30-7) switching cars in the yard. This loco has replaced #9530, a GE SF30-C (rebuilt ATSF U36C) as the local switcher. But it has the same crew as the old unit. We dropped off some copies of photos we took of the crew last fall. They have been very nice to us on all our visits. While hanging around the east end of the yard, we encountered two trains waiting for clearance before heading downgrade towards Orizaba and Veracruz. #6746, another GE C30-7, headed up a short train with flatcars loaded with new concrete ties. #4407, a GE AC4400CW, had a mixed bag, but mostly container well cars, in tow. Both crews took advantage of the stop to send out crew members to local food stands to bring back to-go bags for dinner. While waiting the crew of #4407 invited Fran and me up into the cab. I had my first look at one of the modern computer screen control panels in this type of locomotive. More in the next post. Regards Ed
Next day we were off to the convention. As usual, it was nice to see a lot of my new train buddies from down here. There were two presentations during the convention that stood out for me. One was a report by Frank Barry (noted rail photographer and author, see “Final winter for the narrow gauge” in the Winter 2005 issue of Classic Trains Magazine) about his first major rail excursion in Mexico back in the 50’s. Great presentation and absolutely outstanding photography. The other presentation that I really enjoyed was put on by Dr John Kirchner (co-author of “The Southern Pacific of Mexico” and author of “Baja California Railways’) about the last years of the SP de Mexico, just before it’s sale to the Mexican government and it’s change to the FCP (Ferrocarril del Pacifico). Again, a very entertaining presentation. Interestingly enough, both these gentlemen were able to present their talks in Spanish. I met Dr Kirchner at last year’s convention, and also spent time with him earlier this year during the activities in Acámbaro commerating the LXII anniversary of the construction of the “Fidelita”. This was the first time I had had the opportunity of meeting Frank Barry. Here’s a shot of your intrepid reporter with these guys. That’s Frank Barry on the left, Dr John with the blue shirt, me, and Tony Pawley, and enthusiastic railfan from Seattle, Washington. Four “gringos” at the convention. Here’s a shot of some of the attendees making a record pose during a break. Yours truly is in the center of the front row. The old locomotive we are standing in front of is this one, #40, an 1884 Alco built 2-8-0 that served until the 1960’s on the railroads down here. I had another nice memory of the convention. As I’ve mentioned before, they have two PA-1’s at the museum. Ex-ATSF, Ex-D&H, they wound up their career down here. These two are still in operating condition. While they don’t move them, they do fire up the diesels every two weeks to keep the lubrication up. While we were there they fired up #19. They also blew the horn, which stuck open!! First time I had heard the horn, which had much different tone from anything that I could remember hearing before. Okay, just a few more shots left for the next post in the series. Regards Ed
And here’s one of my favorite shots from the museum. This is an FP-9 A/B, just repainted during the last year in it’s “as delivered” paint scheme. A real beauty of a locomotive, which is unfortunately not in operating condition. Just to fill out this last post with its complement of photos, here are a couple more. First, an old boxcab electric, built by GE in 1924, from the electrified portion of the Veracruz – Mexico City mainline. And a 1946 Alco 4-8-4 Niagara, part of the last order of steam locomotives delivered to the NdeM. And to go from the largest steam locomotive in the museum to the smallest, here’s an Orenstein-Koppel 0-4-2T built back in 1900. Guess that about wraps it up. We enjoyed the trip, as always. Next year’s convention will be up in Aguascalientes. That’s a real traditional railroad center which still has a lot of traffic. Looking forward to that one. Regards Ed
Jerry, here's one in service in February 1962: Ed, they didn't have one of these at the museum, did they? A modern NdeM 4-8-0: :cat:
Nope, unfortunately, they were all scrapped. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you. Are all those shots of NdeM and FUS in your RailImages album from trips you took to Mexico back in the 60's? Wish I could have done something like that. Regards Ed
Ed, great photo essay...Thanks!:thumbs_up: You can tell that the 4-8-4 is an ALCO product by the smokebox bolt pattern and distinctive pilot area, but it sure isn't one of the real Niagaras, New York Central's S-1 and S-2 Classes......:sad: :teeth:
You're right about that, of course. You know, I tend to go back and forth the way I spell them, usually depending on whether I'm writing to a Spanish speaking audience down here, or a NOB discussion board. Story is that the NdeM motive power reps were touring the factory where the NYC Niagaras were being assembled. They were impressed by them, and decided to use the same name (Mexicanized) for the 4-8-4's that they ordered, even though they were a lot smaller. Interesting item. I think there are 12 Niagaras (Niagras) on display down here, none in operating condition. But there is one of the NdeM 4-8-4's up north at the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. It's been stripped down for some time, with no word on whether the restoration was stalled or just slow rolling. Just today I heard that the NH&I had recently placed orders for new flues for the loco. So there may still be hope to ride behind one of the NdeM Niagaras one day. Regards Ed
Yes Ed, my wife and I spent our honeymoon in México, mostly in Mexico City , but also in Veracruz and Puebla. There were good overnight Pullman trains in México in 1962. Years later we visited the Yucatan. I called on International Harvester's twine mill in New Orleans for the Penn Central, I-H had a sisal plantation in the Yucatan and found out how cheap it was to get there from New Orleans via Pan Am. I had always wanted to see the Mayan ruins, so off we went. BTW, old No. 601 was in front of Gran Estacion Central de Buenavista in Mexico City in 1962. :cat:
