History of rail transport in Paraguay
In 1856 started the studies to make the first railway of the country that would go from Asunción to Paraguarí. With the concession of the company to English hands the railroad extended to Encarnación.
- This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series
The railways in the Americas
The beginnings of the railways in America were in 1831 when the steam railway arrived in the town of Albany, NY, United States. On August 9 of the same year, with the still primitive machine called “Bull” imported from England, was made the first journey of this locomotive that pulled three small coaches with a capacity of only 6 passengers each.
It was 36 years after, on October 23, 1867 that was inaugurated the railway that went from San Francisco to New York, known with the name of “Union Pacific Road”.
Later on, Cuba was the second country of this continent to have a railway. In 1834 the construction of a railway that would connect La Habana with Guinness (Unión) commenced; it covered 142 kilometres (88 mi) and was opened four years later, in 1838.
The third country to have one was British Guyana (Georgetown-Plaisance 1848), then Peru (Lima-Callao 1851) then Chile, with a railway that went from Caldera to Copiapó (1851). The construction was directed by the North-American Engineer William Wheelwright; this was followed by Brazil (Praia de Estrela-Fragoso in 1952).
In Argentina, the first railway was inaugurated on August 30, 1857. It extended from Buenos Aires to Moreno.
On February 22, 1862 started the work to build a railway that would go from Buenos Aires to Ensenada, and the person in charge was once again the Engineer Wheelwright.
The same Wheelwright directed the construction of the Argentine Central Railway, used to link Rosario with Córdoba that started on April 20, 1863.
In Paraguay the intentions to have a railway manifested in 1856, but only 5 years later was possible to have one working. On June 14, 1861 was made the first journey from the station to the port of Asunción, so it could be said that the railway in Paraguay was one of the first to function in South America.
A project on rails
The possibilities of starting the construction of the railway in Paraguay were given in 1854, during the government of Carlos Antonio López, who hired English engineers in charge of the studies made to start the first railway line that would go from Asunción to Paraguarí.
In 1856, soldiers of the army engineer corps worked on the tracks and platform. In England, the firm BLYTH proceeded to fulfill the requests of the Paraguayan government with locomotives, wagons, rails, etc.
The construction of the track Asunción-Paraguarí was in charge of George Paddison, an English engineer hired by the government. All kinds of accessories for the stations were built from models, with local materials.
Between 1857 and 1859 the engineers Jorge Thompson, Enrique Valpi and Percy Burrel were incorporated in the project, which helped to speed the work.
The first local railway line started working in June 1861; it went on a short track from the central station in Asunción to Trinidad. Six months later the track was extended to the city of Luque.
The extension was inaugurated on December 25 and according to the journal “El Semanario” it was a source of great joy for the citizens. “The locomotives have been functioning since 5 am until 12 pm, and it would be necessary to add three more trains to take the people that expected to get a ride and that came not only to Luque but also to Trinidad. In Luque were organized games, dances and a masquerade, in Trinidad, there were also bullfights” (transcript from the journal). In 1862 the rail tracks extended to Areguá.
Station Saint Francis
Of the public buildings that were finished before the war of 1870, the most noticeable are the Palace of Government and the Railway Station, which are still nowadays true icons of Asunción City.
The original name of the Central Railway Station was “Estación San Francisco” (Saint Francis Station), although it was originally known also as “Plaza San Francisco” (Saint Francis Square).
Today the building is still an attraction because of its architectonic proportions and its beauty, and it is not hard to imagine that it was even more outstanding in the time it was built. The architect Alonzo Taylor directed the construction. Taylor came from Europe in the ship “Río Blanco” on May 6, 1859 and he also directed the construction of the Palace of Government along with architect Raviza.
The journals of the time made many references to the Saint Francis Station. In 1863 the journal “El Semanario” wrote: “The construction work in the station is progressing well, soon the building will be complete and this beautiful construction will be considered one of the icons of the city”.
On July 30 of the same year, the journal also described a ball that took place in the main hall of the station, offered by chiefs and officers in honor to the President on his birthday.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1856 | The government of Carlos A. López makes the first payment of 200.000 pesos to London engineers for the purchase of construction materials. |
| 1858 | The English engineer George Paddison comes to the country hired by the government to be in charge of the project. |
| 1860 | The government sends 120.000 pesos to the English engineers for the construction of machinery. |
| 1861 | The rail service from Station Saint Francis (Central) to Trinidad is inaugurated. In December the service reaches to Luque. |
| 1862 | The station in Aregua is inaugurated. |
| 1864 | The rail tracks are extended to the station in Pirayú, Cerro León. |
| 1865 | The railway service is suspended due to the War against the Triple Alliance. |
| 1869 | The Paraguayan army dismantles the rail tracks that had been destroyed during the war. The wagons and locomotives are taken to Buenos Aires by the Argentine army. |
| 1870 | The government of Brazil repair several stretches of tracks and rolling stock of the railway, charging the Paraguayan government 20.000 American dollars. After that, the rail service was able to function but it poor conditions. |
| 1876 | The government authorizes the sale of the railway to Luis Patri, an Italian cattleman that at the time was one the wealthiest man in Paraguay. The government used the money to pay back the debt acquired with the Brazil. |
| 1886 | The government of Bernardino Caballero buys back the railway. In August, is authorized the hiring of the enterprise Patri to continue the work on the railwayd in Paraguarí and Villarrica. Four new locomotives, 91 wagons for people and cargo were bought. |
| 1887 | The government of Patricio Escobar authorizes the sale of part the railway service to the transnational English company “The Paraguay Central Railway” (P. C. R. C.).
Start the construction of the stations in: Sapucaí, Caballero, Ybytimí, Tebicuarymí and Félix P. Cardozo. |
| 1894 | The construction of the stations in: Iturbe, Maciel, Sosa and Yegros, is finished. Four locomotives and 8 wagons are provided for the service. |
| 1907 | The government resignes to its stock shares, leaving the English company as only owner of the railway service. |
| 1908 | Percival Farquhar, an American buys almost all the P. C. R. C. |
| 1910 | The Argentine government subscribes stocks for value of 220.000 pounds for the construction of the railway from Pira Pó to Pacu Cuá (Encarnación). |
| 1914 | The railway service links communicates Borja, San Salvador and Charará is inaugurated. |
| 1919 | The rail tracks are extended to Abaí. |
| 1959 | The company stopped providing the service of trains and the government insists in maintaining it functioning, absorbing the deficit. |
| 1961 | The Paraguayan government buys the railway again and all the stocks in 200.000 pounds. The Ministry of Public Works takes charge of the administration and starts the legal paperwork to make it into an autarchic entity. |
References
- Hollingsworth, J B (1980). Atlas of the World's Railways. Adelaide: Rigby. p. 205. ISBN 0727003054.
External links
Media related to Rail transport in Paraguay at Wikimedia Commons