RAILROADS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
In the Argentine railway world Buenos Aires occupies the position of
ancient Rome, for all roads lead to it. A glance at the map is sufficient
evidence of that fact. It has become the centre of the greatest network
of railroads in South America. Like the colossal web of a spider it sends
out its strands of steel north to the border of Paraguay and Bolivia,
east to the trackless Atlantic, south into Patagonia and west across the
Andes with a terminus at Valparaiso. There are at present about sixteen
thousand miles of main track in operation in that republic. This is
nearly as much as all the rest of the continent combined and shows the
progressiveness of the country. All of the railroads, with the exception
of the national lines and the Provincia de Santa Fé, which is a French
line, were built by British capital and are under British management.
Nearly all of the materials and equipment have been brought from that
country, and everything has a distinctly John Bull stamp. Only one
exception has been made, and that is that the compartments have been
abolished in the day coaches. The sleepers, called _dormitorios_, are
made into compartments and are called “Pullmans,” but they lack the
luxurious qualities of the cars after which they were named. The stations
are generally very creditable and show a spirit of enterprise. Two-thirds
of the mileage is of the broad gauge, nine and one-half inches broader
than our own, which makes the seats and aisles extremely comfortable. The
same English regard for safety is evident and every safeguard is applied
toward that end. In fact they are English railroads transplanted to the
pampas, with just a few concessions demanded by the nature of the country
served.
The government of Argentina has been extremely liberal in its railroad
policy. It has recognized the fact that there is no better way to develop
its resources than by spreading the parallel bands of steel all over the
republic. Perhaps nowhere in the world were there fewer difficulties or
fewer perplexing engineering problems than here, for there was no grading
and it was only necessary to take off the surface soil and dig ditches
to carry off the water. A number of the concessions originally contained
a government guarantee of six or seven per cent. on the investment, but
most of these have since been altered as the receipts generally paid
ample returns, and in consideration of release from the contractual
obligation the government granted some other privileges. Many of the
charters also granted an exclusive territory of about twenty miles on
each side of the right of way.
The principle of consolidation has been going on in Argentina the same
as in the United States. The large lines have been taking up the smaller
ones until now three companies own one-half of the total mileage, and
these three companies are very evenly matched. The original charters of
the many lines differed greatly in their terms. They are now all being
rapidly brought under a law passed in 1907, which is exceedingly liberal.
Under this law the companies pay no import duties on construction
materials and articles used in operating the lines, and are exempt from
all taxes until 1947. During that period, however, they contribute three
per cent. of their net receipts towards the construction and maintenance
of the bridges and roads of the departments traversed by their tracks,
particularly those roads leading to the stations. Furthermore they must
convey free of charge the mails and men in charge of them. Government
materials and articles for the construction of public works, war
materials and stores, troops, government employees on public service,
immigrants sent up country by the central immigration office, and
employees of the provincial police shall be conveyed at one-half of the
regular rates.
There is one American whose name stands high on the roll of honour in the
development of South America, and in particular of Chile and Argentina.
His name is William Wheelwright. This captain of industry was born in
Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 16th, 1798. He came from that sturdy
Puritan stock which has contributed so largely toward making the United
States one of the most enlightened nations in the world. Not a few of his
ancestors rendered conspicuous service in the French and Indian wars,
and one of them served under Washington in the war of the revolution.
He began life as a sailing master in charge of a vessel trading with
South America. Being stranded in the La Plata he finally concluded that
his destiny lay in that part of the world. One enthusiastic Argentinian
biographer calls him “a new Hernando Cortez, who remained in the land of
his shipwreck to conquer its soil, not by arms, but by steam; not for
Spain, but for civilization.” He first began his work at Valparaiso,
Chile, where he transformed that city by constructing docks and
sanitation. He was constantly engaged in voyages of exploration for the
purpose of discovering natural resources and means for their development.
The lack of transportation greatly impressed him, and through his efforts
the Pacific Steam Navigation Company was organized, and he secured
concessions for that company from a number of republics. United States
capitalists turning down this proposition it was finally financed in
England. The two vessels first placed on this route opened a new era on
the west coast of South America, for they were the first transatlantic
steamers to establish regular communication on that coast. At last
he turned his attention to the wild and sparsely populated pampas of
Argentina, at that time an undeveloped but fertile wilderness. Although
his greater project for a transcontinental line failed, he succeeded in
building the first important line in Argentina from Rosario to Cordoba,
a distance of two hundred and forty-six miles. This was done after
seventeen years of reverses due to civil strife and the Paraguayan war.
The road was finally inaugurated on the 16th of May, 1870; and was opened
with imposing military, religious and civil ceremonies. His last public
work was the construction of a railway from Buenos Aires to Enseñada, the
port for La Plata, which was opened just a half-century from the time
of his own shipwreck in that same bay. He had further plans in mind but
his health failed, and he sailed for London to secure medical attention.
His great age was against his recovery and he died in that city on the
28th of September, 1873, and his remains were taken back to his old home
in New England. A monument to his memory has been erected in Buenos
Aires, and several streets have been named after him in Argentina, one in
Rosario.
Just a half century after Wheelwright suggested to English capitalists
the feasibility of a railroad across the Andes to connect the Atlantic
with the Pacific, the road was opened to traffic, although not by the
route contemplated by him. On the 27th of November, 1909, the last thin
line of rock, which remained to complete the tunnel between Chile and
Argentina, was demolished by the explosion of a dynamite charge. Through
the opening thus made the workmen who had been employed on the two ends
mingled, and a line of communication which has been the dream of two
generations, was completed, that may change the political relations
of South America, and which will have a marked effect on commercial
relations throughout the world. On the 25th of May, of last year, this
route was formally inaugurated, and an all-rail route was thus opened up
between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Valparaiso, Chile, thus establishing
the first transcontinental railroad on the continent of South America.
That date is a hallowed one in both republics, for it is the first
centenary of the revolution which gave independence to both nations;
and it is fitting that so auspicious an event should celebrate that
occasion. To the South Americans it is as great an accomplishment as was
the opening up of the first through line across the United States. At the
present time the trip is made from one terminus to the other, a distance
of eight hundred and eighty-eight miles, in thirty-eight hours, and the
officials hope to reduce the running time to twenty-nine hours.
[Illustration: BRIDGE OF THE INCAS]
This through line is made up of three different systems, and there are
as many different gauges of track. The longest section is that through
Argentina, which is seven hundred and seventy-eight miles in length,
or seven-eighths of the entire distance. All of this is now owned and
operated by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway, although it was built
in several different sections and by different companies.
From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, a distance of six hundred and fifty-five
miles, this road is built on the broad gauge plan. At Mendoza a change
is made to the narrow gauge railway, known as the Trasandino Argentino,
with tracks of one meter (3.28 feet) width. The scenery on this line
is very beautiful as it winds around bends, passes through tunnels and
continues to climb up the passes of the Andes. In several sections on
this side, as well as on the Chilean side, where the grade is over 2½
per cent., the Abt system of cogs and racks is used to assist the engine
on the steep climbs. On the way the famous natural bridge, known as the
Bridge of the Incas, is passed, and a hotel has now been built there by
the railroad company. The Trasandino Argentino ends at Las Cuevas, which
is the beginning of the tunnel on that side of the “cumbre.” Las Cuevas
is 10,468 feet above sea level. The tunnel, which passes almost directly
underneath the “Christ of the Andes,” is 10,385 feet in length, of which
a little more than half is on the Argentina side, which is just a few
feet less than the altitude above the sea.
The Chilean terminus of the tunnel is at Caracoles, which is nothing more
than a camp for labourers, and is a few hundred feet higher than Las
Cuevas. From here another railroad of meter gauge, called the Trasandino
Chileno, carries the traveller to the station of Los Andes, a distance
of forty-five miles. It has been found necessary to construct snow sheds
in many places in order to protect the track from snow slides, which are
likely to occur in August and September. From Los Andes to Valparaiso the
route is over the state railroad of Chile, which is of standard gauge (4
feet 8½ inches), and passes through some rich and fertile valleys on its
way towards the Pacific.
This project, which has now reached completion, has had many
vicissitudes. Its real history may be said to date from 1873, when
the first practical step was taken by two brothers named Clark. It was
while engaged in connecting Chile and Argentina by telegraph in 1869
that these brothers conceived the idea that this route was the most
feasible for a transandine railway. The Clarks obtained a concession
for a railroad between Buenos Aires and the Chilean boundary from the
Argentine government, and were soon afterwards climbing over rock and
ridge in the work of surveying these desolate mountains. Several routes
were considered, but the most practical one seemed to be the old Inca
trail across the Andes, and this was the shortest as well. Along this
trail innumerable hordes of the primitive races have passed for unknown
centuries. The Spaniard named it Camino de los Andes, the Andean Trail.
For almost four centuries since the white men found this route, they
have followed it on foot or on mule between the two countries. The first
section was built from Mendoza to Villa Mercedes, a distance of two
hundred and twenty-two miles, and completed in 1880. Three years later
this line was continued to Buenos Aires. In 1887 work was begun from
Mendoza toward the Chilean frontier and new sections were opened up
every few years, but progress was very slow.
On the Chilean side the work progressed even more slowly because of
financial difficulties. Several times construction was begun, and then
stopped because money was not forthcoming from the government, as it was
too costly an undertaking for private capital. In 1901, however, the
financial arrangements were completed through the American firm of W. R.
Grace & Co., and the final work was undertaken in an energetic manner.
Argentina also took up her part again as soon as ultimate success was
assured, and from that time until now the progress has been steady,
but the difficult character of the work necessarily made it slow. Work
on the tunnel was prosecuted from both ends, and it was a difficult
undertaking because of the high altitude. Several lives were lost during
its construction. It was found necessary to line the entire tunnel with
a two-foot facing of cement because of the crumbling nature of the rock
when exposed to the air. It is eighteen feet high and wide enough for a
double track of the broadest gauge. The Chilean government guaranteed
five per cent. on the capital invested in the Trasandino Chileno,
almost seven million dollars, and the Argentine government practically
constructed the Trasandino Argentino Railway. Thus, after thirty-seven
years of work and planning, vicissitudes and discouragements, this
railroad, which promises so much not only for the two governments but
also for the whole of South America, has become an accomplished fact.
Heretofore it has been necessary to go around through the Straits of
Magellan, a voyage of ten days, in order to reach the west coast of Chile
from Buenos Aires, the metropolis of the southern hemisphere. This has
been reduced to a little over a day. It brings Chile nearer to London by
nine days. It is almost in the same latitude as Cape Town and Melbourne,
and may eventually provide a shorter route to Australia from England, if
steamers on one coast should run in conjunction with those on the other.
With the present steamship connection, via the west coast and Panama, it
will be possible to go from New York to Buenos Aires, or _vice versa_, in
twenty days, and this will probably be reduced to at least eighteen days
before a great while. At present the best time made is twenty-four days
by the east coast route, and it generally requires more, as the boats
stop for two or three days oftentimes at Rio de Janeiro and Santos on
their way down and back. When the Panama Canal is completed, there will
no doubt be a direct line of good steamers that will run from New York
direct to Valparaiso. This route will be then still more desirable and
the trip will be made to Valparaiso in not more than two weeks.
North of Mendoza the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway has pushed a line
to San Juan, capital of the province of the same name. This region is
rather sparsely settled, but it has a good irrigation system and will
no doubt attract settlers because of the profits in fruit culture.
South of Mendoza a branch has been built to San Rafael and another is
being constructed to San Carlos. Although most of the country traversed
by these branches presents the appearance of a hopeless, flat and
unproductive desert, it possesses some of the finest soil in the republic
when once irrigation is introduced. Two and even three crops of cereals
can be produced, so it is said, and it is especially well adapted for
grapes and alfalfa. With these and many other branches, and the extension
of its lines to Bahia Blanca, the Pacific road now has the greatest
mileage of any of the Argentine railroads.
The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway may be said to bisect the country
into two parts. North of this line by far the most important railroad is
the Central Argentine. This company controls two thousand five hundred
and thirty miles of track, and is the third system in number of miles in
the republic. By the absorption of a number of smaller lines it now has a
network of main lines and branches which serve that section of Argentina.
The last absorption was of the Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway, which
added more than a thousand miles to its lines and gave it a monopoly of
railway service from the metropolis to the northwestern provinces. It
now operates two main lines between Buenos Aires and Rosario. It also
has under construction extensions and branches which will add nearly six
hundred miles of track to its mileage.
The original section of the Central Argentine Railway was from Rosario
to Cordoba, a distance of two hundred and forty-six miles, for which a
concession was granted to Wheelwright and his associates. From Rosario it
began to construct extensions northwards, southwards and westwards. It
purchased the tracks of the Western, old Northern and lastly the Buenos
Aires and Rosario Railway, until it reached its present commanding place
on the railway map of Argentina. Its southern branches touch the Buenos
Aires and Pacific in several places, and its western feeders reach out
through the provinces of Cordoba and Santa Fé in a number of places.
Northward it reaches the city of Santa Fé.
This railroad is now building a magnificent new station in Buenos Aires
which will cost several millions of dollars, and which will be jointly
used by it and the Pacific line. It is also making great improvements in
its suburban service and dock frontage by filling in the shallow muddy
shore of the river. Furthermore, it has made application to the National
Congress for a franchise, or concession, to construct an underground
electric railway to connect its station with those of the Southern
Railway at Casa Amarillo and Plaza Constitucion. It is also elevating its
tracks in Rosario so as to avoid all level crossings, and is building a
large new station at Cordoba.
[Illustration: RAILWAY STATION, SANTA FÉ]
The purchase of the Buenos Aires and Rosario line gave the Central
Argentine an entrance into the rich province of Tucuman over a track of
the same gauge as its own. After leaving Rosario this line passes through
a rich agricultural section as far as Rafaela, and is intersected by
several branch lines of the Santa Fé system. Shortly after leaving that
place, which itself is only three hundred and fifteen feet above sea
level, the country gradually becomes lower and swampy, being about at its
lowest on the frontier between the provinces of Santa Fé and Santiago del
Estero. After a considerable distance of this low, swampy land the level
rises until it is over six hundred feet in elevation, where a branch four
miles in length connects the main line with the city of Santiago del
Estero, capital of the province of the same name. This city of fifteen
thousand has nothing to distinguish it beyond the fact that it is the
capital of a province. The line continues to reach higher elevation by
easy grades. After crossing the frontier of the province of Tucuman it
reaches a most fertile section and at last enters the pretty little city
of the same name about which the Argentinian writers grow eloquent.
At Tucuman connection is made with the Central Northern Railway, a
national railway of more than twelve hundred miles in length. It starts
at Santa Fé and almost parallels the Central Argentine to Tucuman, at no
point being distant more than fifty miles. It is a narrow gauge track.
Leaving Tucuman it runs in a general northerly direction, but with many
twists and turns in order to avoid the more mountainous sections of the
districts through which it passes. At Tala the frontier of Salta is
crossed at an elevation of two thousand six hundred and seventy feet,
and a short distance further the elevation has increased to over three
thousand feet. It then descends to the little town of Rosario de la
Frontera noted for its thermal springs. At Guenas, one hundred and eighty
miles from Tucuman, a branch runs to Salta, the capital of the province.
This is a neat, well-paved city of about thirty thousand people with
the usual public buildings and churches of a provincial capital. San
Francisco church has a tower over two hundred feet in height which is
pointed to with pride by the inhabitants. This city is very old, having
been founded as early as 1582 under the name of New Seville. Pampa Blanca
(the white pampa), is the first station in the province of Jujuy. Near
here another branch is headed for the rather important town of Oran, but
the main line soon reaches the capital. Jujuy for a long time was the
northerly terminus of the Argentine railway system. This is the highest
town in the republic, and, although near the tropics, the altitude gives
this little city a fine and healthful climate. It has a population of
ten thousand and is distant from Buenos Aires one thousand miles. The
town has nothing to distinguish it, but the surrounding scenery is very
beautiful. Hill and valley, wood and plain all contribute to make up a
most enchanting landscape. The Rio Grande River runs through the town.
It is the general bathing place as well as furnishing the power for the
electric light and some mills located there. There are many thermal
springs in the vicinity which are said to have splendid medicinal
properties. The most noted are those of Los Reyes, the kings. There are
four springs, one above another, the water being at a temperature of one
hundred and twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
The Central Northern has recently been extended to La Quiaca, on the
Bolivian frontier, where it will meet the railways of that republic
when they are extended. At present the Bolivian lines reach Tupiza,
and it is about a three days’ journey by coach or mule between the two
points. The distance still to be covered is not very great and completion
is promised in about one year from this writing. There will then be a
continuous railway connection between La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, and
Buenos Aires. Peru is promising a road from Cuzco to Lima, and there will
then be continuous connection with the Peruvian capital, except on Lake
Titicaca over which there is regular steamship service.
The national government also owns a line of railway running from Cordoba
northwest through the mountainous provinces of Rioja and Catamarca, more
than five hundred miles in length. These lines are known as the Argentino
del Norte (Northern), and there is another which is being pushed up
into the Gran Chaco. The government has pursued the beneficent policy
of running its lines through the districts where private enterprise was
afraid to venture because of the uncertainty of the investment. They are
contributing greatly to the development of those regions.
The Central Cordoba Railway is quite an important system. One line runs
to San Francisco, where it connects with the Cordoba and Rosario Railway
which runs to Rosario. Its principal track, however, is a narrow gauge
line which runs from Cordoba in a northerly direction to Tucuman, and,
with its several branches, serves an extensive territory. A goodly part
of the territory traversed is forest land, but a part of it is a salty
waste. An independent entrance to Buenos Aires is now being constructed.
The lines known as the Provincia de Santa Fé start at Rosario and run
north, following the basin of the Paraná River as far as Resistencia,
a town opposite to Corrientes, touching at Santa Fé and nearly all the
important places in that district. They were built by French capital and
now have more than a thousand miles of track. The company is gradually
extending its railhead up into the Gran Chaco, and will probably
eventually reach Asuncion. They are now only a neck behind the lines on
the opposite side of the river and are far ahead from a financial point
of view. They have always paid handsome dividends from the quebracho
wood, which they bring down from the Chaco. It would not be surprising
if this line would eventually be pushed clear up into the state of
Matto-Grosso, Brazil, for development is looking up that way.
The district between the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers is served by two
railway systems, the Entre Rios and Northeastern systems. These two
systems were formerly isolated and had a stormy career for many years.
At the present time they work under a traffic exchange agreement and
their financial standing is now good. These are the only railroads in
the republic, with one exception, of standard gauge, 4 feet 8½ inches
width between the rails. The first mentioned road serves the province
of the same name. It was originally a line that ran from nowhere to
nowhere. The road was built through loans contributed by the government
of the province of Entre Rios in 1885, and was completed three years
later. The money was squandered so recklessly that it cost twice as much
as was necessary, and was built of such poor material that it had to be
rebuilt within a few years. The government soon found itself unable to
meet its obligations and the road was turned over to the bondholders. It
was not placed on a profitable basis until the branches were completed
which connected it with important points in the two provinces through
which it now runs. The main line of the Entre Rios Railway cuts across
this province from Paraná to Uruguay. One branch runs down to a point
near Buenos Aires, and freight cars are now ferried across to that
city. This is the only car ferry in operation in South America, and it
is quite a novelty in that part of the world. Another branch runs to
Concordia where connection is made with the Northeastern system. This
road has one fork which leads up to and another which follows the Uruguay
River. It was built there to carry the traffic around the rapids of
that river where navigation was impossible. It will, however, soon be a
much more important line, for it is gradually approaching Posadas, the
commercial capital of the upper Paraná, and the most important town on
the river north of Rosario. The Paraguay Central is also approaching
Villa Encarnacion, on the opposite side of the Paraná, and within a short
time there will be continuous communication by rail between Asuncion and
Buenos Aires, with the exception of ferrying across two rivers.
South of the transcontinental line there are only two railway companies
now operating. The Western Railway, or, as it is officially called, the
Ferro Carril de Oeste, serves the southwestern part of the province of
Buenos Aires and La Pampa. It reaches one of the richest agricultural
districts of the republic and a section that is rapidly developing. The
various extensions are being pushed out a few miles each year, and this
company now owns fourteen hundred miles of track. The Western Railway
has had a checkered career. In point of age it is the oldest line in the
country, as about fifteen miles of track were built a half century ago.
When this little railroad was inaugurated a great celebration was held,
and the President delivered an address full of optimism and prophetic of
future development. Fortune, however, refused to smile on the project,
and money was scarce, so that the national government was obliged to take
over the road. It was not a success until an English company took it
over in 1890, and began pushing out the extensions over the pampas that
are now bringing in the revenue-producing freight, which has placed the
Western Railway on the road to prosperity.
The Ferro Carril del Sud, or Great Southern Railway, is the second
largest railroad system in Argentina,[1] and one of the best freight
producers. It has a monopoly of the greater part of the rich province of
Buenos Aires, and its main station at Plaza Constitucion in the city of
Buenos Aires is a busy place, with trains continually running in and out
loaded with passengers for the suburbs or more distant points. It was due
to the enterprise of this company that the busy port of Bahia Blanca was
opened, and the seaside resort of Mar del Plata made popular. The section
traversed by the Great Southern is threaded here and there by the many
branches and feeders of this system, and more are being built each year.
Passenger and freight traffic have increased so rapidly that the earnings
per mile have almost doubled in the last ten years. It has built a
strategic line several hundred miles long to Neuquen, almost directly
west of Bahia Blanca, which will eventually become a transcontinental
line. Engineers are now at work selecting the most feasible route across
the Andes to connect with the Chilean state railways. This plan has
already been approved by the directors and work will no doubt be begun
before long.
The Southern has in construction a line south to the port of San Antonio,
to open up the rich lands on the borders of Patagonia. It will connect
with a government road which is now building from San Antonio, which is a
new port on the Gulf of San Matias, westward to Nahuel Huapi, and which
will be about three hundred miles long. The government is to be commended
for its far-sightedness in planning this enterprise. Already a large
part of the road-bed is graded and track has been laid for fifty miles
or more, but service has not yet been begun. Work has also been begun on
a railroad from Puerto Deseado, still farther south than San Antonio,
which will run inland to Nahuel Huapi and open up an extensive country.
This is but the beginning of extensive railroad development in this large
southern section of Argentina, and plans have already been formulated
to extend other lines into the very heart of Patagonia, and over to Lake
Buenos Aires. In all the government now owns and operates a little more
than two thousand miles of main track, which will be increased to fully
three thousand by the new extensions of the old ones now being built.
The amount of traffic carried on these railroads is enormous and reaches
big figures. I have before me the report of one of the greatest systems
of Argentina for the year 1910. This states that the amount of grain
carried by this line for that year, in tons of two thousand two hundred
and five pounds, was as follows: linseed four hundred and two thousand
one hundred and ninety-three, wheat nine hundred and ninety-one thousand
one hundred and eighty-eight, corn one million one hundred and forty-two
thousand four hundred. Other freight carried, not including its own
supplies, amounted to five million nine hundred and eighty-three thousand
one hundred and forty-three tons. Three hundred and forty-one thousand
five hundred and seventy-seven head of live stock were transported. The
number of passengers carried numbered almost fourteen millions. The
gross receipts were twenty-five million dollars. Its capital stock is one
hundred and seventy-five million dollars. It has paid for many years a
regular dividend of six per cent., besides devoting large sums each year
to betterments and extensions. All of these roads have been conducted
along conservative lines, and their stocks are nearly all quoted on the
London stock exchange considerably above par.