Rail transport in Puerto Rico: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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~~:''This article is part of the [[history of rail transport by country]] series.''~~

[[File:Railroad map of PR 1924.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Railroad map of Puerto Rico, 1924.]]

~~'''~~[[Rail transport]] in [[Puerto Rico]]~~'''~~ currently consists of a {{convert|10.7|mi|km|1|adj=on}} passenger [[rapid transit|metro]] system in the island's metropolitan area of [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]. Its history can be traced back to the mid-19th century with the construction of a limited passenger line in [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]]. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Puerto Rico's rail transport system expanded significantly, becoming one of the largest rail systems in the Caribbean at the time thanks to an [[Boom and bust|economic boom]] in agriculture industries, especially the [[sugar cane]] industry. The rail system was expanded to include passenger travel with a direct line from the island's northern capital of [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] to the western and southern cities and towns, greatly improving travel and communication within the island. However, the entire system was soon overshadowed by the arrival of the automobile, and by the 1950s was completely abandoned. Small remnants of this system still exist in some parts of Puerto Rico, some conserved for [[Heritage railway|tourism purposes]].

== History ==

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=== Early Mayagüez passenger system ===

Although Puerto Rico did not have a national railroad system until the last decade of the 19th, between the 1870s and 1890s, the city of [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]] did have a small passenger rail system for transporting its residents, mainly along the current [[Calle Mendez Vigo (Mayagüez)|Mendez Vigo Avenue]].<ref name="IPRAC">[http://iprac.aspira.org/iprac_transportation.htm ''Puerto Rico: Society and Culture Before the US Invasion of 1898: Transportation''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060809000358/http://iprac.aspira.org/iprac_transportation.htm |date=2006-08-09 }} Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC) {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> It was originally proposed by Jose A. Gonzalez y Echevarría in 1870 under the company ''El Ferrocarril Urbano de la Villa de Mayagüez'' (the Urban Train of Mayagüez),<ref name="Mayagüez">[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/nuevomayaguez/eltranva.HTM ''The Mayagüez Trans-Way, First Urban Rail System of Puerto Rico''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127055511/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/nuevomayaguez/eltranva.htm |date=2006-01-27 }} (El Tranvía de Mayagüez, Primer Ferrocarril Urbano de Puerto Rico), New Mayagüez Foundation, Inc. (Fundación Nuevo Mayagüez, Inc.) {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> with the line being built between 1872 and 1875. The simple [[tram|street railway]] system consisted of small wagons on rails pulled by horses, and connected the center part of the town with the ''Playa'' sector (now Port sector). It faced numerous difficulties, including inclined routes and poor street conditions, which were troublesome for the animals.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} The system stopped in 1887 after the company was unable to obtain certain permits, but was revived in 1893 after a proposal by the company ''Sociedad Anónima Tranvia de Mayagüez'' (the Mayagüez Tramways Anonymous Society) and renewed operations in 1895.<ref name="Mayagüez"/>

The new system operated more efficiently,{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} offering more comfortable cars and more stops, including one in the town Market Place (''Plaza del Mercado'') and another in the Guanajibo neighborhood. The routes were altered to pass through [[Calle de la Candelaria (Mayagüez)|McKinley Street]], which was less inclined and with better road conditions than previous routes benefiting both the ride and the horses. It lasted until 1912, when the Mayagüez Tramways Anonymous Society ceased operations and was replaced by the Mayagüez Tramway Company in 1913.<ref name="Mayagüez"/> The third operator of the system introduced new larger electric-powered cars, although the service was now limited from the ''Playa'' sector directly to the Balboa neighborhood. It remained active for 13 years, but after a major earthquake hit Mayagüez in 1918, coupled with the recent arrival of the automobile, it was shut down permanently in 1926.<ref name="Mayagüez"/>

===San Juan Tramway===

[[File:Rails To Nowhere.jpg|thumb|right|130px|These abandoned tracks in [[Arroyo, Puerto Rico]], part of the Southern Railway, were laid about 20 years ago and are easily restorable.]]

In 1878, engineer-entrepreneur Don Pablo Ubarri was granted a permit to build and operate a {{convert|7|mi|km|1|adj=on}} passenger [[Tram#Steam|steam tramway]] between [[Old San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] and the town of [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico|Río Piedras]].<ref name="San Juan 1989, pp. 209-211">{{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}} San Juan: Historia Illustrada de su desarrollo urbano, 1508-1898 - Aníbal Sepúlveda Rivera. San Juan 1989, pp. 209-211. Centro de Investigaciones CARIMAR.</ref> This interurban system was the beginning of colonization of the hinterland of the walled city of San Juan.<ref name="San Juan 1989, pp. 209-211"/> In 1901, the [[San Juan Light & Transit Co.]] replaced the steam tram by a new electric [[Tram|tram system]].<ref>Document CF408, Tranvía de la Capital a Río Piedras (Nov 16, 1898), Archivo General de Puerto Rico</ref> The stops or ''paradas'' along the avenue were numbered, from 1 in Old San Juan to 40 in Río Piedras. The numbers became so identified with the locations that some street maps still show them today. In 1911 a new line going through [[Condado (Santurce)|Condado]] in [[Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico|Santurce]] is constructed by the [[Porto Rico Railway, Light & Power Co.]]<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/a2z-zz.html |title=Canadian Transit Interests Outside Canada]|website=home.cc.umanitoba.ca}}</ref> Locally referred to as the ''Trolley de San Juan'', or ''San Juan Trolley'' in English, it crossed the streets of San Juan from 1901 to {{end date|1946|10|01}}. During its heyday, it was the most modern electric tramway system in Puerto Rico, rivaling [[New York City|New York]] and [[Toronto]], the cars had such features as steel arch roof bodies, improved ventilation, up to 65 seated passengers capacity and air operated front and centre doors, with more than {{convert|14.5|mi}} of tracks and 36 passengers coaches, it transported nearly 10 million passengers a year. A stroll cost ten cents.<ref name="An Island Grows"/>

The event of [[World War II]], the creation of the San Juan-Santurce Omnibus Line, the [[Autoridad Metropolitana de Autobuses|White Star Bus Line]] and the [[1928 Okeechobee hurricane|San Felipe]] (1928) and [[1932 Atlantic hurricane season|San Ciprián]] cyclones in 1932 caused serious damages to this transit system.<ref>Historia de la energía eléctrica en Puerto Rico - Eugenio Látimer Torres</ref>

=== National railroad system ===

[[File:Central Lafayette.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Early 20th century train hauling wagons filled with sugar cane, in the [[Central Lafayette]] refinery in [[Arroyo, Puerto Rico]].]]

The main Puerto Rico rail system was created during the late 19th century and was significantly expanded during the early 20th century due to a growing [[sugar cane]] industry in the island.<ref name="Trasfondo">Pumarada O'Neill, L. (1980). ''Trasfondo histórico del ferrocarril en Puerto Rico''. Mayagüez: Centro de Investigaciones de Ingeniería, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, págs. 5-7. {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> Its origins can be traced back to 1874, when a Spanish engineer proposed building a [[Steam locomotive|steam]] railroad line along the coast of Puerto Rico. The study for this project served as a base for the definitive construction, which began in 1888. It would take almost 20 years to complete the whole route from San Juan to Ponce.<ref name="Trasfondo2">Pumarada O'Neill, L. (1980). ''Trasfondo histórico del ferrocarril en Puerto Rico''. Mayagüez: Centro de Investigaciones de Ingeniería, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, págs. 8-9, 25. {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> The main system began operations in 1891,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://enciclopediapr.org/en/encyclopedia/the-arrival-of-the-railroad-to-puerto-rico/|title=The arrival of the railroad to Puerto Rico - Economy | EnciclopediaPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tramz.com/pr/sj.html|title=THE TRAMWAYS OF PUERTO RICO|website=www.tramz.com}}</ref> when the northern line was built between San Juan (in the Martín Peña sector) and the town of [[Manatí, Puerto Rico|Manatí]], followed by extensions to the towns of [[Carolina, Puerto Rico|Carolina]] (to the east) and [[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]]/[[Camuy, Puerto Rico|Camuy]] (to the west) the following year. When the United States [[History of Puerto Rico#Invasion of 1898|invaded]] Puerto Rico in 1898, the system already had approximately {{convert|168|mi|abbr=on}} of railroad tracks.

[[File:Train Station in Yauco.jpg|thumb|left|180px|19th century photograph of a train station in [[Yauco, Puerto Rico]].]]

[[File:Ponce Train Station (1920), Barrio Primero, Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking WNW.jpg|thumb|left|Ponce Train Station (1920)]]

Passenger travel began to flourish in 1902 when the [[American Railroad Company]] from New York acquired the system.<ref name="Nostalgia">Violeta Landron, [http://www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua/tren.htm ''The Train: Memories and Nostalgia on Rails''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324184501/http://www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua/tren.htm |date=2007-03-24 }} (El Tren: Recuerdos y Nostalgia sobre Rieles), ''Fiestas Patronales 2000'', [[Vega Baja, Puerto Rico|Vega Baja, PR]], Pg. 44 {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> In 1904, a southern line was constructed between [[Hormigueros, Puerto Rico|Hormigueros]] and [[Yauco]]. The northern line was expanded towards the west of San Juan to include the towns of [[Arecibo]] and [[Aguadilla]]. One of the most significant projects of this line was linking the main rail line through [[Quebradillas, Puerto Rico|Quebradillas]] and [[Isabela, Puerto Rico|Isabela]], requiring the construction of tunnels and tall bridges, including the [[Guajataca Tunnel]] completed in 1904.<ref name="PR Law 340">{{cite web | url=http://www.lexjuris.com/LEXLEX/Leyes2000/lex2000340.htm | title=Puerto Rico Public Law 340 of 2000 | publisher=State Legislature of Puerto Rico | date=September 2, 2000 | ~~accessdate~~access-date=March 4, 2014}}</ref> In 1907, the northern line of San Juan was connected to the southern line of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], finally connecting the northern and southern portions of the island.

Before its demise, the Puerto Rico railroad system had some {{convert|500|km|sp=us|abbr=none}} of track and served almost all coastal towns, carrying freight into the Island and transporting agricultural products to the ports for shipping overseas.<ref name="An Island Grows">''An Island Grows, 70 Years of Economic Development in Puerto Rico, 1877 - 1947'' (1947) Biblioteca UPR.</ref> The construction of the national railroad system produced tunnels and bridges which were noted for their architecture and local importance.<ref name="PR Law 340"/><ref name="Metro San Antonio">{{cite news | url=http://www.metro.pr/blogs/de-vuelta-por-el-puente-ferroviario-del-cano-san-antonio/pGXncc!l3H4X9EkWPkiU/ | title=De vuelta por el puente ferroviario del caño San Antonio | work=blog | date=March 3, 2014 | agency=Metro.pr | ~~accessdate~~access-date=March 4, 2014 | author=Bermejo, Nelson}}</ref> The [[Puente Blanco]], completed in 1922, and the [[Caño San Antonio rail bridge]] completed in 1932,<ref name="Metro San Antonio"/> were designated as [[National Register of Historic Places|Historical Places]] by the [[U.S. National Park Service]] in 1984 and 2009, respectively,<ref>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=84003126}}|title=Nomination Document. NRHP|year=1984|publisher=National Park Service|~~accessdate~~access-date=26 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.pr.gov/agencias/oech/Documents/Propiedades%20en%20el%20Registro%20Nacional/San%20Juan/Puente%20Ferroviario%20San%20Antonio.pdf|title=Nomination Document. NRHP|year=2009|publisher=National Park Service|~~accessdate~~access-date=4 March 2014}}</ref> while the Guajataca Tunnel was designated as a Historical Monument by the [[Puerto Rico Legislature]] in 2000.<ref name="PR Law 340"/> Many of these structures were designed and built under the supervision of Etienne Totti,<ref name="Metro San Antonio"/> who was at the time the head engineer of the American Railroad of Porto Rico and would become the first president of the [[Puerto Rico Professional College of Engineers and Land Surveyors|Puerto Rico Professional College of Engineers]].

Transport by rail greatly improved the everyday life of Puerto Ricans, since passengers could now travel between the largest cities, San Juan and Ponce, in record time.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} Previous trips used to take several days by horse and wagons, but the regular train greatly reduced traveling time to around 10 hours. There were four main trains operating all day and night during the system’s peak years, with Train No. 1 departing at 7:00am from San Juan and arriving in Ponce at 5:00pm. Tickets for this one-way trip cost $1.50 for first class and $0.95 for second class in 1950.<ref name="Nostalgia"/> The system was such an important part of island society, that famed composer [[Manuel “Canario” Jimenez]] composed a ''[[Plena]]'' song titled ''La Máquina'' (The Machine) about the daily trip between San Juan and Ponce.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

==== Tragedy on election day in 1944 ====

On the early morning hours of November 7, 1944, the [[American Railroad Company of Puerto Rico]] suffered the most violent accident in its history.<ref name="endi">[http://www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua/tren.htm ''La Tragedia del 7 de noviembre de 1944''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324184501/http://www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua/tren.htm |date=2007-03-24 }} (The Tragedy of November 7, 1944) by Haydee E. Reichard de Cancio, [[El Nuevo Dia]], Por Dentro Section, Pg. 116, December 7, 1996, retrieved on July 31, 2006 {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}</ref> Train No. 3 was traveling from San Juan to Ponce carrying passengers to their different hometowns for the island general elections to be held that same day. It stopped at the Jimenez Station in Aguadilla for a routine [[Railroad engineer|engineer]] and fireman exchange with Train No. 4 which was heading towards San Juan. The engineer assigned to Train No. 3's ride from Jimenez Station to Ponce was Jose Antonio Roman, an experienced freight train engineer, but who had never worked in passenger travel.<ref name="endi"/> When the train left the station at 2:00am, it was hauling 6six passenger cars with hundreds of commuters and two freight cars.

[[File:Cuesta Vieja, street in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|Cuesta Vieja in Aguadilla]]

At 2:20am the train started to descend a hill section known as ''[[Cuesta Vieja]]'' (Old Hill) in Aguadilla at what some witnesses described as an exaggerated speed. When the train reached the leveling-off point at the bottom of the hill it [[Derailment|derailed]]. The steam locomotive crashed into a ditch and one of the freight cars crashed into one of the passenger cars, killing many inside. Witnesses described the scene as horrendous, with some accounts stating that parents were throwing their children out the windows to save them from the wreckage.<ref name="endi"/> Chief of Police Guillermo Arroyo stated that the locomotive (No. 72), the express car, and three second class passenger cars were completely destroyed. Oscar Valle, an Aguadilla correspondent to the local ''[[El Mundo (Puerto Rico)|El Mundo]]'' newspaper, summarized the scene in a more dramatic way: "The locomotive suffered a terrible explosion as it derailed, and the impact was so strong that 3 passenger cars were converted into a fantastic mound of wreckage."<ref name="endi"/> In the end, 16 passengers lost their lives, including the engineer and the fireman, and 50 were injured in the crash.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eleditor.net/medio-ambiente/puerto-rico-y-aquel-tren-que-nunca-llego-a-destino/|title=Puerto Rico y aquel tren que nunca llegó a destino|language=es}}</ref>

===Downfall===

Image:San Juan Terminal.jpg|The former [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] railroad terminal.

Image:Mercedita Train 2.JPG|Abandoned [[Hacienda Mercedita|Central Mercedita]] [[Plymouth Locomotive Works|Plymouth]] DE 50-ton locomotive in the Mercedita Serralles Refinery near [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]].

Image:Puente_del_Tren_Santurce_PR.JPG|Old train bridge in the [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] district of Santurce, near San Juan Central Park.

Image:Exposed Rail San Juan Port.jpg|Exposed rails at the [[Old San Juan]] Port, facing the old "Calle del Tren" (Train Street; today an [[Right-of-way (transportation)|exclusive]] [[bus]] street).

</gallery>

When Puerto Rico [[Operation Bootstrap|changed its mostly agricultural economy to a manufacturing one]], and the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments started investing heavily in interstate [[highway]]s and [[freeway]]s, the railroad business in the island soon collapsed. The system was almost lost when the American Railroad Company filed for bankruptcy in 1947.<ref name="Nostalgia"/> In an effort to save the system, former employees reorganized the company and formed the [[Puerto Rico Railroad and Transport Company]] serving as [[stockholder]]s,<ref name="Nostalgia"/> but by then the system could no longer compete with the increasing number of automobiles, trucks, and buses on the island. Passenger travel ceased in 1953,{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} while the commercial service (mostly for the sugar cane industry) continued operating until 1957.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} Small portions of the system remained operational for local industries, including the Mercedita and Arroyo sugar refineries, until the collapse of the sugar cane industry in the early 1990s.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

The last remaining part of the system used in operations was a small rail line located in the town of [[Arroyo, Puerto Rico|Arroyo]], which was used exclusively for tourism purposes until ~~recently~~2005.<ref name="travelsports">TravelandSports.com, [http://travelandsports.com/espanol/arrot714.htm Tren del Sur de Arroyo]</ref><ref name="prfrogui">PRFROGUI.com [http://www.prfrogui.com/home/arroyopueblo.htm El Tren del Sur (Arroyo)]</ref> The rest of the system was either torn down to make room for new development, recycled (rails were melted and recycled and certain rail bridges were converted into road bridges), or simply abandoned. Remnants of the main system and lines can still be seen in some parts of Puerto Rico~~, such as:~~.▼

[[File:Guajataca tunnel 2.JPG|thumb|225px|right|Entrance to the [[Guajataca Tunnel]] in [[Quebradillas, Puerto Rico]].]]▼

▲The last remaining part of the system used in operations was a small rail line located in the town of [[Arroyo, Puerto Rico|Arroyo]], which was used exclusively for tourism purposes until recently.<ref name="travelsports">TravelandSports.com, [http://travelandsports.com/espanol/arrot714.htm Tren del Sur de Arroyo]</ref><ref name="prfrogui">PRFROGUI.com [http://www.prfrogui.com/home/arroyopueblo.htm El Tren del Sur (Arroyo)]</ref> The rest of the system was either torn down to make room for new development, recycled (rails were melted and recycled and certain rail bridges were converted into road bridges), or simply abandoned. Remnants of the main system and lines can still be seen in some parts of Puerto Rico, such as:

~~{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}~~

File:Old train tracks at Central Igualdad in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.jpg|Old train tracks at Central Igualdad in [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico]]

* The [[Caño San Antonio rail bridge]]

▲[[File:Guajataca tunnel 2.JPG~~|thumb|225px|right~~|Entrance to the [[Guajataca Tunnel]] in [[Quebradillas, Puerto Rico~~]].~~]]

* [[Rail tracks|Tracks]], in the streets of the Playa de Ponce neighborhood of Ponce;

</gallery>

* Tracks, along the old port section of Mayagüez;

* Bridge in Aguadilla over Culebrinas River near [[Central Coloso]] behind PR-111 junction with PR-418

* Abandoned [[diesel locomotive]]s and sugar cane wagons, in the [[Juan Serralles|Serralles]] Distillery (home of the [[Don Q]] liquor), next to [[Mercedita Airport]], in Ponce;

* Tracks and bridges, along PR-1 state road in the southern region of the island;

* Tracks, bridges and abandoned sugar cane wagons, in the Aguirre neighborhood between the [[Salinas, Puerto Rico|Salinas]], Arroyo and Guayama towns;

* Steam locomotive ({{Track gauge|1000mm|allk=on|disp=s}} CAIL n° 2296 2-6-0T, French built year 1889 steam locomotive, FCPR n°2 - in duty in France at Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme after being presented to Henri FORD in 1929 by ARR PR and sent back from Michigan to France in 1994;

* Steam locomotive ({{Track gauge|1000mm|allk=on|disp=s}} Baldwin #53959 0-4-2 steam locomotive - Hacienda Dolores #2), on display in a public plaza in [[Peñuelas]];

* Steam locomotive ({{Track gauge|2ft6in|lk=on|disp=s}} gauge Baldwin #60180 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive - Central Pasto Viejo [incorrectly painted as Central Constancia] #7), on display in a public park in [[Levittown, Puerto Rico|Levittown]];

* Steam locomotives, abandoned and rusting in the [[Vieques]] wilderness;

* Tunnel, between the Guajataca and Pastillo beaches, near the Guajataca Forest Reserve in [[Quebradillas]];

* Tunnel, hidden in the Guajataca Canyon;

* Tunnel, in Guaniquilla section of [[Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico|Cabo Rojo]];

* Bridge, in the [[Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico|Santurce]] neighborhood of San Juan, close to San Juan Central Park.

* Exposed tracks (of the otherwise asphalt covered tracks) in front of the Cargo Ship Docks in Old San Juan.

* Three bridges inside Fort Buchanan, exposed rail.

* Puente Blanco bridge in Quebradillas.

* Exposed tracks, in Caguas. Road #1 lane going from Rio Piedras to Caguas, near Bairoa

* Former railroad stations in Aguada, Añasco, Hormigueros, Barceloneta, [[Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico|Cabo Rojo]], [[San Germán]], Manati and Vega Baja.

* Tracks, by the south side of [[Central Coloso]], in [[Aguada, Puerto Rico|Aguada]].

==Tren Urbano==

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The Tren Urbano is a heavy-rail commuter metro system serving the cities of Bayamón, [[Guaynabo]] and San Juan. It is the only active rail system serving the general public in Puerto Rico, with 16 stations along a {{convert|10.7|mi|km|1|adj=on}} route. It is [[Railway electrification system|electrified]] by third rail at 750 V,volts ~~d.c.~~of [[direct current]]. The line's construction started in July 1996 with the purpose of relieving traffic congestion in the San Juan metropolitan area, and was inaugurated January 2005 to mixed reactions. With a final estimated cost of $2.25 billion, nearly $1 billion more than original estimates,<ref name="Tollroadnews">[http://tollroadsnews.info/artman/publish/article_1161.shtml/ ''Tren Urbano PR another way low transit ridership forecast''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021101106/http://tollroadsnews.info/artman/publish/article_1161.shtml/ |date=2008-10-21 }}, TOLLROADSNews, November 20, 2005, accessed April 13, 2007.</ref> the project has been criticized by government watchdogs, especially for its low passenger use of approximately 24,000 daily passengers (2005 est.), compared with original projections of 80,000.<ref name="Tollroadnews"/>

Upon its inaugural opening, there were initial plans to extend the Tren Urbano rail system to outlying suburbs of the San Juan metro area, including a light interurban rail system [[San Juan-Caguas Rail|from San Juan to Caguas]] originally scheduled to be completed in 2010.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2004/vol8n15/CBCaguasSanJuan.html| title=Caguas To San Juan In 15 Minutes| ~~accessdate~~access-date=2007-05-08}}</ref> However, these designs have not been finalized and no construction work has commenced yet. The proposed Caguas rail project remains postponed as of ~~July~~September ~~2009~~2019.

== Other systems ==

=== Chemex Railroad ===

The '''Chemex Railroad''' (a.k.a. '''Port of Ponce Railroad''') was a short, {{Track gauge|ussg}} [[industrial railroad]] located in the southern city of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]] and was the last remaining operational freight railroad on the entire island until it ceased operations sometime in 2010.<ref name="PR-chemex">[http://ferrocarrilespr.rogerseducationalpage.com/?p=1193 Railroads of Puerto Rico: Ferrocarril Chemex] Brief information and photographs of the Chemex Railroad operation in Ponce.</ref> It first began operations in 1988 under the control of [[CHEMEX Corporation]]'s predecessor [[PharmaChem]], a supplier of chemicals to Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry, which primarily used the railroad to ship inbound chemical products via a [[Train ferry|railroad ferry]] connection from [[Mobile, Alabama]] in the U.S. mainland to the marine terminal within the [[Puerto de Las Américas]].<ref name="american-shipper">[https://archive.istoday/20010702081941/http://www.americanshipper.com/paid/MAY01/where_the_rail.asp American Shipper] Article: ''Where the Rail Meets the Water''</ref>

The entire rail system consisted of an eight-track [[Rail yard|railroad yard]], a railroad ferry terminal, and two diesel [[Switcher|switcher locomotives]].<ref name="Google-maps">[https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=17.972658,-66.614091&spn=0.001873,0.003433&t=k&z=19 Google Maps – Ponce, PR] Observations from a [[Google Maps]] satellite image with a view of the Port of Ponce (Chemex) railroad yard.</ref> The two engines, an [[EMD SW1]] and [[EMD SW9]], made up the primary locomotive roster to assist in most of its switching activities and the loading of rail cars onto [[Car float|barges]].<ref name="JR Industrial Guide">{{cite book |last= Reed |first= Jay |title= Comprehensive Guide To Industrial Locomotives |publisher= Rio Hondo |edition=3rd |year= 2002 |isbn= 0-9647221-3-5}}</ref> About twice each month from the [[Port of Mobile]], the railroad ferry service transported an average of 24 [[tank car]]s throughout each voyage, delivering and receiving both loaded and unloaded cars from the terminal to the rest of the national U.S. rail network.<ref name="PR-chemex"/><ref name="american-shipper"/>

Line 97 ⟶ 80:

=== El Parque del Tren ===

'''El Parque del Tren''' was a little train within a park dedicated exclusively for park attendees. It was also the last remaining rail line open to the general public until the inauguration of the ''Tren Urbano''. It consisted of a locomotive with various passenger cars which would carry visitors around a large recreational park in Bayamón. As part of ~~its~~early ~~construction~~2000s reconstruction efforts, the park was demolished to make way for the ''Tren Urbano''.<ref name="radiosabor">[http://www.radiosabor.es/viajar/puertorico/4bayamon.html Baymon Tourism], RadioSabor.es</ref>

Some of the park's areas have been remodeled and it now features some of the things the park had in the past, such as a blue-water lake. The area is now known as "Parque del Niño" or "Children's Park".

== See also ==

* [[Transportation in Puerto Rico#Defunct systems|Defunct systems]]

* [[List of town tramway systems in North America#Puerto Rico (to U.S.)|List of Puerto Rico tramways]]

* [[List of Puerto Rico railroads]]

* [[List of United States railroads]]

* [[Rail transport in the United States]]

* [[Transportation in Puerto Rico]]

* [[Metre-gauge railway]]

* [[List of tram systems by gauge and electrification|List of gauges used on Puerto Rico tracks]]

==References==

Line 120 ⟶ 107:

* Stone & Webster Public Service Journal. Boston, 1907-1915 (continued as Stone & Webster Journal 1916-1932). Issues of 1907, 1908 and February 1928.

* United States. 57th Congress, 1st Session, Senate. Document No. 76: Electric Street Railway, Ponce, P.R. Washington, 1901.

* José Jimeno Agius. Población y Comercio de la Isla de Puerto Rico. Memoria de 1885. Madrid, 1885 [reprinted ~~in1918~~in 1918 in Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico, vol. V]. Survey of citizens and commerce. p. 294

* Adolfo de Hostos. Tesauro de Datos Históricos. 5 volumes, Río Piedras, 1990-1995. Thesaurus of Puerto Rican history. "Ponce – Tranvía" section, Vol. IV, p. 391.

* Archivo General de Puerto Rico. Fondo de Obras Públicas. Inventario Sub Fondo Ferrocarriles y Tranvías. San Juan, 2005. List of railroad and tramway proposals. Ponce tramway section, pp. 139–141 (tramway proposals in 1864-1865).

Line 127 ⟶ 114:

* [http://rogerseducationalpage.com/ferrocarrilespr/ Railroads of Puerto Rico] – A site dedicated to the history of railroading in Puerto Rico.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070505011816/http://www.ati.gobierno.pr/ Tren Urbano Home Page] {{esin ~~icon~~lang|es}}

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/sj.html The Tramways of San Juan] (English)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060213192644/http://www.artepublico.puertorico.pr/english/ambitos/tren_urbano/index.htm Puerto Rico Public Art Project – Tren Urbano] – Photos and information related to the artwork located on each of the train route's stations. {{es icon}}

~~'''Ponce, Puerto Rico train lines:'''~~

* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandrebecca/4134814967/sizes/o/in/photostream/ The Ponce Railroad station on Calle Ferrocarril, Ponce, circa 1900s] Accessed 5 January 2011.

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pc.html The Tramways of P O N C E PUERTO RICO BY Allen Morrison (Ponce, PR railroads)]

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pcm.html Maps of Ponce, PR, railways]

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pcm80.html Original 1880 Map of Ponce Trailways]

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pcTR.html Documents signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in February 1901 assigning the building of teh Ponce Electric Trailway to W. S. H. Lothrop of the Boston banking firm De Ford & Co.,after end of the 1900 auction. (Lothrop hired the Massachusetts engineering firm Stone & Webster to build the electric line.)]

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pcm02.html 1902 Map of the PONCE ELECTRIC TRAMWAY]

* [http://www.tramz.com/pr/pcm27.html Map of Electric Railway at Ponce Playa, and Port of Ponce]

* [http://ferrocarrilespr.rogerseducationalpage.com/?p=2276 Railroads of Puerto Rico / Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico: Ponce, PR trains]

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[[Category:Railway accidents in 1944|Puerto Rico]]

[[Category:History of rail transport by country|Puerto Rico]]

[[Category:1891 establishments in Puerto Rico]]