International Railroad Discussion > Mexican timetable PDF's online

I have placed some Mexican employee timetables online for FUS, FCP, CH-P and SB-C, with some NdeM coming soon. There is also a copy of what is believed to be NdeM's last printed system public timetable (August, 1975).

They come courtesy of Ed Von Nordeck, who ran excursions to Mexico out of the U.S. for about 20 years starting in the mid-1960's.

Mexican and other Latin American employee and public timetables are hard to find. Though my website currently hosts more than 1200 timetable PDF's, Ed's are the first from Latin American. I would like to see that part of the world better represented. So, I am hoping that others - maybe you - might be willing to share their scans on my website. Personally, I would love to post some old ones from Argentina.

Here is the link: http://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/and_timetables1.html

Enjoy!

Ed Gibson

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

Took a train trip by rail to Mexico city in the mid 70's. It was a disaster. Most of those trains have broken down equipment etc. Nothing works down there. Now days there is no rail service at all.

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> Took a train trip by rail to Mexico city in the
> mid 70's. It was a disaster. Most of those
> trains have broken down equipment etc. Nothing
> works down there. Now days there is no rail
> service at all.


Just to be clear, there is no passenger rail service in Mexico. Freight rail is very prevalent and much improved from the 1970s.

I rode Mexican long-distance passenger trains often between 1970 and 1991. Prices were very cheap to ride in vintage sleepers and I enjoyed the ambience of dining cars and lounge cars. Air conditioning and heating didn't always work and the outside windows weren't that clean. On the plus side, riding with the Dutch door in the open vestibules was never a problem.

There is still daily train service between Los Mochis and Chihuahua on the former Chihuahua al Pacifico. I rode the train a few years ago and it was very clean inside and out, featuring lounge car and dining car service. Other than this operation, passenger service is limited to a commuter train service operating out of Mexico City and light rail lines in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey- plus the Tequila Express tourist train between Guadalajara and Tequila on the former SP of Mexico. (The Metro subway system in Mexico City is a hybrid, akin to Paris and Montreal as the cars use both rails and rubber tires).

The Servicio Coches Dormitorios could have been retained when the railroads were re-privatized but the Mexican government never provided a subsidy for passenger trains when that occurred, so long distance passenger runs were quickly discontinued. Due to the popularity of the Copper Canyon route, that train still runs; I assume it turns a profit since it is privately operated (like the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada).

Jeff Geldner
Sequoia National Park, CA

I did a fair amount of train riding in Mexico from Juarez to Tapachula, and in general found it fun. In particular the sleeping cars seemed to work pretty well, with the occasional problem with the air conditioning. The dining cars were pretty basic but I never starved or got sick. A small group of us chartered a sleeper one time and wandered around Mexico starting at Juarez and ending up in Merida. The only real problem we had was one trip enroute Tapachula a major wreck blocked the route requiring that we walk through the derailment area in the middle of the night to get to another train to continue our journey, my wife did not enjoy that.

JBWX