Mexico’s Mainlines in the Early 1990s - National Railways of Mexico, Part 1

In this video, C. Vision Productions takes you on a fascinating journey across Mexico, as we explore several mainline routes of the country's rail network in the early 1990s. This was traditional railroading. Train orders, open stations, exotic motive power, mixed trains, and five-man crews would make one think they had stepped back in time, but this was simply the way things were in the last decade of the 20th century. We’ll see both freight and passenger trains on several important rail lines between the United States border and Mexico City, then operated by Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM). Also included is coverage of FNM’s Tampico to San Luis Potosí route, one of the most scenic stretches of track in all of Mexico. On this line, we’ll visit the station in Tamasopo, where a friendly operator allows us to document him at work communicating via telegraph, as well as copying train orders from the dispatcher over the block line telephone. We’ll then hop aboard the head end of an extra passenger train for a cab ride up steep mountain grades through the Sierra Madre Oriental, aboard SD40 8577. All of this footage was documented in the early 1990s, several years before Mexico’s rail network was privatized. As of 2023, the routes covered in this program are being operated by CPKC, Ferromex, and Ferrovalle. A wide variety of EMD, GE, Alco, and MLW units are seen in this video, with many rare locomotive models viewed in operation. EMD models include SD40, SDP40, SD40X, SD40-2, GP38-2, GP40, SW1504, and G12. GE models include C30-7, C30-S7 (Super 7), B23-7, and U18B. Alco and MLW units were once very common in Mexico, with models M630, RS-11, and RSD-12 making appearances in this video. Sit back and relax, as videographer Dan Hadley takes you trackside, in the cab, and behind the scenes, in this classic look at the railroads south of the border. More to enjoy from C. Vision Productions: Southern Pacific’s Desert Raceway - The Sunset Route in 1995 https://youtu.be/O4AiZ4dPcGc Tennessee Pass - The Historic Final Days https://youtu.be/u4WGDDxWl8w Saluda Grade - The Final Months of America’s Steepest Mainline Route https://youtu.be/CG0f2ZMEBbY Smoky U28Bs on Coal Trains! - Transkentucky Transportation Railroad (TTI) https://youtu.be/hSICEfHgQec Kansas City Southern - C. Vision’s Tribute to the Mighty KCS https://youtu.be/MDT5O-wbeQU Arizona & California Railroad in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts: 30 Years of ARZC https://youtu.be/yHDtmtU8Wqw Trona Railway in the Mojave Desert: EMD SD40-2, SD40T-2, and Baldwin AS-616 Locomotives https://youtu.be/hkwck9cSRHo Minnesota Commercial Railway - 70 Year Old Locomotives Smoking Like Chimneys! https://youtu.be/TYWARi1-eVo Black Hills SD40-2 Cab Ride: Chicago & North Western Colony Line - FULL VIDEO (1994) https://youtu.be/4FAbtVHgMEg Central Montana Railroad: Shortline Survivor - GP9 and GP30 Territory https://youtu.be/Vc6WqSivG6k BN and ATSF colors on the Milwaukee Road Mainline: Let the EMDs Roar! https://youtu.be/EA7-V97GnxA