The roots of what was to become the Southern Pacific Company (formally incorporated as such in March 1884) lay in the Central Pacific Railroad, the historic line of railway which fought its way over the Sierra, eastward out of California, to meet the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah, on 10 May 1869. From that beginning it grew into a multi-faceted business that operated not just main line and branch railways, but also steamships, interurban and streetcar systems. The title ‘Southern’ misleads, as it became a vast enterprise, a network of rails which stretched from Portland, Oregon, in the north, all the way down the west coast of the United States, penetrating far inland also, and as far south as Nogales. The town, two communities divided by a neutral zone, straddled the border with Mexico. Onward from that point, from the first decade of the twentieth century until 1951, the SP operated a further 1,105 miles (1,778 km) of trackage, mostly along the coast, to Guadalajana, Jalisco. This, which functioned under the title Sud-Pacifico de Mexico, is the present object of our attention. In all, the Southern Pacific Company owned at one time or another some 16,000 miles (25,750 km) of track (of which 1,200 miles were narrow gauge and 300 5ft 0in or 5ft 6in). Its steam locomotive stock ran the full gamut from single-wheelers to the great, world famous cab-first articulateds and the mighty threecylinder 4-10-2s, which booster in action generated more than 96,000 lb starting tractive effort. The SPdeM, as it will be described, experienced hard times throughout much of its existence, suffering severe and extensive damage caused by
