The Railway
The Ferrocarril Mexicano (to give the railway its correct name) was a privately owned railway company that, through a period of incredible political and military upheaval, was constructed to link Mexico City, situated far inland at an altitude of 7,370 feet, with the Atlantic coast at Vera Cruz.
It originated with the Ferrocarril de Vera Cruz al Rio de San Juan, which obtained its charter from the then Mexican President in 1837, only 17 years after Mexico had finally obtained independence from Spain after a long and bloody war.
Mexico’s prosperity was greatly damaged by the 1848 war with the USA,
