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Without any doubt, cable cars are part of the most pleasant memoirs of the people of Tampico and its visitors that brings nostalgic mood since this type of transportation had an special enchantment.
The cable car was an excellent transportation mean that was used by the inhabitants of the city to get to their homes and workplaces and served also as a family recreation. It was a pleasure to ride the cable car at the Plaza de la Libertad (Liberty Square) to tour the Miramar Beach enjoying the streets, the people and some parts of the city having the fresh air to reach you through the windows while enjoying the peculiar movement of the cable car. The history of the cable cars in Tampico starts when the Spaniard Benito Zorrilla open a cable car way in 1879, that closed due to bankruptcy in 1889. Year later, on 1895, Rafael Zúñiga acquired the permit to rebuild the Zorrilla Lines, but died, being Enrique Breton-Camargo who in 1900 starts the Ferrocarril Urbano de Tampico, opening a new system on January 1st, 1901 that had on 1906 7.7 Km of horse drawn cable car. At the time, the then Ferrocarril Central Mexicano ran the suburban steam trains to La Barra.
The electric cable car replaced on 1914 the animal traction and were introduced by the Cia. Electrica de Luz, Fuerza y Traccion CELFT (an electricity utility company) registered in London on May 24th, 1912 operating a modern equipment bought in Wason Massachusetts that included “halfside” cars that were closed cars with big windows but with the corresponding safety. After the revolution, between 1915 and 1920 the population of the city increased by 400% that brought a demand in transportation, for this reason, CELFT requested from the United States more “halfside” cars and other named “acoplados”. The “Tampico” model was a car of 12 meters long with 15 windows per side. The cable car routes started operating in 1914 with the exception of the ones to the suburban areas that started in 1922, being the main ones: Union Line: Started from the Liberty’ Square through the Aduana Street reaching the Tamaulipas Street and to the west upon reaching the Amargura Street. Cascajal Line: short rout that could be covered in ten minutes, departing from the Aduana Street turning on Commerce (today’s Salvador Diaz Mirón) until the Aguila Street. Cementerio, Aguila and Hospital Gorgas Line: In reality, they were three routes that used the same rail tracks. The cars departed from the Aduana Street turning on Jazmines (today’s Obregón Street) to the Hombres Ilustres Street, today Hidalgo Avenue. Those that wanted to continue to the Gorgas Hospital changed cars. Colonias Line: From the Jazminez Street, today Obregón to the old Municipal Cemetery to the Santo Niño Street, today Cuauhtemoc Avenue passing to the outskirts of the Carpenter’s Lagoon and to the Americana, Tolteca, Otomi suburban areas to the Col. Vergel at the Colonia Aguila line. Tampico Miramar Line: Departing from the Liberty Square at the Ribera Street, turning on Flores straight to the beach. This route started in 1914 converting to double line in 1922. This was a trip of approximately 12 Kilometers that took about 20 minutes depending upon the time that stayed on each of the 22 stations from the Liberty Square to the Miramar Station and it was later extended to the beach when the wood bridge that linked the station to the Miramar Resort was destroyed.
In 1922 CELFT was restructured as a Mexican company being named the Compania Eléctrica de Tampico. Then, Tampico was living through the oil boom so the cheap oil and gas increased the bus competitiveness given the limited stations for the cable car. These factors reduced the passenger volume from 48,393 in 1923 to 30,062 in 1924 when there were available 25 passenger cars, 6 acoplados, 2 cargo, 5 platforms and 31 Km. of rail tracks. Given the diminishing passenger volume CET closed its urban system on March 31st, 1927 leaving only the line to the Miramar Beach. On January 1929 CET was acquired by the US company Electric Bond & Share Co. (“EBASCO”). Years later, the cable car company was renamed Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Tampico a la Barra o Sociedad Cooperativa de Transportes Eléctricos de Tampico TET or Transportes Eléctricos Tampico-Miramar, S.C.L. During the seventies, the Cía. de Luz y Fuerza was incorporated to the Comisión Federal de Electricidad CFE (The Mexican Government Electricity Utility), and the Sociedad Cooperativa (Union) was delivered the real estate and the cable cars at the Muelle and Tamaulipas Streets and indemnity payment. During some years this union operated the old cable cars until they purchased new ones in the United States. Finally the company ran into trouble with the new employees hired to operate the units which were sold to pay them the idemization and thus ended one of the most trusted and loved means of transportation of the region. The Miramar Beach line was closed on December 13th, 1974 and its rail tracks converted into highways for automobiles known today as the Alvaro Obregón Avenue.
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Articles from our 14th Edition Tampico, victim of Pirates, Bucaneers, and Privateers
León Trotsky in Tampico
New Street Names
Tampico Wakeboard City
Tajín Summit
Convention Center
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