Puerto Rico

[ericsp]

 You learn something new every day.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1851402 

[samfp1943]

ericsp

 You learn something new every day.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1851402 

From a search for Railroads in Puerto Rico, Here's the link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Railroads+in+Puerto+Rico&btnG=Google+Search&rlz=1W1ADRA_en

and a partial entry:The Chemex Railroad (a.k.a. Port of Ponce Railroad) is a short standard gauge industrial railroad located in the southern city of Ponce and remains the only current freight railroad operating on the entire island.^[13] It first began operations in 1988 under the control of CHEMEX Corporation's predecessor PharmaChem, a supplier of chemicals to Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry, which primarily uses the railroad to ship inbound chemical products via a railroad ferry connection from Mobile, Alabama in the U.S. mainland to the marine terminal within the Puerto de Las Américas.^[14]

The entire rail system consists of an eight-track railroad yard, a railroad ferry terminal, and two diesel switcher locomotives.^[15] The two engines, an EMD SW1 and EMD SW9, make up the primary locomotive roster to assist in most of its switching activities and the loading of rail cars onto barges.^[16] About twice each month from the Port of Mobile, the railroad ferry service transports an average of 24 tank cars throughout each voyage, delivering and receiving both loaded and unloaded cars from the terminal to the rest of the national U.S. rail network.^[14][13]

[edit] Defunct systems

19th century train station in Yauco.

The Puerto Rico train system flourished during the late 19th and early 20th century due to a large sugar cane industry in the island. Most, if not all, of these system were private-owned services.

During the 1870s and 1890s, Puerto Rico did not have a national railroad system, but the city of Mayagüez did have a small passenger rail system for transporting its residents mainly along the Mendez Vigo Avenue.

The main system can be traced back to 1891, when the northern line was built between San Juan (Martín Peña sector) and the town of Manatí. The system was expanded to include all the western coastal towns, providing a link which would allow passengers to travel between the northern and southern parts of the island in less than a day for the first time in its history. Before its downfall, the Puerto Rico railroad system operated in all major cities, with tracks and stations along most of the coastal towns and direct lines to all major sugar refineries.

However, when Puerto Rico changed its mostly agricultural economy to an industrialized one, and the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments started investing heavily in interstate highways and freeways, the railroad business soon collapsed. Passenger travel ceased in 1953, while the commercial train system (mostly for the sugar cane industry) continued operating until 1957.

[CShaveRR]

I didn't know that! Do I know it now, or could there be a mistake?

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Thanks for the Original Post, and the subsequent research and link.  There is a perhaps surprisingly large pharmaceutical manufacturing industry there - my daughter has had and continues to have some professional contacts with the Baxter Pharmaceutical people there.

Clicking on the linked photo, and then on the linked 'Album' led to a ''Viewing Album:  Chemex Railroad'' collection of about a dozen other photos of the same site by the same Eddie Robles and date, 11-13-2009 - including most of the presently existing rail items decribed in the post by Sam/ samfp1943 above - at:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=51314 

By: Eddie Robles Dates: 11/13/2009 - 11/13/2009 Album Info: In Puerto Rico, the only standard-gauge industrial railroad operating on the entire island is located within the Puerto de Las Americas in Ponce. This switching short-line, known as the Chemex Railroad, first began operations in 1988 under the control of PharmaChem (later CHEMEX), a supplier of chemicals to Puerto Rico's pharmaceutical industry. About twice each month, a railcar marine barge ships an average of 24 loaded tanker cars per voyage from Mobile, Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to the railroad terminal in Ponce, Puerto Rico. These chemical tankers are then unloaded and transferred to tanker trucks to be shipped to each customer on the island, which afterwards the empty railcars are then ferried back to Mobile. This photo captioned as Transloading Railcars ''coulda been a contender'' for the recent ''Intermodal'' photo contest here: And here's one of something likely none of us would have guessed or anticipated - ex-Northern Pacific flatcars !   (NP's 201744, 201748, and 201750, per the caption, which is interesting.) Just this morning I was thinking about digging out, scanning, and posting my fim-format photos of the Jamaican Railways Kingston Terminal and Engine Shop from February 1977 - including the Rolls-Royce 'nameplate' on a diesel railcar.  Don't hold your breath for that - that kind of thing gets about a 1-year time frame from me right now, unless someone has a special interest in or need for it  - but someday . . . Thanks again for these posts.  - Paul North.

[CShaveRR]

I guess I do know it now! I'm a little surprised that the ferry service out of Mobile hasn't gotten more coverage, let alone this destination for it.

[desertdog]

I was in San Juan last fall and noticed a short section of rail near the waterfront. That prompted a Google search when I returned home. There was not a lot about the former railroad system but it appears to have been extensive. There are some photos on Google "images," as well. John Timm

[ericsp]

This must be the connection in Mobile. 

Here is a satellite photograph of the yard in Puerto Rico. 

Finally, here is something interesting looking they are building in Mobile. 

 

According to the 2009 Refinery Capacity Report, Puerto Rico used to have a pretty decent petroleum refining industry. There are one idled (Shell Chemical Yabucoa Inc: Yabucoa, PR) and four shuttered refineries (Arochem International: Ponce, PR, December 1992; Peerless Oil & Chemical: Ponce, PR, December 1994; Chevron Phillips Chemical: Guayama, PR, January 2002; and Caribbean Petroleum Corp: San Juan, PR, January 2005) on the island.

[ericsp]

It looks like this operation has ceased.

[chutton01]

ericsp

It looks like this operation has ceased.

A short Google+ blog post by some one who visted in May 2015 indicated almost all the track had been removed by then, but some tank cars remained there (he guessed for use as storage tanks).
Wiki (rail transport in Puerto Rico) indicates the operation ceased in 2010, about the time this thread was getting started (however, the associated link to that info inside the Wiki entry is now dead).
It is possible that the 2006 expiration of very generous federal tax credits for manufacturing in Puerto Rico contributed to the end of this operation, as well as a general overall high PR unemployment rate even after the recession

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Wonder what happend to the SW-1 and the SW-9 ?  The "Google Map - Ponce, PR" link in ericsp's post above and also on the Wikipedia entry (fn 21) has a thumbnail photo of the SW-1 dated May 2011 credited to "FreddyHonda", and it looks pretty derelict:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=17.972658,-66.614091&spn=0.001873,0.003433&t=k&z=19  

- Paul North. 

[blue streak 1]

Family gave me a 1950 Encyclopedia Britannia world atlas.  Cannot believe the amount of rail in PR. 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Puerto_Rico

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Puerto_Rico_railroads 

Between this and Jamaica - and probably some others, like Cuba - too bad we can't step into a time machine for about 60 - 70 years ago . . . 

- Paul North.

[CandOforprogress2]

"The Picture ID you requested no longer Exists on this site"

[ericsp]

CandOforprogress2

"The Picture ID you requested no longer Exists on this site"

For some reason the photographer who took the pictures in the link in the original post deleted the album a few years ago.

[CandOforprogress2]

WHAT is the Chemical that is so valuble that it has to be barged from Mobile AL is special railroad cars to a special secured track in PR?