The Original Chepe Train
Sinaloa, Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason November 2018
Chugging past endless flat fields of tall grasses before slowly scaling the Sierra Tarahumara to a peak of 7,900 feet (2,500 meters) altitude, the magnificent El Chepe train journey that snakes through the colossal canyons of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range is considered one of the worlds most iconic train journeys.
It all began with American civil engineer Albert Kimsey Owen, who was born to a Quaker family in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1847. While working as a surveyor for a railroad route from Colorado through Central Mexico in 1872, Owen was tasked with finding a route to the Pacific coast to connect with shipping lanes to Asia. As a socialist with reformist ideas, Owen fell in love when in 1873 he arrived in Topolobampo Bay, which is located on Sinaloa's coast, just north of the majestic colonial town of Mazatlan. Owen envisioned a utopian colony bursting with academics, musicians, poets and artists, and a large international shipping port that could rival San Francisco. In May of that year, Owen's proposal for a railroad between Norfolk, Virginia and Topolobampo Bay was approved. By 1881, the Texas-Topolobampo and Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Co was registered with permissions granted from Mexico.
Due to his socialist values and determination to develop what he called "Integral Co-operation," Owen promised labourers from the Topolobampo cooperative excellent working conditions for that time, which outlined 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for work and 8 hours to enjoy the culture and entertainment offered in the colony. He also promised the colonists would operate and own the railroad and other infrastructure that they would work as equals and share all profits equally. In November 1886, Owen's dreams seemed sure to manifest with the arrival of 27 and then 150 colonists from California. The cooperative community continued to grow to a maximum of 1500 citizens who later built irrigation systems and started sugar cane farming. Sadly, the cooperative that looked so good on paper, failed once put into action. The utopian dream had all but died by the turn of the century.
View from the El Chepe
Sinaloa, Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason 2018
In 1900, Arthur E. Stilwell and a group of bankers from Kansas City were persuaded by Owen to form the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company. This was done with the participation of Mexican President Porfiro Diaz, Governor Ahumada of Chihuahua and Enrique C. Creel, Chihuahua. Due to the ease of a flatter landscape, tracks were first laid between the Chihuahuan towns of Ojinaga and Creel. Some articles reference 1898, while others mention 1900 as the start of construction. One of the contractors hired to work on this line was none other than the legendary Francisco Pancho Villa, though he was not a household name at the time.
On November 20, 1910, a new obstacle was placed on the path to progress for this railroad when the Mexican Revolution began. By that time, Owen's utopian dream in Topolobampa had already failed, leading him to relocated to Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York where he died on July 12, 1916.
By 1912, all railroad construction was halted due to local skirmishes and outright violence brought by the Revolution. This war lasted until February 5, 1917, after which construction eventually resumed. It was 1928 by the time the first line between Ojinaga and Chihuahua City was open then promptly sold to the Santa Fe System. Within the same year, the line had been sold once more to Benjamin F Johnston, who was the founder of Los Mochis, Sinaloa Mexico.
It was another 2 years before the line from Chihuahua City to Creel was complete, but within the next 7-10 years, Johnston died and the Mexican Government purchased the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company from his family. With so much time having passed, it wasn't only necessary to continue brand new construction, but to also maintain and fix older construction on tunnels, bridges and railbeds.
It was between 1958-1961 that the most difficult terrain was approached, being the Sierra Tarahumara. The railroad was finally complete and open for business on November 23, 1961 under Mexico's President Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos. The cost of this project was nearly 100 million dollars and 90 years of progress.
In 1998, Ferromex took over the railroad from the Mexican Government. The line is now known as the Pacific Al Chihuahua, though is famed more for the train El Chepe, and powerful territories of Barrancas del Cobre, or Copper Canyon.
At the foot of the Sierra Tarahumara
El Chepe Line, Copper Canyon Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason November 2018
For nearly 63 years, the El Chepe Regional has operated along this magnificent line, bringing visitors from all over the world who marvel at the incredible diversity of this region. The line runs 673 KM (418 mi) with more than 37 bridges and 86 tunnels. Starting from sea level, this system peaks near the continental divide (Divisadero) at 2,400 m (7,900 ft) altitude before descending to 1,415 m (4, 635 ft) altitude in the city of Chihuahua.
Guests who wish to travel the entire journey by rail will spend about 16 hours on the train itself, but the greatest adventures begin once one steps off the train platforms.
The Chepe Express train is a luxury model created in 2018 specifically for tourism. This line only runs between Los Mochis and Creel, with limited stops. This is the train we will ride, during our Into the Lands of the Raramuri Semana Santa tour. Not only is it a beautiful train, it has better services and a special panoramic roof-top car for first class travelers. As my initial experience on the El Chepe Regional included a surly man who yelled at me for requesting to purchase milk for my tea, I am assuming our guests would much prefer a train with professional services, given the length of our journey. (I will always be grateful for the lovely elderly man who overheard my request, who brought me milk from the front of the train and said I could have as much as I wanted for free!)
Please contact me directly if you have any questions! We look forward to hosting you on this magical trip.
Thanks to those of you who have supported my writing and research through your donations. A little adds up to a lot, and helps cover my time so I can keep publishing these articles. If there's a subject you'd like to see covered, please email me! If you would like to make a small donation of $20 Pesos (Approximately $1.20 US), please click here: DONATE
El Chepe Train Platform
Divisadero, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason November 2018
REFERENCES
"Chepe History." TrainWeb, www.trainweb.org/carl/CopperCanyon2003/ChepeHistory.html.
"Chihuahua City." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_City.
"Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocarril_Chihuahua_al_Pacífico#:~=The%20Ferrocarril%20Chihuahua%20al%20Pacífico,Mochis%20and%20its%20port%2C%20Topolobampo.
"Guide to the Lillian Pederson Papers." Online Archive of California, oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf496nb351/entire_text/.
"Guide to the Records of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915." Online Archive of California, oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0m3n97kf/.
"History of El Chepe." RailsNW, railsnw.com/tours/copper/chepe01_history.htm.
"Mexican Revolution." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/event/Mexican-Revolution.
"Ojinaga." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojinaga#:~=During%20the%20Mexican%20Revolution%2C%20Ojinaga,there%2C%20although%20that%20is%20uncertain.
"Pancho Villa." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 26 Jan. 2022, www.history.com/topics/latin-america/pancho-villa.
"The Story of the Chepe." Chepe, chepe.mx/en/the-story-of-the-chepe/.
"Topolobampo Colony." Hamilton College Digital Collections, litsdigital.hamilton.edu/collections/topolobampo-colony.
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre: El Chepe, the Smart Train." Control4, www.control4.com/blog/536/treasure-of-the-sierra-madre-el-chepe-the-smart-train/#:~:text=It%20was%20originally%20conceived%20in,for%20more%20than%2050%20years.
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