Railways in Puerto Rico
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2017 Moving Forward: Railways in Puerto Rico Gricel M. Surillo Luna The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2121 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] MOVING FORWARD: RAILWAYS IN PUERTO RICO by GRICEL M. SURILLO LUNA A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, City University of New York 2017 ©2017 Gricel M. Surillo Luna All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 20, 2017 Laird W. Bergad Date Chair of Examining Committee April 20, 2017 Andrew Robertson Date Executive Officer Herman Bennett Teresita Levy José L. Renique Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Moving Forward: Railways in Puerto Rico by Gricel M. Surillo Luna Advisor: Laird W. Bergad In the second half of the nineteenth century the establishment of railways was essential for the progress and modernization of the Puerto Rican economy. Railroads were fundamental and slowly appeared along the coast reaching their highest level of development in the first decade of the twentieth century. After the First World War, however, the railroads faced economic challenges, and competition with trucks and automobiles became a serious matter. During the depression of the 1930s, the state started to show unwillingness to aid railroads. The exclusion of the railroads from the new industrial model developed during the 1940s when a new conception of progress and modernity transformed the railroads into an obsolete means of transportation. This study is about the transformation of the railroads in the efforts to build a modern Puerto Rican economy. Railroads signified progress and modernity during the nineteenth century to become symbols of inefficiency and tradition tied to the sugar business in the mid-twentieth century. Automobiles, buses, and trucks became new symbols of modernity and progress for a country struggling to overcome economic backwardness. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation was possible thanks to the support of various friends and colleagues. The cartography was a contribution of geographer Héctor Sánchez Graterole to whom I will always be grateful. I appreciate the suggestions of Professors Jalil Sued, José Molineli, and José Luis Pons. Another important support came from John Caro for proof reading the manuscript. I received important support from the staff at the Archivo General de Puerto Rico, the Colección Puertorriqueña in the library of the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, and especially to Professor Josué Caamaño Dones for the digitalization of documents in the Centro de Investigaciones Históricas also in the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. In New York I receive the help from the staff in the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños at Hunter College, the Graduate Center Library, and the New York Public Library. Finally, I am eternally in debt to the all the support received from my family in all the process of fulfilling the doctoral degree. For them, all my love and gratitude. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: State of the research .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter I. On the road to progress ................................................................................................ 17 Chapter II. A beltway railroad ...................................................................................................... 68 Chapter III. Railroad boom ......................................................................................................... 119 Chapter IV: Time of challenges .................................................................................................. 200 Chapter V: Railways under attack .............................................................................................. 253 Chapter VI: The collapse ............................................................................................................ 286 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 314 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................. 321 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................. 324 Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................................. 325 Appendix 4 .................................................................................................................................. 326 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 327 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1. Daily departures of the Río Piedras Tramway ..................................................58 Table 2.1. Budget for the development of public works in Puerto Rico, 1885 .................69 Table 2.2. Length of rail lines and its sections with its rates to calculate state subvention.79 Table 2.3. Quarterly Gross Income for operating sections in Line A, B and C, Fiscal Year 1892- 1893....................................................................................................................................92 Table 2.4. Selected general tariffs for high and low speed railroads, 1890 .....................100 Table 2.5. Fares for passengers in different accommodations, 1893. ..............................103 Table 2.6. Tobacco Fares in the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Puerto-Rico, 1895. .104 Table 2.7. Schedule for section A, 1896. ........................................................................107 Table 2.8. Wages of railroad employees, 1897 ................................................................114 Table 3.1. Timetable of the American Railroad Company of Porto Rico, 1901 .............146 Table 3.2. Timetable of the Porto Rico Transportation Company, 1914 .........................195 Table 4.1. Timetable of the ARRC ..................................................................................211 Table 4.2. Sugar exports, 1919-29. ..................................................................................216 Table 4.3. Passenger Rates of the CFC, 1933. .................................................................229 Table 4.4. Passengers carried and average revenue for the CFC, 1921-1941. ................230 Table 4.5. Comparison of Freight Rates for sugar cane, CFC 1923-1933. .....................231 Table 4.6. Roads Construction and Maintenance (in Kilometers). ..................................233 Table 4.7. Incomes and Expenses of the PRRC and the ARRC (1935-1938). ................245 Table 5.1. Comparison of Freight Rates for sugar cane, ARRC. ....................................257 Table 5.2. Railroads operated by centrales, 1942-1943. .................................................268 Table 6.1. Purchased local transportation: Gross Income (in thousands of dollars), 1944-46. 300 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Accidents reported by Ubarri’s Tramway, 1880-1885 ....................................61 Figure 2.1. Hacienda La Fortuna .......................................................................................84 Figure 2.2. Hacienda Buena Vista .....................................................................................85 Figure 2.3. Quarterly Gross Income for Line A-1st, 2nd and 3rd sections, 1892-1893. .......90 Figure 3.1. ARRC Freight Receipts, 1898-1901..............................................................145 Figure 3.2. Earnings of the PRRC, 1907-1911. ...............................................................158 Figure 3.3. The cost of road maintenance, 1903-1913. ...................................................173 Figure 3.4. Construction of new roads, 1900-1914. ........................................................174 Figure 3.5. Number of carts drawn by animals, automobiles, and coaches, 1914-1919. 197 Figure 4.1. Value of Exports, 1921-1928. ......................................................................217 Figure 4.2. Revenues from freight and passenger transportation (CFC), 1928-1938. ....242 Figure 4.3. Railway and highway miles in selected Caribbean countries, 1936 .............248 Figure 4.4. Registered trucks, buses and cars in selected Caribbean countries, 1934. ....249 Figure 5.1. Intra-island freight transportation, 1942-1943. .............................................266 Figure 5.2. Assessed Value Property. ..............................................................................267 Figure 6.1. Automobiles registered for 1940 and 1950. ..................................................305 Figure 6.2. Trucks registered for 1940 and 1950. ............................................................306 viii LIST