Buenos Aires and Ensenada Port Railway
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The Buenos Aires & Ensenada Port Railway (BA&EP) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada) was a British-owned company that built and operated a broad gauge 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) railway network in Argentina towards the end of the nineteenth century. The company was taken over by its rival the British-owned Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) in 1898.
In 1857 Buenos Aires Province granted the American Guillermo Wheelwright a concession to build a railway, initially known as La Boca and Barracas Railway, from the city of Buenos Aires to Ensenada on the Río de la Plata near La Plata which was to become the Provincial capital in 1882. Work on the line was commenced in 1863 from the present day junction of Paseo Colon Avenue and Venezuela street, near the centre of Buenos Aires. From there the line passed over a viaduct to Casa Amarilla, on to General Brown, Barracas and to Tres Esquinas, reached on 18 September 1865. A branch line from General Brown to La Boca was completed in 1866. From Tres Esquinas the line crossed the Riachuelo River and reached Quilmes on 18 April 1872 and finally arrived in Ensenada, a distance of 61 km (38 mi) from Buenos Aires, on 31 December 1872.
In 1872 the BA&EP company was founded to take over the company with the view to developing Ensenada, which had a natural harbour, as the main port for the city of Buenos Aires.
Always in fierce competition with the BAGS the BA&EP was finally taken over by them in 1898.
[edit] References
Colin M. Lewis, British Railways in Argentina 1857-1914: A Case Study of Foreign Investment, Athlone Press (for the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London), 1983.
