In memory of my beloved brother Humberto José, one year after his departure.
I WILL LOVE IT. In November 1963 I arrived by train to the capital of Querétaro for the first and only time. Although 62 years have passed since then, I still have intact the memory of that English-style Porfirian station. I was moved by that unique atmosphere of the railway terminals of yesteryear, with its bustle of vendors, the whistle of the locomotive and the bell that announced the next departure, the bustle of porters helping first-class passengers, noticeably well dressed and some even elegant, with their luggage.
I was accompanied by a friend, a high school classmate, named Vicente Gómez, who I haven’t heard from in a long time. It was a walking trip, with no other objective than to take advantage of our vacation to visit some cities in the center of the country. Of our brief stay in Querétaro (just two days), the arrival on the train and then the departure along that same road to Irapuato were perhaps the most emotional moments. Or at least the ones that I now remember with undeniable nostalgia.
During a new stay this week in the beautiful city Cultural Heritage of Humanity, declared by UNESCO in 1996, I went to the old station located on Héroe de Nacozari Street, to be surprised that it is impeccably preserved, beautiful, converted into a cultural center and small museum in which the first class waiting room stands out (which preserves intact the original benches of fine wood, the inspector’s office with its Remington typewriter and its lever calculator and ticket booths), as well as a room on the upper floor where a couple of models are kept, with the station, tracks, workshops and model trains that work wonderfully, although you can only visit them on weekends. And I began to learn a little more about its history.
This building, whose construction began in 1903 and was officially inaugurated on October 3, 1904, 121 years ago, by the then Governor Francisco González de Cosío, was established as the second oldest and most important station in the city. Originally known as the González Station for the Mexican National Railway, it consolidated Santiago de Querétaro as a vital node for the transportation of passengers (in its First, Second and Third classes) and cargo between the capital and the thriving Bajío.
English style and two floors, the station stands out for its quarry façade pink and gray padded quarry – materials endemic to the region -, its wooden beams and its detailed ironwork, which ends with the letter “Q”, alluding to the city of Querétaro. It still preserves its tiled roofs, its tower, its brick chimneys and its original wooden gates.
Its construction at the beginning of the 20th century not only modernized the city of barely 33,000 inhabitants at that time, replacing the archaic cart systems, but also delimited urban expansion, serving as the border between the historic center and the popular neighborhoods, promoting local commerce and industry.
After the cessation of passenger service in 1996, the property was declared a Historical Monument by presidential decree in 1986. In 2003, it was donated by National Railways to the municipality and, since then, it has served as a dynamic Cultural Center and Railway Museum, preserving historical memory with workshops, exhibitions and the aforementioned scale model.
The station’s greatest historical relevance was forged in the heat of the Revolution. On November 24, 1916, the station became the arrival point of the First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, Venustiano Carranza, and his entourage. This trip, begun in the midst of national instability, had a founding purpose: to establish Querétaro as the Provisional Capital of the Republic and to be the headquarters of the Constituent Congress.
The choice of the city was due, in large part, to its strategic position and its excellent railway connection with the center and the north. The station witnessed the massive reception and the arrival of the deputies who, weeks later, would promulgate the Constitution of 1917. The quietness and logistical control offered by the railway were crucial for the development of this event that redefined the Nation.
Today, the tracks of the old station, and the property itself, are once again at the center of controversy with the resurgence of the Mexico-Querétaro passenger train project, one of the priority infrastructure works of the current Federal Government.
As announced by the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the terminal station of the Mexico-Querétaro route will be built in the municipality of El Marqués, a suburb of the state capital, near the Querétaro airport. And the old station located on the edge of the center of Querétaro, will now be just a transit stop, heading to Irapuato, Guanajuato, which will be an extension of the route.
The main conflict lies in the location of that station (not terminal) in the capital of Querétaro. Although the possibility of constructing a modern building in the vicinity of the Old Station has been evaluated (even with the proposal to name the new terminal “La Corregidora”, for a change), this has raised alarms among specialists, urban planners and heritage defenders.
The risk focuses, they say, on the road and urban collapse that a new high-traffic station would generate in an already consolidated area close to the Historic Center, whose “A” perimeter is a World Cultural Heritage Site.
It is also obvious that the use of the old station to incorporate it into the new project could mean architectural alteration and even the partial or total destruction of the historic site and its facilities, furniture and other belongings that are preserved to this day in the museum, which is in charge of the Culture Directorate of the Municipality of Querétaro.
The authorities are debating between the efficiency of using the old right of way, which passes through the station, or looking for alternatives on the outskirts, such as the Carrillo Puerto area or in the vicinity of Alcanfores Park, to improve connectivity without sacrificing heritage. It is also contemplated to locate it in the old loading station, one kilometer away from the historic passenger station.
In the midst of a paradox, the final decision will define whether the historic 1904 building becomes a victim of development or if its legacy can coexist in harmony with the modernity of the new railway. As you can see, without meaning to, I already got involved in the defense of this heritage property, which is simply irreplaceable. Okay.
@fopinchetti