Compendium of Locomotives
from Minor Builders--Mexico

Research by Bob Lehmuth
Editing and design by Lowell McManus

This work presents data on locomotives from small builders (other than Alco, Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse, and Lima) that constructed locomotives for use in Mexico. A few common-carrier locomotives are listed, however the vast majority are those built for industrial operations throughout Mexico, from the haciendas of Yucatán to the mines of Sonora.

All data on American builders were taken directly from the respective builders' lists. Other data were gathered independently. A word of caution: These lists are not error-free. Errors can occur in gauges, models, and spellings of names and places. This should be seen as information upon which to build; not as the ultimate reference.

Although books have been published on Mexican industrial and shortline railroads, no book data have been integrated into these lists. The primary reason is that such volumes focus on steam locomotives and generally ignore the internal combustion types. Another reason is that there are errors in both the builders' lists and the books; so, rather than compound inaccuracies, the builders' data are presented here as a starting point for an information base.

Unless metric units are specified, gauges are denominated in inches. "Std" refers to standard gauge, which equals 56.5 inches (1,435 mm).

Some of the listings show no specific destination because some builders recorded their export sales this way. They apparently used sales agents or dealers, and these maintained the final records as to actual buyers. Another shortcoming is that export sales data do not always reflect resales.

Each of the links below leads to the table of data for the corresponding builder.

 

MEXLIST