Proyecto de Ferro-Carril de Bahía Blanca a Mendoza pasando por San Rafael, S. Carlos, Tupungato, Lujan i San Vicente. Circa 1885.

Original map; ink on paper. Measurements: 47 x 32 cm. Copy in good condition. It is displayed framed.

The project begins in Bahía Blanca, railhead of the Ferrocarril del Sud, and advances towards the Northwest with a first station in San Rafael after crossing different geographical features and localities, such as the Carhué lagoon, Rinanco and Cura Lauquen. From San Rafael, the branch continues in a zigzag way -overcoming difficulties of the trace- first to Tupungato and later to Mendoza. The Andean Railway is located in this city, which continues to San Juan.

Starting from Buenos Aires, the railway reached Bahía Blanca in 1884 and from this city, at that time the gate of Patagonia, the construction of the branch that advanced towards the South advanced to reach Neuquén in 1897 and Zapala in 1913. Along with As a result of this initiative, other projects were developed, such as the one we are now presenting, aimed at linking Bahía Blanca with the city of Mendoza -as far as the railway had already reached, linking this square with Buenos Aires-, and with the idea of ​​reaching San Juan later. This layout is part of the plan to cross-link different cities already connected by a trunk system, in the form of a fan, whose vertex was the port of Buenos Aires.

In these years -since the presidency of Nicolás Avellaneda-, the presentation of particular projects of railway branches was encouraged, with the idea of ​​advancing in the laying of these networks from the investment of private capital. Another project is known in Bahía Blanca, raised by the company Luis d'Abreu, Torres y Compañía, which sought to unite this city with Villa Mercedes, in the province of San Luis, with stops in General Acha and Toay, with branches to Río Cuarto. , Victoria, and from there, to Villa Mercedes. Both are part of this national private investment plan.