Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México

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Baldwin DR-6 locomotives operated by N de M

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, (better known as N de M) was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of Porfirio Diaz) a major railroad controlled by the government that linked Mexico City to the major border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez, the first trains to Nuevo Laredo from Mexico City began operating in 1903 [1]. N de M absorbed the Mexican Central Railroad (Ferrocarril Central Mexicano, first section from Mexico City to Leon, Guanajuato opened in 1882) in 1909, thus acquiring a second border gateway at El Paso, Texas. The N de M was nationalized by President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río in 1938, and privatized 60 years later by President Ernesto Zedillo. N de M operated most railway trackage through the central and northeastern regions of the republic.

During the days of steam locomotives, N de M was best known for operating Niágara class locomotives, which took their name from the New York Central Railroad locomotives of the same wheel configuration. N de M was one of the few railroads outside the US to purchase new diesel locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works, including the Baldwin DR-6 and Centipede.

In Acambaro, Guanajuato, N de M operated one of the few facilities in Latin America that was capable of constructing and doing complete rebuilds of steam locomotives, thus with rare exceptions (as with the Niagaras) , most of N de M steam motive power was purchased used and rebuilt there. Portions of the facility and a preserved 2-8-0 steam locomotive remain as part of Acambaro's municipal railway museum.

As of 2006, the remaining parts of NdeM are in the process of liquidation [2].

[edit] Notable named passenger trains of the N de M

Named trains usually bore names related to the destination, for example, La Purepecha referred to the Purepecha (Tarascan) tribes of western Michoacan.