The next stop brings new hope for Yucatán's Railway Museum

Mérida’s Museo de los Ferrocarriles. Photo: Courtesy

El Museo de los Ferrocarriles in the new Gran Parque La Plancha de Mérida will be open to the public at the end of July. And the accommodations appear to be first class.

While the original Yucatán Railway Museum was laid out on an open, grassy field, its new iteration will house most of the antique trains in a rebuilt warehouse. Some will have been restored to their original luster.

The Museo de los Ferrocarriles is folded into the new Gran Parque La Plancha de Mérida. Photo: Courtesy

By mid-July, the Railway Museum’s original operators — in place since 1999 — will officially transfer ownership of the museum to the National Defense Ministry.

Earlier: At La Plancha, where does the railway museum fit in?

Over time, the museum acquired 38 train cars from all over Mexico. They range from a charming 1903 steam engine from Philadelphia to a streamlined 1940s model.

“Fortunately, all the units found a home in the Gran Parque la Plancha,” said Celorio Carretero, who was the founding director of the museum and president of the civic group that ran it. “After 23 years, the civil association that I preside with understood that it was time. We are not immortal, and the new project fits like a glove.”

This powerful engine at the Yucatán Railway Museum was looted during the pandemic. Photo: Yucatán Magazine

The new Railway Museum is located in the northern section of the Gran Parque La Plancha, bounded by calles 50, 42, 43, and 39 near Col. Industrial, Fénix and Jesus Carranza.

Also on Calle 39, where active railroad tracks remained for decades, the le-Tram electric bus system will connect to Tren Maya stations in Teya and Umán, among other points of interest.

The private rail car of José Rendón Peniche, one of Yucatán’s most remembered rail entrepreneurs of the early 20th century, was deemed beyond repair and donated to another museum. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

In the same area are the park’s most active recreation areas, including an artificial lake, skating rink, and amphitheater. The linear park leading to the 1920s-era train station is to the south.

Eight antique train cars will remain outdoors, in the linear park, and are already visible from Calle 48. These trains have been refitted as snack stands.

Some units were conserved, and others were restored according to their degree of deterioration and historical value. The association that was part of the original Railway Museum actively participated in the process.

The former Yucatán Railway Museum closed in November 2022. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

They have advised National Defense staff with technical and color specifications to make the restorations as accurate as possible.

On one of the three tracks adjacent to the museum, there are representatives from five Mexican railways: Sonora-Baja California, Chihuahua-Pacífico, Pacífico, Nacionales de México and Unidos de Yucatán.

However, not all the pieces of historical value could be preserved. Such was the case of the wooden passenger car Rendón Peniche, dating from 1890.

The car, originally from Coahuila, appears in the movies “Guerra de Castas” (“The Caste War”) and “Peregrina,” but between termites and looters, the Rendón Peniche was too expensive to repair.

So it was donated to the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, which had the means to transport and restore it.

The museography team in charge of fine-tuning details inside the new museum building worked at the Museo del Desierto as well as the Meteorite Museum in Chicxulub.

Active recreation areas at La Plancha Park are on the right, north of Calle 43. The linear park is to the left.

Along with the rest of El Gran Parque La Plancha, the Yucatan Railway Museum is expected to be completed by July 31. The Railway Museum association remains as a volunteer group called “Amigos del Museo.”

More photos: The rustic, original Railway Museum

Yucatán Magazine archives: La Plancha 2014-present