Central Uruguay Railway

The Central Uruguay Railway was one of five original railway systems built in Uruguay and grew into the largest railway company in the country. Registered in London in 1876 as the Central Uruguay Railway Company of Montevideo, Limited, it began operations on January 1, 1878 and ran until its nationalization on January 3, 1949. At its height the company controlled about 1,665 kilometers of standard gauge track, roughly half of all railway track in Uruguay, organized into the Central Uruguay and Northeastern lines plus the Western, Northern and Eastern Extension railways, connecting Montevideo with Rivera, Melo and Mercedes and reaching both the Brazilian border and the Atlantic coast. Its rolling stock grew from 18 steam locomotives, 31 coaches and 282 goods wagons in 1884 to 128 locomotives, 119 coaches and 2,302 freight wagons by 1936. In 1891 the company's British and Uruguayan employees founded the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club.