Old Railway Station

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The railway tradition in Aguascalientes dates back just over 100 years, the arrival of the first machine in 1884 would detonate the commercial and social life of the state around the neighborhood that we know today as "De la Estación", a place where different workshops were grouped that served all of Mexico, as well as the station railway that would be accompanied by a beautiful garden and esplanade.

The building that today adorns and gives its name to the neighborhood was the second railroad station that was built in the city, since before there was a provisional one that was located on the south side of the current intersection with the Alameda.

This first station was completed in 1884 with the help of American engineers who were involved in both the investment and the planning and construction work. They, along with their families, ended up settling around the railroad, in large Anglo-Saxon style wooden houses with enormous and very beautiful gardens. Some of these farms still exist in Colonia Ferronales, which is located to the east of the old workshops.

Thanks to the privileged characteristics of its geography, water, climate and industriousness of the people, it was decided to establish in Aguascalientes the General Workshops for Construction and Repair of Machines and Rolling Stock of Mexico. Due to the clauses of the concession contract and added to the subsidies and tax exemption incentives of the then governor, Don Rafael Arellano, who managed to donate 832,592 m² of land belonging to the Hacienda del Ojo Caliente, with this the work began in 1898 and was completed in 1903.

The current station building began construction in 1910 and was inaugurated in 1911, it was the work of the Italian engineer G.M. Buzzo. It is Californian colonial style although it also has elements of Hispanic influence. The layout is of levels with a hipped tile roof.

This building is a clear example of railway architecture in which a series of prefabricated construction materials were used. The image of this small and picturesque terminal fits perfectly with the image of a happy and smiling province that our city still preserves.

Today the old station is a site museum that allows you to take a trip back in time, this place houses furniture, tools and period objects, it also has an art gallery with temporary exhibitions by local and national artists.

This building is part of the "Tres Centurias" Tourist Complex, a heritage site of great historical, cultural and tourist richness for the state of Aguascalientes, here is the beautiful Station Garden, the Railway Museum with an exhibition of model trains, an event hall, shops and more.

Since the 90s, government and society have worked to rescue the historical-industrial heritage of the area, seeking to form with this and more spaces belonging to the old warehouses of the Railway Workshops, a mega artistic, cultural, sports, tourist, commercial and entertainment project, seeking to maintain the heritage legacy of Aguascalientes and thus revive the soul of the Barrio de la Estación.