South of the transcontinental line there are only two railway companies now operating. The Western Railway, or, as it is officially called, the Ferro Carril de Oeste, serves the southwestern part of the province of Buenos Aires and La Pampa. It reaches one of the richest agricultural districts of the republic and a section that is rapidly developing. The various extensions are being pushed out a few miles each year, and this company now owns fourteen hundred miles of track. The Western Railway has had a checkered career. In point of age it is the oldest line in the country, as about fifteen miles of track were built a half century ago. When this little railroad was inaugurated a great celebration was held, and the President delivered an address full of optimism and prophetic of future development. Fortune, however, refused to smile on the project, and money was scarce, so that the national government was obliged to take over the road. It was not a success until an English company took it over in 1890, and began pushing out the extensions over the pampas that are now bringing in the revenue-producing freight, which has placed the Western Railway on the road to prosperity. The Ferro Carril del Sud, or Great Southern Railway, is the second largest railroad system in Argentina,[1] and one of the best freight producers. It has a monopoly of the greater part of the rich province of Buenos Aires, and its main station at Plaza Constitucion in the city of Buenos Aires is a busy place, with trains continually running in and out loaded with passengers for the suburbs or more distant points. It was due to the enterprise of this company that the busy port of Bahia Blanca was opened, and the seaside resort of Mar del Plata made popular. The section traversed by the Great Southern is threaded here and there by the many branches and feeders of this system, and more are being built each year. Passenger and freight traffic have increased so rapidly that the earnings per mile have almost doubled in the last ten years. It has built a strategic line several hundred miles long to Neuquen, almost directly west of Bahia Blanca, which will eventually become a transcontinental line. Engineers are now at work selecting the most feasible route across the Andes to connect with the Chilean state railways. This plan has already been approved by the directors and work will no doubt be begun before long.