A 130-year-old locomotive has been put on display in the Mexico City zócalo to mark the 109th anniversary of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
The train will be the symbolic centerpiece of a parade that will take place in downtown Mexico City on Wednesday after it was moved for the event from its permanent home at Mexico City’s Railroad Museum.
The display consists of a steam-powered locomotive named Petra and two cars, one for passengers and one for cargo.
Named after Petra Herrera, commander of a women’s brigade who participated in the taking of Torreón, Coahuila, on May 30, 1914, the locomotive is 130 years old. It weighs 66 tonnes and is 15.6 meters long and 3.7 meters high.
The two cars are similar to those that transported troops and loads of weapons, food and other necessities for the armed conflicts during the Revolution.
In his morning conference on Monday, President López Obrador said the parade will highlight horses and railroads as they were vital forms of transportation during the Mexican Revolution, which began on November 20, 1910.
The parade will recreate the revolutionary movements led by Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Lázaro Cárdenas. It will begin at 10:00am in the zócalo.
The opening ceremony will feature the awarding of medals and a concert by María “La Rumorosa” Inéz Ochoa, who will sing folk songs from the Revolution era.
From the zócalo, the parade will make its way west along 5 de Mayo to the Avenida Benito Juárez, from which it will turn left onto the Paseo de la Reforma. The parade will end at the Campo Marte equestrian and military events center in Chapultepec Park.
Sources: El Universal (sp), El Heraldo de México (sp)
