THE SAN RAFAEL AND ATLIXCO RAILROAD. THE RAILWAY HERITAGE LANDSCAPE AND ITS CITIZEN RESIGNIFICATION

Abstract

This article will talk about a railway cultural heritage site that is not included in the heritage site list developed by specialists, even when it constitutes a set of valuable heritage that must be analyzed due to its crucial role in the territory and culture. The case of study refers to “The cultural route of the San Rafael and Atlixco Railroad”, which is a clear example of this type of heritage, that must be studied in order to be preserved, otherwise, it will remain in a vulnerable situation, due to its condition of abandonment and, consequently, it will be forgotten and destroyed. A railway cultural route refers to the study of this heritage through a socio-territorial point of view; including all of its component elements, such as, the laying of its track, its infrastructure, its artefacts and its graphic heritage, but it also alludes to the history and memory that it has left behind. We will propose the possibility of finding its evocation of culture, which presence in the objects, in the natural environment that protects them and in their historical sites, shape a patrimonial landscape. All these elements allow its investigation and redefinition based, above all, on their valuation as a current cultural element; and in the construction of citizenships from an innovative methodology called Ethnogeography 2.0.