Prior to the dismantlement and privatization of the Mexican train system in 1999, a large-scale inventory was undertaken in 1994-95 to
record the holdings of the then national train company. Teams were sent to different geographic regions to produce official photographic documentation of
passenger stations and stops, according to an agreed upon format. This format was revised over time, but initially required the registration
of stations along the existing tracks. Each station found was recorded with frontal, lateral and back pictures as well as a description of
the materials with which it was built and its condition. A few years later these same records, which present thousands of stations from all around
the country, were used by the Mexican government to select 100 for preservation as national patrimony.
Only the last building in Metepec made that cut. The first two buildings are now squatted or demolished.
By tracing the changing location of this specific train station, we aim to reveal that the content of any history can be defined by its limits. There are times that a station is either outside of, or included in the official history. The viewer can also see the moments when the meaning of the documents shifts from operational to historical.
