[1][2] The company had been established in the 19th century, to serve the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba, in the east-central region of the country.

[9] The costs estimated by Campbell in the report were the following:[8] In 1855, the CA was given permission to begin work on a railway line from Rosario to Córdoba.

[10] Another American, William Wheelwright, who had been involved in the Copiapó–Caldera line project in Chile, financed and supported the construction of the railroad.

[11] In 1863, the government of Argentina granted the company, led by engineer William Wheelwright, a concession to build and operate a railway line between the cities of Rosario (a major port in southern Santa Fe, on the Paraná River) and Córdoba (a large city near the geographical center of Argentina, and the capital of the province of the same name).

[14] Minister Rawson expressed disagreement for the paralysis of the works while passengers also protested against poor conditions of the service.

During successive years, several new stations were built by the company in Greater Buenos Aires, such as Beccar (1913), La Lucila (1933), Acassuso (1934) and Virreyes (1938).

One of these companies, the Santa Fe Western Railway, or SFWR ("Ferrocarril Oeste Santafesino"), was absorbed by the CA in 1900.

A long-distance service extended from Córdoba to Tucumán and allowed passengers to be able to cross the border into Bolivia by train.

One year later, the Estrella del Norte (a train that would become a classic) joined Buenos Aires and Tucumán, towed by W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co PS11 locomotives.

Between 1935 and 1940, already past the "golden age" of Argentine railways, Rosario Central station managed seventy daily train services, with an annual average of 438,000 passengers.

The rise of unions and the Argentine government's involvement in settling disputes between employees and the company led to the end of the intense time of protests, which lasted from 1916 to 1922.

Due to financial struggles coming out of World War I, Argentine railroads sought to raise their rates in order to raise more revenue, but the Argentine government, led by Hipólito Yrigoyen and his Radical Civic Union party, tried to intervene and set railroad rates.

[29] At the end of the 1880s a group of CAR workers used to meet to play a form of "football" in the vacant lands located near Alberdi Avenue.

British citizen Thomas Mutton suggested the name "Central Argentine Railway Athletic Club," which was approved.