São Paulo Railway Company

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The São Paulo Railway Company (SPR, nickname Ingleza, transl.: The English[3]) was a privately owned British railway company in Brazil, which operated the 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge railway from the seaport at Santos via São Paulo to Jundiaí. The company was nationalised in 1946 and became the Estrada de Ferro Santos-Jundiaí.

The São Paulo Railway Company, Limited
Overview
HeadquartersSão Paulo
Reporting markSPR
LocaleSão Paulo, Brazil
Dates of operation16 February 1867 (1867-02-16)–13 September 1946 (1946-09-13)
SuccessorEFSJ
Technical
Track gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Length139 km (86 mi)
Route map

0,000 - Santos
opened 1867
closed 1996
3,104 - Alemoa
opened 1920
closed ?
7,000 - Casqueiro
opened 1896
closed 1996
12,300 - Cubatão
opened 1867
closed 1996
16,400 - Areais
opened 1897
closed ?
"Serra Velha"
18,900 - Piaçaguera
opened 1902
closed 1964
22,000 - Raiz da Serra
opened 1867
closed ?
30,300 - Paranapiacaba
opened 1867
closed 2002
34,880 - Campo Grande
opened 1889
closed 2002
opened 1950
closed 1981
49,375 - Guapituba
53,109 - Mauá
57,570 - Capuava
57,946 - Pirelli
opened 1943
closed 2006
60,363 - Santo André
62,870 - Utinga
67,440 - São Caetano
71,625 - Ipiranga
74,627 - Mooca
opened 1888
closed c. 1970s
76,332 - Brás
Pari
78,470 - Luz[a]
opened 1892
closed 1988
84,320 - Água Branca
86,050 - Lapa
88,000 - Piqueri[1]
90,320 - Prituba
94,190 - Jaraguá[b]
95,079 - Jaraguá
101,300 - Perus
106,000 - Caieiras
111,260 - Franco da Rocha
121,200 - Túnel
opened 1891
closed c. 1940s
Botujuru Tunnel
127,970 - Campo Limpo
139,000 - Jundiaí
to Indaiatuba (CYEF)

The São Paulo Railway consists of three parts:

Three different systems were used to climb the steep grade between Piaçaguera and Paranapiacaba:

  • A four section cable railway with stationary steam engines, in use from 1867 till 1970, called Serra Velha, transl.: Old Mountain
  • A five section cable railway with stationary steam engines, in use from 1901 till 1982, called Serra Nova, transl.: New Mountain
  • An electrified rack-and-adhesion railway built on the right of way of the abandoned Serra Velha opened in 1974, called Sistema Cremalheira-Aderência, transl.: System Rack-and-adhesion

Planning

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Monogram featuring the Company's initials in the Luz Station

In 1859, a group of people led by the Barão de Mauá convinced the Brazilian government that it was important to construct a railroad connecting São Paulo to the seaport at Santos. The main purpose of the project was the transport of the coffee grown on the inland plateau to the Atlantic coast for export. The biggest difficulty was the task to overcome the steep east slope of the 800-meter high Serra do Mar, which was considered to be nearly impracticable. Therefore, Barão de Mauá asked Britain to clarify the feasibility of a railway line for locomotive hauled trains within a budget limit of 200,000 £. The greatest technician for this subject was consulted: Scottish railroad engineer James Brunlees.[4][5]

Brunlees visited Brazil and considered that the project was feasible. He recommended engineer Daniel Makinson Fox to Barão de Mauá for the execution of the project. Fox was at that time only 26 years old but had already experience in the construction of railways through the mountains of northern Wales and the hillsides of the Pyrenees. He realised that the railway could only climb the slope in the Serra do Mar if a 5-mile (8 km) long incline system was built. An adhesion railway would have used 26 miles (42 km) to overcome the slope and would have also overrun the 200,000 £ budget.[5]

Construction

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The Serra Viaduct, São Paulo's Railway, Brazil (Harper's Weekly, Vol. 12, nº 623, 1868).

Daniel Fox's proposal for the railway line from Santos to Jundiaí including the incline system was approved by Brunlees and the São Paulo Railway Company (SPR) was established to build the railway system and operate it for 90 years.[6] Since the capital of the company was mainly British also the official company name was in English, not Portuguese. The railway company contracted with Robert Sharpe & Sons to acquire the land, execute the works and supply all rolling stock and plant.[7]

Construction on the 20 km (12 mi) long adhesion railway Santos – Piaçaguera began on 15 March 1860 and on the incline system in the year 1861.[6]

The road was constructed without explosives since it was felt that the slopes were very unstable. The rock was excavated only with plug and feathers. Embankments of 3 to 20 m (9.8 to 65.6 ft) in height were constructed to protect the tracks from the frequent torrential rains in the area, which used about 230,000 cubic metres (300,000 cu yd) rocks. The line did not have any tunnels.[5]

In spite of all the difficulties, the construction finished 10 months ahead of the date specified in the contract, which was eight years. The São Paulo Railway was opened on 1867-02-16.[5]

Serra Velha – the first incline system

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Brake van, which was used to attach the standard railway wagons to the cable of the Serra Velha incline system between Piaçaguera and Paranapiacaba

The part of the route climbing the Serra do Mar consisted of four 10.3% grade cable railway sections with the following length:[4]

  • section 1: 1,781 metres (5,843 ft)
  • section 2: 1,947 metres (6,388 ft)
  • section 3: 2,096 metres (6,877 ft)
  • section 4: 3,139 metres (10,299 ft)

At each section the wagons were attached to a steel wire rope with the help of a specially fitted brake van called Serrabreque (transl.: Hill Brake).[8] The steel cable was driven by a stationary steam winding engine at the top end of the section, where a 75 metres (246 ft) extension with a 1.3% grade was also fitted, so that the wagons could be led to the next section.[4]

The incline system was later called Serra Velha (transl.: Old Mountain) to distinguish it from the later built second incline system called Serra Nova.

Serra Nova – the second incline system

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The large volume of coffee shipments and the growth of the cities in the São Paulo region required more transport capacity. Therefore, the construction of a second incline system started in 1895. The new line ran parallel to the already existing one in about two miles (3.2 km) distance. It had five sections using continuous steel wire ropes which were moved by stationary 1,000 hp (750 kW) steam engines. Each section was about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) long and had a grade of 8%. Two to three wagons were coupled to the rope with the help of small locomotives fitted with grip engaging with the cable. These locomotives were also able to handle the wagons in the terminal station and between the sections so that the operation of the incline system was facilitated. The locomotives have been called Locobreque (transl.: Brake locomotives). In case the weight of the wagons to be lifted was too heavy compared to the wagons lowered at the same time, tank cars filled with water were used to counterbalance the system. The incline system was used in revenue service till 1982.[6]

Protests

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In 1889, the first protests were made against the British monopoly over the route to Porto de Santos, which culminated in the construction of Mairinque–Santos in 1937, by the Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana [pt].

Nationalisation

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On 1946-09-13, the railroad was nationalised by the Brazilian government, and renamed the Estrada de Ferro Santos-Jundiaí, and on 1948-09-27, it was merged with most of the other Brazilian railways into the Rede Ferroviária Federal SA (RFFSA).

Sistema Cremalheira-Aderência – the Rack-and-adhesion railway

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In the 1970s (well after it had been renamed), the haulage system was replaced by an Abt rack system with a maximum gradient of 10.4 %, which was installed by Japanese firm Marubeni. The locomotives for this changeover were constructed by Hitachi with the help of SLM. They work with 3 kV DC supplied by overhead lines.

Starting from 2012, the original Hitachi locomotives were replaced by seven new-built machines supplied by Stadler.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The São Paulo Branch of the EFCB was extended in 1967 to the Luz station for nocturnal trains leave from there
  2. ^ The name "Jaraguá" was originally given to a stop, in the 1940s the name shifted to the Taipas station (now Jaraguá station)
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Build after nationalisation.
  2. ^ Rebuilt in 1988 by FEPASA
  3. ^ "Piassagüera". Estações Ferroviárias do Brasil. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "História da São Paulo Railway". História de Santos/Poliantéia Santista (in Portuguese). Caudex Ltda. 1996. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d "A Gateway to Brazil". Mike's Railway History. May 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  6. ^ a b c "Museu Tecnológico Ferroviário – Paranapiacaba" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira de Preservação Ferroviária. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  7. ^ Graham, Richard (1968). Britain and the Onset of Modernization in Brazil 1850–1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-521-07078-3.
  8. ^ "A Locobreque ("Brake-Van") Used in the Serra Funicular Line". Estrada de Ferro Santos a Jundiaí. Antonio Augusto Gorni. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Stadler: Weltrekord-Lok für Brasilien". Eisenbahn-Kurier (in German). 7 June 2012. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
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