Sao Lourenco, Brazil 2012

James Waite reports:

This is one of two preserved sections of the old metre gauge line which ran northwards from a junction with the broad gauge Rio-Sao Paulo main line into the south of Minas Gerais and which was closed in the mid-1990's.

Lourenco is a popular tourist town and the railway is much busier than the one at Passa Quatro. It runs northwards to Soledade de Minas where the railway used to join another metre gauge line running east-west. The working loco is ex-EF Central do Brasil 2-8-2 no. 1424 (Baldwin 59712/1927). The Central ran the broad gauge lines from Rio to Sao Paulo and to Belo Horizonte, the state capital of Minas Gerais, as well as an extensive metre gauge system up into the north of Brazil.

Note the two pics of the train and the horse and cart at Soledade. Horses and carts are a common sight in the Brazilian countryside as is the VW Beetle which continued in production at VW's Brazilian factory until 1996, long after it had finished in Germany. However this is the only 1hp model that we saw! The last two photos are of Leopoldina Railway Pacific no 327 (Beyer Peacock 6509/1928 which is awaiting overhaul (it was running here when Tom Schultz visited in 2009) . This may well start very soon with a view to the loco returning to service next year.

Like the Passa Quatro line this is run by the ABPF. They are currently restoring the line to the south of Sao Lourenco and this stretch may well reopen within the next few years.

We were extremely grateful to Bruno Sanches who is much involved with the two lines and who took time out to show us around them and the ABPF's restoration facility in Cruzeiro as well as arranging our visit to the Amsted Maxion plant at Cruzeiro.