Not much remains in Ceará |
The Alco locomotive in Fortaleza is on display at the head offices of Companhia Ferroviária do Nordeste (CFN) |
The railroad reached Ceará during the time of the Empire. In July 1870, Companhia da Via Férrea de Baturité was founded, linking the capital, Fortaleza, to the mountains. The train reached Baturité ten years later in 1882, still during the reign of D. Pedro II, whose portrait painted the same year by Descartes Gadelha today is preserved and hanging in the train station. At this same time, the construction of the Estrada de Ferro Sobral railroad lines got underway. |
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The Baturité engine was saved from being forgotten |
In 1919, the work to expand two railways in Ceará generated employment for refugees from the serious drought that was castigating the region. The two railroads, which had been merged in 1915 to become the Rede de Viação Cearense, were subordinated to the Federal Drought Works Inspectorate (IFOCS). In 1920, 12,850 workers were involved in the construction of the railroad, including the elderly and children, who could do very little to help in the effort. When the first diesel engines began to operate in Ceará in 1949, the RVC had a total of 86 steam locomotives, all in operating condition. Today, only three year of these engines still exist and only two of them remain in Ceará. The other 83 were cut up and sold as scrap iron during the 1960s in the name of modernity. |
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In Fortaleza, an Alco 0-4-0T yard engine from the former Rede de Viação Cearense remains. It was given a tender and the tank was filled with sand to give it greater adherence and let it pull heavier loads. It operated until 1964, pulling the "Workers' Train" that ran between Fortaleza Central Station until Urubu (currently Demósthenes Rochert), where there were workshops, a school and the railroad workers' housing. There are doubts about the date when this locomotive was built. |
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Baturité station preserves until today a rare oil portrait which dates from 1882 of D. Pedro II wearing his military uniform. |
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On the plaque attached to the door of the boiler is the year "1912", but Aloc's records indicate the RVC only received one lot of six 0-4-0Ts, all built in 1921. In Fortaleza, an Alco 0-4-0T yard engine from the former Rede de Viação Cearense remains. It was given a tender and the tank was filled with sand to give it greater adherence and let it pull heavier loads. It operated until 1964, pulling the "Workers' Train" that ran between Fortaleza Central Station until Urubu (currently Demósthenes Rochert), where there were workshops, a school and the railroad workers' housing. There are doubts about the date when this locomotive was built. |
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