Day in the Amazon - Estrada de Ferro Madeira Mamore

My flight from Europe into Rio de Janeiro was late and I missed the connection to Porto Velho, so spent a very pleasant day sampling the delights of Copacabana beach. I booked a flight to Porto Velho for early next morning, but was on the wait list. Luckily I got a seat so flew off to Porto Velho via Sao Paulo, Campo Grande, Cuiaba and Rio Branco. Arrival at Porto Velho was early afternoon, and with the airport being close to town, I was soon booked into my- very expensive - hotel and swiftly out again on a 15 minute walk to the railway station. This was a Saturday and the train only ran on Sundays so I hoped to find some activity at the railway.

At the metre gauge E F Madeira - Mamore station, I noted around half a dozen wagons, four carriages, two more 'home-made' carriages and a pair of de-engined railcars used as carriages. But more promisingly, at the workshop building, I was fortunate enough to meet Mr Silas Shockness. His family virtually ran the railway. His father had come from Grenada in the West Indies in 1914 to work on the railway with his wife following him over in 1920. Silas' father worked on the railway for 39 years, dying in the 1950s, with his mother living until 1984.

Silas was 61 when I met him in 1986 and he had worked on the railway since 1945, staying until it closed in 1972. He came out of retirement in 1979 to help in the railway's reopening. He is in charge of the workshops whilst his brother Dennis runs the railway. There was a third member of the family also working on the EFMM.

Silas spoke excellent English and was a pillar of the local Baptist community, singing in the church choir while his wife plays the organ. Every Sunday he listens to church services broadcast on the BBC World Service. And he called his ancestral home the British West Indies. He regretted that his children and other young people of West Indian origin in the local community did not speak English.

Silas told me the railway has about 60 employees, including 15 skilled men who worked on it until the 1972 closure and had come out of retirement.

He said a recent visitor was a member of the Rothschild banking family, which helped raised finance for the EFMM, a British company from its inception in 1903 to 1931 when it was taken over by the Brazilian government.

The track -in 1986- had been renovated for the first 25 kms from Porto Velho to Cachoeira de Teotonio. There was a gap of 10 kms from there to km 35 as the track had been removed for use on the open 25 kms section. The Sunday trains run all year round, plus on holidays and special occasions, but only on the first seven and a half kms from Porto Velho to Santo Antonio do Rio Madeira. From there to Cachoeira is used about twice a week to gather wood for the wood burning locos.

Trains also ran at the other end of the line, from Guajara Mirim for about 20kms, with a loco and just one coach based there.

There were four locos that were used, under overhaul or in store for eventual repair.

15 was an Alco 2-8-2 of 1941, one of two sent to the railway during the Second World War by the U S Government. This was intact and waiting its turn for overhaul.

18 was a Schwarzkopf 2-8-2 built in 1936 and one of three which came to the line in 1961 from the EF Parana- Santa Catarina in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This was a working loco in 1986, as was its classmate 20, the loco at the Guajara Mirim end of the line.

50 was a 4-6-2 and a recent arrival from the E F Dona Teresa Cristina, the coal hauling railway in the south of Brazil. It had been under renovation for about a year, including tyre turning, stay repairs and work on the firebox.

Scattered alongside the line in the undergrowth were numerous very derelict locos which had been cannibalised for spares over the years.

One more loco was in the museum at Porto Velho, a Baldwin 4-4-0 of 1877 which arrived to help construct the railroad, whose intended use was to transport rubber harvested from the wild trees in the Amazon basin. The first contractors gave up in 1879 due to yellow fever and malaria taking a heavy toll on the work force and the loco was abandoned in the jungle. Around 1907 a fresh attempt was made to build the line and the new contractors extracted 'CORONEL CHURCH' from its resting place, now with a tree growing out of the chimney, and fettled it up and used it.

Even this later attempt saw over 5% of the workers, more than 1500, constructing the railroad die from diseases between 1907 and 1912 when the line finally opened. By which time rubber cultivation was underway in South East Asia and undercutting the Amazon crop.

The railway survived to carry other goods and passengers, plus had a strategic value in a huge area where other transport was practically non-existent. The Brazilian Army took it over in latter years. Charles Small says there were two very leisurely round trips with steam in 1955 and an express railcar service once a week along the whole length of the line. After construction of an all weather road in 1972, the railroad closed.

However the Brazilian Army continued to use the loco roundhouse and machine shops which were out of bounds to the public in 1986. But Silas and the railroad's workers were allowed to access and use the machinery in the shops.

The Sunday train service had six round trips starting from Porto Velho at 08.30; 09.35;10.35;14.00;15.05;16.00. As stated these travelled just 7.5kms to Santo Antonio do Rio Madeira, a pleasant spot on a bend in the river. A turning wye is located there, with another at Porto Velho, so the loco ran chimney-first on both the outward and return journey.

The train consisted of seven carriages, including the two de-engined railcars which used to operate the express service mentioned earlier. Apart from the 08.30 departure, on which I travelled, the other trains seen were very well patronised.

After departing the station at Porto Velho, the train passed through the Army compound where the roundhouse and workshops are located. Three dumped locos could be seen by the roundhouse. Then came the Sunday market with lots of traders selling clothes and shoes accompanied by very loud music blaring from various loudspeakers! There were wooden dwellings alongside the railway, then at around km2 were no less than eight locos very much dumped in the undergrowth. At km7.5 another two locos on their sides were just visible. All along the line were twisted frames and remains of various items of rolling stock.

On the outward run, the train ran past a platform at about 7kms to a stop by the river, where the loco uncoupled and ran around the wye. No time was wasted, the train was soon away to the platform by a village where a lot of passengers got on and off. Beyond km7.5 and the wye was a loop with the line disappearing into the distance.

I stayed down by the river and the wye to see a few of the trains before catching the early afternoon service to Porto Velho.

I had to catch a flight to Manaus in mid-afternoon, could have done with more time on the EFMM, but I am very happy that I made the effort to have a day trip to the Amazon.

Below left: 18 on the return trip to Porto Velho. Below right: The train arrives back at Porto Velho.