Virtual Railfan Tour of Brazil - 1994 - Dona Tereza Cristina Railway

 Mallet 2-6-6-2 No. 205 (built by Baldwin in 1950) plinthed at Tubarao

I have only made one visit to Brazil, in 1994.  We entered from Paraguay at Iguassu Falls and left through Campo Grande into Bolivia. This part of the journey is very hazy and was confused by a 24 hour delay caused by a bus break down.  All I can offer here is a small number of items, somewhat isolated from each other. Brazil is almost as large as the USA and this trip was a confusing kaleidoscope of memories.  I will start with the E. de F. Dona Tereza Cristina (Railway) This was a meter gauge coal hauling railway that served the port of Imbituba with headquarters in Tubarao. It was exlusively steam until about 1975 but carries little or no traffic today.
There were a number of preserved locomotives at Tubarao

No. 153 2-8-2 (built by Alco in 1941) on a special train

No. 153

My  notes show this as No. 205 but it does not appear in the roster I have.

No 205

Another 2-6-6-2 Mallet at Rio Negrinho

No. 160  is a 2-8-2 built by Baldwin in 1946

No 160

No. 160

The cab of No. 160. I finished the day in the cab of this locomotive with another member of our group who had never fired a steam locomotive before.  Neither of us spoke Portuguese but the driver was content to let me look after the left hand side firing the engine. It was great fun and I had two wonderful hours shoveling coal.

We got to our destination had no time to explore after a meal after dark.  We woke up next morning to this view from our cabin.

This is an excellent video which shows a coal train being loaded then run behind steam

A longer video showing a variety of trains

A short video of 205


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