Estrada de Ferro Leopoldina

This railroad was formed in the beginning of the XX century through the amalgamation of 38 short railroads located in the center and north of the Rio de Janeiro, southeast of the Minas Gerais and south of the Espirito Santo states. This huge conglomerate, with more than 3,200 km of lines, was controlled by a British administration. It was a very interesting railroad, with rack lines in the hilly country between Rio de Janeiro city and the highlands, the Serra do Mar. This railroad was taken over by the Brazilian government in the early fifties and incorporated to R.F.F.S.A., the federal railroad network, in 1957. This state-owned period was marked by a continuous decadence, with the supression with many kilometers of branches, including the rack lines, that disappeared in 1965. Now the lines of the former Leopoldina belongs to a privatized company, Ferrovia Centro Atlântica - F.C.A., but only a small fraction of the original mileage still remains.

An interesting text about the situation in 1935 of this railroad, including some references to other Brazilian railroads as well, can be found at the web site The Railways of Brazil.

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Last Update: 19 June 2003