This is a photo of the famous Santa Cruz (or Vera Cruz) train, with Budd stainless steel cars headed by a Escandalosa, a G.E. locomotive identical to the V8 machine of the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro and FEPASA. During the forties E.F. Central do Brasil decided to purchase G.E. 3,500 HP electric locomotives, that were delivered only after the World War II, between 1947 and 1948. Due to the war effort, no special project could be developed to comply with the specific needs of this railroad. So their locomotives were build following exactly the same project developed for the Companhia Paulista's V8 locomotives. This was not a good idea - the Central do Brasil lines were not so flat as Companhia Paulista's. So the performance of the Central do Brasil Escandalosa locomotives were not so memorable as of Companhia Paulista's V8 machines. The nickname of these locomotives at the E.F. Central do Brasil was Escandalosa (scandalous), probably due to the loud humming that was generated by its blower motors. They were retired of commercial service in the R.F.F.S.A./E.F. Central do Brasil in the late seventies but, in 1982, they were transfered to FEPASA, revamped and returned to active service in great style. Considering the recent red-with-yellow-stripes livery of this locomotive, this photo possibly was shot in the early seventies. Picture originally published at the Revista REFESA; copy courtesy of Marcello Tálamo and José Buzelin.