The São Paulo Railway Company (SPR, nickname Ingleza, transl.: The English) was a privately owned British railway company in Brazil, which operated the gauge railway from the seaport at Santos via São Paulo to Jundiaí. The company was nationalised in 1946 and became the Estrada de Ferro Santos-Jundiaí.
The São Paulo Railway consists of three parts: The long adhesion railway at the coast from Santos to Piaçaguera near Cubatão The long steep grade from Piaçaguera to Paranapiacaba The adhesion railway on the plateau from Paranapiacaba via São Paulo to Jundiaí
Three different systems were used to climb the steep grade between Piaçaguera and Paranapiacaba: A four section cable railway with stationary steam engines, in use from 1867 till 1970, called Serra Velha, transl.: Old Mountain A five section cable railway with stationary steam engines, in use from 1901 till 1982, called Serra Nova, transl.: New Mountain An electrified rack-and-adhesion railway built on the right of way of the abandoned Serra Velha opened in 1974, called Sistema Cremalheira-Aderência, transl.: System Rack-and-adhesion
Planning
In 1859, a group of people led by the Barão de Mauá convinced the Brazilian government that it was important to construct a railroad connecting São Paulo to the seaport at Santos. The main purpose of the project was the transport of the coffee grown on the inland plateau to the Atlantic coast for export. The biggest difficulty was the task to overcome the steep east slope of the 800-meter high Serra do Mar, which was considered to be nearly impracticable. Therefore, Barão de Mauá asked England to clarify the feasibility of a railway line for locomotive hauled trains within a budget limit of 200,000 £. The greatest technician for this subject was consulted: Scottish railroad engineer James Brunlees.
Brunlees visited Brazil and considered that the project was feasible. He recommended engineer Daniel Makinson Fox to Barão de Mauá for the execution of the project. Fox was at that time only 26 years old but had already experience in the construction of railways through the mountains of northern Wales and the hillsides of the Pyrenees. He realised that the railway could only climb the slope in the Serra do Mar if a long incline system was built. An adhesion railway would have used to overcome the slope and would have also overrun the 200,000 £ budget.
Construction
Daniel Fox's proposal for the railway line from Santos to Jundiaí including the incline system was approved by Brunlees and the São Paulo Railway Company (SPR) was established to build the railway system and operate it for 90 years. Since the capital of the company was mainly British also the official company name was in English, not Portuguese. The railway company contracted with Robert Sharpe & Sons to acquire the land, execute the works and supply all rolling stock and plant.
Construction on the long adhesion railway Santos – Piaçaguera began on 15 March 1860 and on the incline system in the year 1861.
The road was constructed without explosives since it was felt that the slopes were very unstable. The rock was excavated only with plug and feathers. Embankments of in height were constructed to protect the tracks from the frequent torrential rains in the area, which used about rocks. The line did not have any tunnels.
In spite of all the difficulties, the construction finished 10 months ahead of the date specified in the contract, which was eight years. The São Paulo Railway was opened on 1867-02-16.
Serra Velha – the first incline system
The part of the route climbing the Serra do Mar consisted of four 10.3% grade cable railway sections with the following length: section 1: section 2: section 3: section 4:
At each section the wagons were attached to a steel wire rope with the help of a specially fitted brake van called Serrabreque (transl.: Hill Brake). The steel cable was driven by a stationary steam winding engine at the top end of the section, where a extension with a 1.3% grade was also fitted, so that the wagons could be led to the next section.
The incline system was later called Serra Velha (transl.: Old Mountain) to distinguish it from the later built second incline system called Serra Nova.