Companhia Ferro-Carril de São Cristóvão

Companhia Ferro-Carril de São Cristóvão
An arc of the electrified line, 1904
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Largo de São Francisco de Paula ( pt ) ⊙ São Cristóvão ⊙

The Companhia Ferro-Carril de São Cristóvão operated goods and public transport in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil .

history

The company succeeded the Rio de Janeiro Street Railway Company , a large American corporation founded in 1869 for local public transport with rail vehicles imported from England and pulled by donkeys or mules. This was acquired by Brazilian investors in 1873, renamed Companhia Ferro-Carril de São Cristóvão, and the main office was relocated from New York to Rio de Janeiro.

The route, inaugurated in 1873, started at Largo de São Francisco de Paula ⊙ in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro and led to the São Cristóvão ⊙ district . In the years that followed, branch lines to Santo Cristo, Catumbi and Gamboa on the outskirts of São Cristóvão as well as further routes from the Estação Central do Brasil ( Corte ) to Caju , Rio Comprido and Tijuca were built.

Initially, it was used to transport the wealthy residents of São Cristóvão and day trippers to 400 m above sea level. M. , but after the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil, the prestige for the new real estate developments in the south zone was lost, so that it mainly transported workers after the district had been turned into an industrial area.

At peak times, the company had 150 vehicles, 2000 animals and 600 employees. The trip on the route electrified from 1898 on to Tijuca took 1½ hours uphill and a little over 1 hour downhill.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elisabeth von der Weid: O bonde como elemento de expansão urbana no Rio de Janeiro.
2. ^ Companie de S. Christovao, Tijuca - How to get there and what to do when there. Advice to tourists and tourists. In: Brazilian Review, October 25, 1904, p. 687.

Coordinates: 22 ° 53 ′ 57 ″  S , 43 ° 13 ′ 16.9 ″  W.