The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-01-14


The railroad took years to build
and q toll Of more than 10000 lives
many Of them Americans. When
the Far East started producing rub
Der in 1918 and the South American
product lost its world market, the
railroad was lost to the Jungle. But
in 1881 the Brazilian government
appropriated 1t, and resumed oper-
atoms. Now that Amazon products
are again in demand, the railroad
Is kept busy.
The narrow-gauge right of way
Is entirely in Brazilian territory. 1t
Is 1900 miles from the sea. The
termina are the towns of Porto
Velho at the north, and Ouajara-
Min at the south. It has no
othe railroad, but with river boats.
The entire trip takes two days.
There are passenger trains only
once a week each way, but freight
trains run as needed.
Why was such railway built?
That was a question which had
often puzzled me, and which was
not cleared up until went to Porto
Vetlho with the group Of 10 United
States newspapermen recently.
The answer Is this: The Benz
river in Bolivia runs into the
Mamore and forms the Madeira,
which is one Of the principal afflu-
entS Of the Amazon. Right at the
start Of the Madeira river, 1t has
10 waterfalls. In the old days, Boil
Wan workers transporting their
rubber by river had to shoot the
rapids Of the BENZ and the Madeira
but in doing so about one-quarter
Of htem were drowned, and the
journey took months. So engineers
In the middle of the 10Th century
conceived two plans; one to build
canals to take the boats around the
falls, and the other to build rail-
road.
According to the writer Frank
A. Stead, who made considerable
research into the matter, Brazilian
and Bolivian statesmen were on
record as far back as 1846 in favor
Of some plan to get around the falls.
In 1851, an oftlcer Of the United
States Navy surveyed the route for
pack trains, which is along the
route Of the present railway.
An English concern undertook TO
start the railroad construction in
1871, but abandoned 1t after a short
struggle with the jungle, malaria
and yellow fever. In 1878 the Phila-
delphia engineering firm Of Messrs.
p. and T. Collins began work on a
concession held by Colonel Church.
In constructing the first five miles
OF rod, it Is estimated that 10000
lives were lost by disease, fights and
Indian killings. This project was
also abandoned, but a locomotive
made at the Baldwin Locomotive
Works in Philadelphia, which had
had its trial run on July 4, 1878,
and named the Colonel Church"
was left behind.
At the height Of the rubber boom
in 1910, work on the railroad was
resumed. It was finished In 1912,
and the Colonel Church" locomo-
tive was rehabilitated. It Is still in
use.
Our party flew into Porto veiho
from Manaus, Manaus Is 1000
miles up the Amazon, and Porto
Velho Is about 800 miles southwest.
Porto Velho was very hot, but we
found 1t a pretty little town OF
$500 population, with model houses.
parks, streets well laid out, a neat
railway station and warehouses.
Everything in town Is owned by
the railway, which In turn Is owned
by the Brazilian government.
The railroad has considerable
rolling stock. Most Of its loccmo-
tives are wood burners. There are
some gasoline autocars which carry
passengers. We rode In one. named
Bolivia" a few miles, to see some
Of the waterfalls and tapping OF
rubber on the right OF way. and
later new over the entire railroad
line.
In the warehouses at Porto Velho
we saw sugar, dried meat. hundreds
Of thousands Of tin cupS-all Of
which will be distributed to rubber
tappers. The latex gathered from
the trees Is smoked" and brought
by boat to Porto Velho. in the form
of balls, for transshipment by boat
to Manaus, Belem and New York.
All the Bolivian rubber used In NE
United States travels this route.