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Funiculars of Salvador, Bahia, Brasil The former capital of Brasil during 214 years and today the capital of the state of Bahia is built on two levels: The Cidade Alta (upper city) with the historical centre, the residential quarters and the trade lies on the upper level, and the Cidade Baixa (lower city) with industrial, and today also with office buildings, and the harbour on the lower level. Added to this are suburbs in the south such as Barra, close to the sea, and the attached beaches. To transport the goods from the harbour to the upper level, since the 17th century giant cranes were used which carried the goods with rope winches upwards. Originally powered by gravity, some were electrified and continued in use until the early 20th century. The best known crane was known under the name of Guindaste dos Padres (monks' crane), as it was operated by the order of the Jesuits. It was situated on the space occupied today by the Gonçalves funicular. To connect the upper and lower city there were - apart from the tramways - already in early times elevators and funiculars. Best known is the Elevador Lacerda, originally two hydraulic elevators with an Art Deco roof at the upper terminal, alongside each other in the same location as today, opened under the designation "Conceição", popularly known as "Parafuso". Opening year was 1873. One cabin served as counterweight of the other, and they moved at the same time, one up, the other down. In the lower part the elevators continue inside the rock below the upper city, and from the lower terminal a tunnel of 23,5 Meters leads to the Rua da Alfândega. In 1896 the elevator was renamed after its constructor "Elevador Antônio de Lacerda" (a transport operator), and in 1907 the elevators were electrified. In 1930 two more elevators with the characteristic tower at the end of the extended gangway were built. At the same time the existing elevators were newly built and modernised. With a total of four elevators the Elevador Lacerda connects the historical centre of the city with the Mercado Modelo, a former custom house and today a artisan's market. The difference in altitude is 73 Meter. Journey time is 11 seconds which corresponds to an average speed of 6,6 Meter/Second. When originally built, it served as a model for the Elevador Santa Justa in Lisbon/Portugal which opened in 1902.
A further, less spectacular elevator, was the Elevador Taboão , somewhat further north, which opened in 1865 and closed in 1961. Today, the cage still exists and at the lower level serves as open-air living quarters for homeless people According to an article from a local newspaper from last summer, this elevator is going to be rebuilt. In addition to this there were or still are a total of three funiculars known. Most to the south is the funicular Gonçalves which has had a chequered history. First period from 1874 to 1889 All the local sources mention a first opening date of 1874. It is certain, however, that an English firm without experience of this type of line received in 1888 an order for a simple type of funicular the vehicles of which consisted of a flat platform which at some time or other may have transported horse trams including horses. Later a closed structure was fitted, and it transported only passengers. The line was locally called Chariot (car). This line was, as can be seen in a separate document, a failure and had to be closed after suffering several accidents. Second period from 1889 to 1931 After this failure Niklaus Riggenbach from Olten/Switzerland and with a comprehensive experience in the field of cog wheel railways and funiculars with cog wheels received an order to plan a new, perfect and safe line which his partners at Esslingen, also with wide experience in this field, should manufacture. The original document, with a letter of thanks, can be found with a translation on a separate page. In this same year 1889, the German firm Maschinenfabrik Esslingen, near Stuttgart, delivered a complete funicular system, including tracks, rack, cars and steam engine drive and the cables. The cars can be seen on Allen Morrison's web site (see below) on the left-hand postcard. This was a conventional system, and the local authorities built the stations with stairs on the outer sides of the tracks. The tracks were parallel. The line's name was originally Dona Isabel, a royal princess, but as Brasil had become a republic by then this was judged unsuitable, and the line named after a director of the line. The change of name was not transmitted to the manufacturers, and therefore they called it Isabel, and as such it is carried in Hefti's book (see below). In 1909 the line was electrified, and new cars were introduced, again of the same type and probably the same origin, in European fashion with compartments on different levels. A small view is on Allen Morrison's web site, the right-hand postcard. But better photographs and a good view of the upper station can be found on http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/spacio7/salvador-plano-01.htm . At the same time, the lower station was rebuilt. Third period from 1931 onwards In 1931 followed a further rebuild with platform type cars from Brill in Philadelphia/USA which used trolley poles and overhead lines. At the same time the gradient of the line was changed to adapt the platforms at the stations to the new cars' floor level, the stairs at the station platforms were covered and flat platforms introduced. New track of standard gauge - 1435 mm - was installed, and the rack was removed. A photograph from 1975 shows yet other vehicles. The trolley poles and the overhead were removed, and the signalling cables went into a channel between the tracks. The line is still in service today and carries large numbers of passengers. Pictures of the machinery and the car at the top station can be found under http://www.pms.ba.gov.br/noticias.php?codNot=3267 . The technical data, a resume from Hefti's book (who erroneously believed that Isabel and Gonçalves were two lines), can be found below.
Somewhat further north follows the funicular Pilar (data see below). It was electrified in 1912 or 1915 by Otis and received new cars from Brill which can be seen on Allen Morrison's web site, together with a ticket. The cars had an adjustable floor which followed the inclination. According to information from Brill the inclination was somewhat steeper at 83%. At the same time, the rack was removed. It closed in the seventies in spite of local protests, but for a long time after this the stations and the cars (somewhat below the upper station) could be observed. They were inhabited by homeless people. Recently (October 2005) plans have become known to rebuild the line. The plans were realised, and the line was completely overhauled and repaired. New cars with a capacity of 20 passengers or 1500 kg were built up on the premises, and on the 29th March 2006, the 457th anniversary of the city of Salvador, the completely rebuilt line was inaugurated with great festivities. Pictures of the rebuilding can be found under http://www.salvador.ba.gov.br/noticias.php?codNot=2271 . Further pictures can be found on Allen Morrison's new web site http://www.tramz.com/br/sv/p/p.html . Of new equipment, the electronic control can be mentioned which the firm TecmonteElevadores from Rio de Janeiro tested there and then installed in Salvador. At the lower station, an elevator for wheel chairs is planned but will only be ready by mid-April. Toilets are also provided there. It has been taken great care to use the original colours for the buildings. Inspite of the automatic controls, there is an operator on each car who opens and closes the doors and surveys the journey. Fare is R$-.10, and the line is being operated from 7h to 19 h daily. Total cost of the revitalisation was R$2 million. Before the closure in 1984, 3000 passengers were transported per day.
Furthest north follows the funicular Liberdade , a modern line running on rubber tyres on two parallel concrete tracks which opened in 1981 and connects the district Liberdade (at the top) with the district Calçada below. The lower station is close to the terminal Calçada of the current suburban line to Paripe. Because of technical problems it was out of service for a long period, but operates again.
In addition to these well known elevators and funiculars there are informations on one further line which, however, closed long ago. Information on this we owe to the famous American chronicler of electrical urban transport in Latin America and author of several books on the subject, Allen Morrison. He mentions on his web site a line called Barra , the suburb in which it operated. The photograph above shows an obviously locally constructed line which first operates downhill and then horizontally to a terminal station. In 1873, a tramway with animal traction was opened from Largo Vitória to Barra. The funicular line is situated in the district known as Graça, and ran from the crossroad of the Ladeira (literally: Ladder) de Gracia (on the old map below, left), today: Avenida Leopoldina (on today's map, on the right) with the Ladeira de Barra (today: Avenida Princesa Isabel), in the direction of Barra. It had a length of 124 Meter. To surmount the gradient (which was too steep for trams with animal traction) this cable line was constructed. It served the opening up of today's suburb of Barra, then a bare landscape. The change from tram car to cable car and back to tram car was, in spite of alterations carried out in 1882, awkward for the passengers. The tram line to Barra was electrified in 1906. Then the cable line was no longer needed. This information was taken from the book "Sampaio, 50 anos de urbanização, pages 195-196".
The historical and technical data come from Allen Morrison's web site (see link below), as well as from the book mentioned above by Walter Hefti, Schienenseilbahnen in aller Welt (inclines and funiculars all over the world) which was produced in 1975 by the Birkhäuser Verlag (editor) of Basel, Switzerland, and out of print. For those residing in Switzerland, it can be borrowed at the ETH, federal technical university in Zurich. The book is the bible of the funicophiles (all those interested in funiculars) but was never updated and contains many errors. Entry 237.01 in Hefti's book: (this is the Gonçalves line before modernisation in 1931) Isabel : Built 1889, Maschinenfabrik Esslingen, rack type Riggenbach, two parallel tracks. Track gauge 1 Meter, length 111 Meter, difference in altitude 65 Meter, maximum gradient 64%, steam powered Entry 237.05 in Hefti's book: (this is the same line after modernisation in 1931) Gonçalves : Rebuilt 1931, Otis, track gauge 1.45 Meter, two tracks, length 113 Meter, difference in altitude 57 Meter, maximum gradient 57,7%, speed 1.02 Meter/Second. Electrical drive Ward-Leonard, direct current, performance 2x65 HP at 400 revolutions/minute. Cars two-axle, 12 seats, 24 standing, totally 36 passengers. Length of cars 4,5 Meter, wheel base 3 Meter, empty weight 6 tons, gross weight 9 tons At the rebuilding of 1931 the gradient of the line was changed to adapt the platforms at the stations to the new cars' floor level, and new track of railway's standard gauge was installed, and the rack was removed. Entry 237.02 in Hefti's book: Pilar : Built in 1897, Maschinenfabrik Esslingen, rack type Riggenbach, two parallel tracks. Track gauge 1 Meter, length 73 Meter, difference in altitude 46 Meter, maximum gradient 78%. Speed 0,51 Meter/second, steam powered, cars two-axle, 12 seats, 2 standing, totally 14 passengers. Length of car 5,5 Meter, wheelbase 4 Meter, empty weight 4,5 tons, gross weight 5,5 tons Rebuilt 1915 by Otis. Electrical drive, direct current 550 Volt, performance 40 HP at 650 revolutions per minute. The rack was removed during rebuilding. Liberdade : Built 1981, trip time 1,67 minutes, total no. of passengers 36. Further data are not known. Further photographs and a map of the lines can be found on Allen Morrison's web page http://www.tramz.com/br/sv/f/f.html
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