São Paulo/Santos,
Brasil, 2002
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São Paulo, CPTM: new Siemens
train at Jurubatuba, Line C
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São Paulo, CPTM: new Siemens
train at Jurubatuba, Line C
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São Paulo, tram
to the Memorial
do Imigrante museum
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São Paulo, tram
to the Memorial
do Imigrante museum
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São Paulo, Metrô, new
trains at Brigadeiro, Line 2
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Santos SP, historical tram
at terminal Praça Mauá
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Santos SP, historical tram, interior
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Santos SP, historical tram, driving
position
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Santos SP, tram at old railway station
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Santos SP, workshop near old
railway station, with open car
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Funiculars at Santos
(State of São Paulo)
Santos had in all two funiculars: The
first, the
Funicular
Nova Cintra, was operated by water power, on the north side of the
hill of the well known Monte Serrat line. The Nova Cintra line opened 1902
and closed 1922 after a heavy accident due to cable rupture. The second
line, the real Monte
Serrat Funicular, still going strong, originally ended at a Casino.
On popular demand, in 1946 all Casinos in Brasil were forbidden and closed.
All that remains are convention rooms which today are mainly used for family
celebrations, a restaurant and a café, all in the original style.
In addition, there is a large balcony, a wonderful view point over the
entire city of Santos, and this makes the Monte Serrat a tourist attraction.
Worth a visit is alo the chapel Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat, built in
1598. In 1614 an earth slide saved the city of Santos from a dutch invasion,
and this was considered a miracle.
The "bible" of the funicular fans (the
so-called Funicophiles), the book by the machine engineer Walter Hefti
of Winterthur/Switzerland, with the title "Schienenseilbahnen in aller
Welt" (the World's Funiculars and Inclines), published 1975 by Verlag Birkhäuser
at Basel/Switzerland and today out of print, shows in a list of the funiculars
two lines under the No. 237.03 and 237.04.
The first line, designated "São
Paulo", shows an opening year of 1914, was constructed by the Maschinenfabrik
Esslingen (near Stuttgart/Germany), had a track gauge of 1 Meter, a horizontal
length of 260 Meter, a height difference of 142 Meter, a points (system
Abt) radius of 200 Meter and a maximum gradient of 73 percent. The entry
in Hefti's book is based on a book by Max Mayer of 1924 on the products
of the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen "Lokomotiven, Wagen und Bergbahnen. Geschichtliche
Entwicklung in der Maschinenfabrik Esslingen seit dem Jahre 1846" (locomotives,
coaches and mountain railways. Historical development at the Maschinenfabrik
Esslingen since the year of 1846), published by VDI-Verlag of Berlin SW19,
Germany, also out of print.
The second line, correctly named Santos
- Monte Serrat, is mentioned with an opening year of 1927, has also a track
gauge of 1 Meter, a horizontal length of 250 Meter, a height difference
of 120 Meter and the same points radius of 200 Meter with a maximum
gradient of 50 percent.
The webmaster having searched for
months, partially in São Paulo, partially with the help of local
experts, for a funicular in the capital of the state of São Paulo,
the city of São Paulo (the city is flat, a funicular impossible)
and also searching the surroundings of that city, assumes today that the
two entries in the book of Hefti concern the same line. For this, Hefti
probably copied the data of the first line from the book of Mayer, and
for the second line the data came probably directly from Santos, as this
line was well known.
Why then the differences of the data?
It is known today that the funicular was produced in 1914 (and with
this, the matter was settled for the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen), but only
shipped to Brasil at the end of the First World War, and the line
was finished and opened in 1927. In 1928, there was a large earth slide
which closed the line, and it was only reopened in 1933. This, but also
possibly wrong data either at Esslingen or Santos, explains the difference
in length, height difference and gradient. A further indication is the
use of a motor from AEG
which clearly speaks in favour of the origin in Germany. This is also one
of the few well known facts that the line originates in Germany. Other
manufacturers in Germany capable of producing such a funicular did not
exist at the time.
In the Webmaster's opinion, the puzzle
of the line's manufacturer is therefore resolved, it is clearly the Maschinenfabrik
Esslingen. This firm has stopped production since, and the technical documents
are somewhere at a museum, but only accessible in 30 years time. Also,
consulting Mayer's book, it can be observed that another funicular built
by this manufacturer at Salvador in the state of Bahia was designated by
Mayer as "Bahia" instead of correctly as "Salvador". This exchange of city
and state is a normal matter in Brasil, and this would also explain the
obviously wrong designation "São Paulo" (state) instead of
"Santos".
Other facts of the funicular: The electrical
drive uses three phase current at 220 Volt, the motor has a performance
of 100 HP at 730 revolutions per minute, the spare motor was made by Magneti
Marelli of Milan/Italy and has a performance of 70 HP. The two cars
have a capacity of 20 seated and 50 standing passengers, for a total of
70 passengers, a length of 11 Meter, a wheel base (2 axles) of 6.4 Meter,
an empty weight of 8 tons and a gross weight of 13.4 tons. Journey time
is four minutes which corresponds to an average speed of 1 Meter/Second.
The cars and the stations were given a complete overhaul and repaint in
1998. The pictures below show that the line is still hand operated. As
a unique arrangement, on the right-hand side of the funicular looking upwards
a small material transport funicular is operated. |
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
lower station
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
lower station
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
passing loop
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
passing loop
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
upper station
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
material transport funicular
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
engine room
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Santos SP, Monte Serrat funicular,
operating desk
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