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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 20 km long adhesion railway at the coast from Santos to Piassaguera near Cubatão * The 8 km long steep grade from Piassaguera to Paranapiacaba * The adhesion railway on the plateau from Paranapiacaba via São Paulo to Jundiaí Three different systems have been used to climbs the steep grade between Piassaguera 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 biggest technician for this subject was consulted: the Scottish railroad engineer James Brunlees. Brunlees visited Brazil and considered that the project was feasible. He recommended the 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 experience in the construction of railways through the mountains of northern Wales and the hillsides of the Pyrenees. He realised that the railway can only climb the slope in the Serra do Mar if a long incline system is built. An adhesion railway would have used to overcome the slope and would have also overrun the 200,000 £ budget.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「São Paulo Railway Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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