THE TRAMWAYS OF BRAZIL (original) (raw)

The postcard below shows approximately the same location as the postcard above, but at ground level and looking south – up the hill toward Guaratinguetá church. The tram is turning from Rua João Galvão onto Rua Dr. Martiniano [see map]. After a flood in 1939, the tracks on João Galvão were removed and the line was relaid straight up Dr. Martiniano [col. AM]:

Ownership of the electric tramway passed to the Companhia Light e Power de São Paulo in 1927 and additional equipment was acquired from Trajano de Medeiros in Rio de Janeiro. The tram shown on this postcard is traveling west on Rua Dr. Moraes Filho and arriving at Praça Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves [see map]:

Another view of Praça Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves in Guaratinguetá. Note the open-sided bus, which is possibly arriving from Pedregulho [see map] [col. AM]:

The photograph below was taken in the 1950s. Location unknown [col. Helena Louise Dornelles, courtesy Wanderley Duck]:

A 1945 report of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística noted nine passenger trams and one freight vehicle operating in Guaratinguetá. Here is one of the last photographs of the drivers and mechanics [col. AM]:

A local bus operator, Jacobelli & Companhia, acquired the line in March 1951 and closed the tramway about 1957. The precise date of closure could not be found. The abandoned depot, on the private right-of-way section in Aparecida, which has since been converted into Avenida Zezé Valadão, was still visible in the 1980s from the Via Dutra highway [see map].

BIBLIOGRAPHY
(in order of publication)

"Open Cars for Guaratinguetá, Brazil." Brill Magazine (Philadelphia), 7/1912, pp. 223-224. Brief description of Brill equipment. Builder's photo.

Brasil. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Anuário Estatístico do Brasil, 1912-59. RJ, 1917-59. (Issued by Ministério da Agricultura, Indústria e Commércio, 1917; Instituto Nacional de Estatística, 1930-7.) Tramway statistics for Brazilian cities, including Guaratinguetá.

São Paulo (state). Repartição de Estatística. Annuario Estatístico de São Paulo, 1913-21. SP, 1915-26. "Viação Urbana" section in vol. 2 each year provides tramway data for systems in São Paulo state.

Untitled news item in Brazil-Ferro-Carril (Rio de Janeiro), 30/9/1913, p. 430. Tramway construction.

Vasconcelos, Max de. Vias Brasileiras de Comunicação. 5th ed., Rio de Janeiro, 1934. Foldout street maps show electric tramways in both Aparecida and Guaratinguetá.

Athayde, Capitão. Aparecida no Bolso: Guia da Cidade de Aparecida. Aparecida, 1953. Tram itinerary, pp. 31-32.

Pasin, José Luiz. Guaratinguetá, tempo e memória. São Paulo, 1983. Nice big picture of two trams on Rua Dr. Martiniano, p. 85. Brief mention of a "linha de bondes", p. 87.

Coupé, Benedito Bubsky. "Relembrando os Bondinhos" in Correio Cultura (Guaratinguetá), 3/1984, p. 8. Tramway history.

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ELECTRIC TRANSPORT IN LATIN AMERICA

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This site was placed online on
27 July 2007