After several decades of projects and promises, finally in 1998 a steel bridge over the Paraná river was inaugurated in Rubinéia. A brand new railroad, FerroNorte - the first one after several decades of complete decadence - is already operating its first 100 km in the Mato Grosso do Sul state, from Inocência to Aparecida do Taboado, where it connects with FERROBAN, the company which now operates the lines of the former E.F. Araraquara. Its main task is to provide transportation for the soya crops from the plantations of the Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states down to Aparecida do Taboado. From this city the trains continue their journey to the Santos harbour using the Ferroban lines. FerroNorte continues to expand its lines towards Cuiabá, the capital of the Mato Grosso state.
Click on the Photo to Expand it!
Click on the Photo to See the Video!
This great video, which shows a soya beans train of the FerroNorte pulled by Dash-9 diesel-electric locomotives, is a courtesy of Paulo Sotelo Calvo, from São José do Rio Preto, SP. This 13 s video was shot near the city of Cedral, 20 km east of São José do Rio Preto. He and his wife were in route to Ribeirão Preto to attend the III Encontro de Ferreomodelismo Frateschi (III Frateschi Railfans Meeting), in August 28, 1999, when they intercepted this train. The same video can be seen in Paulo's site about the E.F. Araraquara history. This video file is very large, about 1.6 MB. So, if you want to see the video, please be patient...
Click on the Photo to Hear the Dash-9!
This sound sample generates the sound and whistle of the Dash-9 locomotive of FerroNorte. It is courtesy of Paulo César Bonaldo, from Guarulhos SP.
Questions? Comments?