Page:Description of the Line and Works of the Sao Paulo Railway in the Empire of Brazil.pdf/2

30 caused by the Crimean war. In the beginning of 1856, the scheme was placed by the Baron de Mauá in the hands of Mr. James Brunlees, M. Inst. C.E., who was charged with the preparation of the plans and sections, and of the report and estimates necessary for the organisation of a company in England, under the terms of the concession which was granted to the Baron de Mauá, the Marquis de Mont Alegre, and Councillor J. A. P. Bueno, by Imperial Decree of the 20th of April, 1856.

The concession is for a line of railway commencing at Santos, passing close by the city of São Paulo,and terminating at the town of Jundiahy, a distance of about 88 miles, with a guarantee of 7 per cent. interest on a maximum capital of $2,000,000 for a period of ninety years, with a right of preference for continuing the line to Rio Claro, a further distance of about 80 miles. These terms do not differ materially from those granted to the Pernambuco and the Bahia railways.

Early in 1856, the Author was sent out by Mr. Brunlees to undertake the preliminary surveys, and to furnish data for the plans, report, and estimates, which after having been presented to, and being approved by, the Imperial Government, should enable a Company to be formed, and contracts for the work to be entered into in England. The concession distinctly specified the termini, and to a certain extent the intermediate route of the line. The capital was arbitrarily fixed at $2,000,000, although the undertaking involved the construction of a first-class railway up the precipitous sides of the escarpment called the "Serra do Mar," which runs parallel to the sea coast, in a direction at right angles to that of the railway, and which rises abruptly to a minimum height of 2,500 feet above the sea level. No plans or sections, nor indeed any studies whatever, appear to have been previously made to determine the best mode and the probable cost of surmounting the barrier. This, it is obvious, materially affected the engineering of the line, as it was distinctly understood that no guarantee of additional capital would be allowed. The Author’s instructions from England were to layout a locomotive line over the Serra; but the first sight of the country convinced him that this could not be done and the line carried to Jundiahy within the prescribed capital. In consequence of his representations, Mr. Brunlees determined that inclined planes, with a gradient of 1 in 10 to be worked by stationary engines, should be employed, in order to shorten the ascent and enable the line to be made within the prescribed sum, and these inclined planes arethe distinctive features of the railway. At that time surveys were being made for the extension of the Dom Pedro Segundo railway up the "Serra do Mar," near Rio de Janeiro. As the range at that point is about 1,000 feet lower than in the province of São Paulo, and the nature of the ground enables