Steam & Excursion > Baldwin Steam Cab Ride Weekend

The weekend of November 6 – 7, 2010 was spent enjoying cab rides in two Baldwin steam locomotives:
* RMV 332, 4-6-2 (BLW 58852 / 1925), meter-gauge, wood-burner and,
* Central 1424, 2-8-2 (BLW 59712 / 1927), originally EF Oeste de Minas, meter-gauge wood-burner.
Most weekend days, RMV 332 powers “Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira” between Passa Quatro and Coronel Fulgêncio, Minas Gerais, Brazil, a one-way distance of 5.9 miles (9.5 km). The locomotive is operated chimney-first on the southbound trip. At the Coronel Fulgêncio station, the locomotive runs around the train and operates tender-first back to Passa Quatro.
On Saturday, November 6, 2010, Brazilian friends Sergio Martire, Bruno Sanches and Filipe Sanches visited Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira with me. We planned to ride the morning train, then photograph the afternoon train.
Sergio, Bruno and Felipe are all active members of ABPF, the Brazilian equivalent of the NRHS in USA, and the operator of many steam tourist lines in Brazil, including, “Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira.” Until this visit, I had no idea both Bruno and Felipe were qualified locomotive drivers. Imagine my surprise when I was invited to ride in the cab of RMV 332 for both the morning and afternoon trips.
Following the afternoon trip, under Felipe’s and Bruno’s supervision, I was allowed to operate RMV 332, performing a few switching moves in the Passa Quatro yard, then shoving the two wood coaches into the nearby engine house for safe-keeping.
Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira: http://www.abottc.com.br/trem/?CodTrem=18
Image 1: RMV 332 waits to depart Passa Quatro, MG for the morning excursion to Coronel Fulgêncio
Image 2: In order from nearest to most distant, Sergio, Bruno and Felipe take shelter from the rain.
Image 3: Our arrival at Coronel Fulgêncio station. In the distance can be seen the northern portal of the railway tunnel under the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range, and the summit of this grade. The Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range includes the highest peaks in São Paulo State, and several of the highest mountains in all of Brazil. The summit of these mountains defines the border between the Brazilian States of Minas Gerais and São Paulo.

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Not far north of Passa Quatro, ABPF operate, “Trem das Águas,” another excursion train. Locomotives, passenger cars and a shop are located in São Lourenço, Minas Gerais. Steam-powered trains operate between São Lourenço and Soledade de Minas, a one-way distance of 6 miles (10 km). Steam-powered trains are operated chimney-first from São Lourenço to Soledade de Minas. At Soledade de Minas, the locomotive runs-around the train, operating tender-first back to São Lourenço.
Image 1: In the yard at São Lourenço, Felipe Sanches at the throttle of Central 1424 (not yet moving).
Image 2: Most trains halt briefly at Parada Ramon, a small station on the outskirts of São Lourenço.
Image 3: On the return trip from Soledade de Minas to São Lourenço, I sat on the tender, enjoying the view. In this view, additional wood is added to the fire.

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Neat set of photos. I am impressed how clean that cab looks. I guess wood burners are generally cleaner than coal fired engines. I would think it takes a little practice firing a wood burner. 2 logs left, 2 logs right one in the front, 2 in the corners. Those look like big logs. I note some smaller stuff in the tender. In case the fire goes down too far????

Thanks for sharing. Share some more tales if you can. Different and neat stuff.

Tom

Awesome photo's of some great looking Baldwin's. They look a fair amount like those New Zealand Pacifics. Thanks for posting!

What a memorable adventure! I saw the first two pictures with the racks on the tender and thought: Woodburner? Then I got to the fuel supply in the last photo and confirmed the speculation. Reminds me of the time my daughters had a cab ride in a Porter 0-4-0 (much smaller than the engines in this story) and got to toss wood into the firebox.

I realize that this is a rather arcane subject, but the brakestand looks like an EL 14, often used on electric locomotives--maybe there's a story there.