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Vale BB40-9W #1159 waiting licence to departure from Vespasiano yard on way to Tubarão port, in Vitoria ES.



Vale #832 and #1159 leading train J on way to Tubarão port, in Vitoria ES.



The trains of Vale are back to the "sertão" after a year moved away of the area.
Since the beginning of the international financial crisis that affected the world in 2009,Vale start to collect rent of their locomotives given in to FCA for traction of the grain trains, and the point of exchange of wagons in the route of the"sertão" was established in Capitão Eduardo station, in Santa Luzia MG. FCA, then, allocated the GT26CU-2 in the area above Capitão Eduardo, making the traction of all of the heavy trains in the area. But the excessive problems presented by old GT26 in the traction of heavy trains, allies to the great number of soy wagons in the daily yard switching operations in the tight yard of Capitão Eduardo, did FCA and Vale to decide for retaking of the "direct" trains. Those trains come out complete from Wilson Lobato's yard to Vitória ES. With that, the locomotives Dash 9 and DDM45 visited the area of the "sertão" again. Today the grain train J (soy) was being leaded by DDM45 #832 and BB40-9W #1159, both in reverse tracion heading for Costa Lacerda, where they will be turned in the turntable or be substituted for other locomotives, that will take the train until the port of Tubarão, in Vitória ES

BR Tank Cars

BR tank car in Wilson Lobato yard in december 28, 2003




BR tank cars used to carry dark petroleum derivates parked in Wilson Lobato yard in october 11, 2004.



For where will walk the tank cars of BR so commonly sighted in the nineties? Would them been scrapped?

Steel bridges to Ferrovia Norte Sul - FNS

A truck with part of a bridge of twenty meters fueling at gas station in Vespasiano, MG. Other bridges are in the yard of the company waiting the embarkment to the state of Tocantins, where the SPA engineering is acting in the construction of a passage of FNS.

The company JM Engenharia of Vespasiano, MG is producing bridges of steel for the North and South Railroad. The company is partner of SPA Engineer Co., of Belo Horizonte,MG which is responsible for the construction of one of the passages of the referred railroad.

SPA is the owner of the famous locomotive Alco RSC-3 of old Cia Paulista - CPEF, today in operation in FNS.

MRS Stations

Jeceaba station - FJR, in the Paraopeba line.


Main line: km 0,000 a km 625,144

FGI= Ilha de Guaíba
FBA= Brisamar
FOS= Santa Rosa
FGD= Guandú
FQS= Posto km 64
FBP= Barra do Piraí
FAT= Arisitdes Lobo
FBJ= Barão de Juparanã
FAL= Aliança
FPS= Paraíba do Sul
FBN= Barão de Angra
FTR= Três Rios
FSA= Souza Aguiar
FOT= Cotegipe
FMT= Matias Barbosa
FJF= Juiz de Fora
FMP= Mariano Procópio
FFB= Francisco Bernardino
FBF= Benfica
FDT= Dias Tavares
FSD= Santos Dumont
FMQ= Mantiqueira
FJA= João Ayres
FAS= Antônio Carlos
FBC= Barbacena
FEV= Engenheiro Drummond
FET= Engenheiro Simão Tamm
FCY= Carandaí
FPE= Pedra do Sino
FPK= Km 460 Panorâmico
FCL= Conselheiro Lafaiete
FMO= Mário Castilho
FDM= Joaquim Murtinho
FCR= Casa de Pedra
FJR= Jeceaba
FBV= Belo Vale
FMD= Moeda
FMS= Marinhos
FML= Melo Franco
FAF= Alberto Flores
FBR= Brumadinho
FSN= Carlos Newlands
FMC= Mário Campos
FSO= Sarzedo
FZN= Sarzedo Novo
FIE= Ibirité
FBO= Barreiro

Dr Joaquim Murtinho to Açominas branch

FDM= Joaquim Murtinho
FOB= Ouro Branco

Dr Joaquim Murtinho to Lafaiete Bandeira branch

FDM= Joaquim Murtinho
EMP= Miguel Burnier
ELF= Lafaiete Bandeira

São Paulo branch ( FBP/OSG )

FBP= Barra do Piraí
FPU= Pulverização
FVR= Volta Redonda
FBB= Barbará
FBM= Barra Mansa
FSE= Saudade
FIA= Itatiaia
FCZ= Cruzeiro
FCP= Cachoeira Paulista
FGU= Guaratinguetá
FAD= Aparecida
FRA= Roseira
FCT= Coruputuba
FTA= Taubaté
FCA= Caçapava
FSJ= São José dos Campos
FRE= Remédios
FST= São Bento
IEF= Manoel Feio
OSG= E. S. Gualberto

Rio de Janeiro branch( Arará to km 64 )

FAR= Arará
HHS= Herédita de Sá
HCB= Costa Barros
HRS= Rocha Sobrinho
HJA= Japerí
FQT= Km 64

Rio de Janeiro branch( Costa Barros to Deodoro )

HCB= Costa Barros
HRO= Rocha Miranda
HHG= Honório Gurgel
HDE= Deodoro

São Paulo branch( Santos to Jundiaí )

ISN= Santos
ICB= Cubatão
IAA= Areais
IPG= Piaçaguera
IRS= Raiz da Serra
IPA= Paranapiacaba
ICG= Campo Grande
IRG= Rio GRande da Serra
ICP= Capuava
ISA= Santo André
ISC= São Caetano
IIP= Ipiranga
OBR= Brás
ORO= Roosevelt
OLU= Luz
OBF= Barra Funda
ILA= Lapa
IJN= Jundiaí

São Paulo branch( Ouro Fino to Suzano )

IRG= Rio Grande da Serra
IOF= Ouro Fino
ISU= Suzano Novo
OSU= Suzano

São Paulo branch( São José dos Campos to Estudantes )

FSJ= São José dos Campos
FJI= Jacareí
FSZ= São Silvestre
FGA= Guararema
OES= Estudantes
OMC= Mogi das Cruzes
OSU= Suzano

São Paulo branch ( Piaçaguera to Conceiçãozinha )

IPG= Piaçaguera
IBA= Barnabé
ICZ= Conceiçãozinha


I would like to thank my friend Michael Roberto Silva for his advices to produce this article.

PREFIXES OF MRS TRAINS

A scum train leaded by a mixed of GM and GE locomotives arriving to Horto Florestal yard in 2006. Photo from Gutierrez Lhamas


We are accustomed to hear prefixes of trains, but most of the time we didn't get to understand them. Each railroad has its prefix code and now we will study the prefixes used by MRS.

We will begin for the load type that the train is transporting, that in the prefix, it is designated by the first letter:

A - Sugar
B - Train Expressed (with schedules of departure and arrival defined, as well as their routes)
Example: BPU
C - several Loads (type general load, but with less preference regarding the same ones).
Examples: CCC, COC, CEC, CFC
E - Special Administrativo/Extra (Trains with personnel of it manages, extra trains)
Examples: EPE, ERE, ECP
F - Metallurgical Products
Examples: FCC, FZC
H - Paper
J - Cereals and Fruits
Examples: JDN
K - General Load
Examples: KPE, KRE, KSE, KKP, KCP, KCR, KEP, KER
L - Calcareous, limestone
N - Iron ore
Examples: NGA, NFZ, NZE, NUT, NEO, NFO, NO, NOO, NCE, NCF, NCC, NCZ, NEY, NVE, NLE, NAS
O - Fertilizers
P - Petroleum and derivates
Q - Coal / coque
Examples: QLV, QLZ, QRZ, QZL
R - Route Expressed
T - Ores no Ferrous
Examples: TOD, TDO (Bauxite for Aluminum)
W - Locomotives alone, ballast, fleet of rails
Examples: WOO, WCE, WZC, WCC, WEE, WEF, WFE, WLE, WOC, WEC
X - chemical Products / dangerous loads (diesel oil)
Examples: XEF, XFE, XPU, XUP

In second and third letters of the prefix, we found the ORIGIN and DESTINY of the train, respectively
A - Agua Claras terminal (current TOD - Olhos D'Água terminal)
C - Passage between Carandaí and km 482 (Including Lafaiete Bandeira)
D- Pari - Jundiaí
E- km 482 even Barreiro
F - Steel Railway
G - Guaíba
H - Barão de Mauá station
I - Perequê / Sand dunes
J - Japeri / Marine
K - Paranapiacaba / Manoel Feio
L - Saí/ Barra do Piraí
M - Rio Grande da Serra/ Brás
N - Santos
O - Aristides Lobo / Ilídio
P - Floriano / Manoel Feio
Q - Marítima station
R - Arará station
S - Porto de Sepetiba
T - Roosevelt / Itaim
U - Conceiçãozinha / Barnabé
V - Pulverização / Pombal
W - Ramirez Ramos Alves area
X - Dom Pedro II station
Y - Piaçaguera / Raiz da Serra
Z - Açominas branch

Now, we are going to the numbers:

Let us use the prefix NGA 0115

N - Ore
G - Island of Guaíba
A - TOD
01 - 1st empty train formed at the Island of Guaíba towards the shipment
15 - train formed on the 08th day*

* To form the prefix of the train, we needed two factors: if this circulating in the growing sense of the number of kilometers travelled, the prefix will be ODD (day x 2 - 1); in case it is decreasing, the prefix will have equal end (day x 2), be them emptiness or loaded, but it can have variations.

We will analyze one more prefix:

NFG 0530
N - Ore
F - Steel Railway (in that case, loaded train that left of the Rail Terminal of the Andaime, TFA, in Ibirité, Steel Railway, P1-03)
G - Island of Guaíba
05 - 5th train of ore of the 15 loaded in TFA
30 - day of the train (day x 2)

Now you can already decipher a prefix of train of MRS when it is visiting their lines. Gratitudes to the friend Michael Silva, for his help with this article.

Vale Aircraft

EMB-120 Brasília, prefix PT-SOK of VALE in Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG in 06/maio/2010

Today I was at the airport of Pampulha, in BH, when a EMB-120 "Brasília" of Vale arrived. Notice that it is already with the new painting of the company.

Locomotives to Nigeria

GEVISA, GE of Brazil, is producing a batch of 25 locomotives model C25-MP to Nigeria. The locomotives are metric gauge and weigh 96 metric tones. The first batch dispatched consisted of five machines, being following by one second batch of seven machines. On the last weekend I found four locomotives of that second batch being transported on trucks in BR-040, proceeding toi the port of Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately all of the machines were covered by the common GE blue canvas, but it was possible to took pictures of details, as trucks and couplers. These, for sign, differ of everything that we are accustomed to see, as seeing in the pictures below.

RS3 in the Sertão

The locomotives MLW RS3 of old EFCB made history in Minas Gerais. In the olf RFFSA telegran above we see that they run in everywhere on broad gage system, arriving at Sete Lagoas, where locomotive 7136 derail at the Calsete yard in October of 1988.

Traction Effort

A limestone train leaded by an U20C and a GT26CU-2 passing by km 625 in Vespasiano, running from EWL to ECA. This couple has a traction effort of 9.530 metric tones when they run in this direction.

Traction effort of FCA some locomotives when running from ELD to EWL

U20C - 1,280 tones
GT26 - 1,360 tones
MX620 - 1,130 tones
G12 - 790 tones

Traction effort of the same locomotives when running from EWL to ECA

U20C – 4,640 tones
GT26 - 4,890 tones
MX620 – 4,050 tones
G12 – 2,890 tones

Notes:
EWL - Wilson Lobato station
EDL - Dr Lund station
ECA - Capitão Eduardo station

The Sad End of a Warrior

Abandoned to the own luck in distant Batista Frazão yard, in Iraí de Minas MG, DDM45 4292, former EFVM 802, is being destroyed without FCA and Vale take the initiative of moving it to a safety place. It was leaned at that yard after it suffered a fire in the prime mover compartment. The reason is not known that did the company to decide for the removal of the engine in that distant place and to leave the locomotive abandoned there. After FCA closed Batista Frazão station, the locomotive became objective of vandals and other people looking for scrap metal. Informations collected in that area attest that parts of it were found with scrap dealers in the distant city of Araguari MG and that they would have been sold by employees of own FCA.
If the situation of that locomotive is a sadness for us, for FCA and Vale can be understanded as a disregard to their own history, since DDM45 symbolized the entrance of EFVM in the modernity of the traction diesel of great capacity.
Locomotive 4292 should be taken to the workshops of the Vale at Tubarão in Vitoria ES to be reformed and painted in the original colors of EFVM. Soon afterwards, it should be sent to Pedro Nolasco's rail museum, where it would have an end worthy of the warrior that was for all those years, helping Vale to arrive where it arrived today, the second biggest mining company in the world.