The Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão is a 47-km meter-gauge electric railway that connects Pindamonhangaba, a small city in the Paraíba do Sul Valley (alt. 550 m) 150 km east of São Paulo, with a vacation area in the Mantiqueira Mountains (alt. 1,700 m) called Campos do Jordão – a.k.a. "A Suíça Brasileira", The Brazilian Switzerland. A section of the track has a 10.5% grade and at km 37 the line reaches 1,743 m (5,660 ft), the highest point of any railway in Brazil. The EFCJ opened with a combination of steam and gasoline power in 1914, was electrified in 1924, and still operates today. It is a major tourist attraction of São Paulo state and a mecca for railway enthusiasts worldwide.

See map of the railway superimposed on a satellite photograph.

A variety of vehicles provides five services: electric interurban cars built in England and Brazil carry passengers from Pindamonhangaba (km 0) to the foot of the escarpment at Piracuama (km 20) and up the mountain to Emílio Ribas (km 47). English electric locomotives pull open trailers from Emílio Ribas to Santo Antônio do Pinhal (km 28). German trams provide urban service between Emílio Ribas and São Cristóvão (km 39). During the tourist season, steam locomotives pull passenger trains from Emílio Ribas to Abernéssia (km 43). Most of these vehicles have been rebuilt over the years, some unrecognizably, and many have been renumbered.

The official EFCJ website, bibliographical information and other collections of data and photographs are listed on my References page. The three pages below present 40 photographs taken by myself and others during the last 80 years:

English and Brazilian cars

German cars

Miscellaneous views