The way to Urussanga

After a stuttering start to our tour, things started to fall into place today with an attempt to make it to Urussanga, albeit 48 hours later than originally scheduled.

Our convoy of four VW minibuses rolled out of the hotel car park on time at 7.35am and in another part of town our steam locomotive (no. 153) was starting her journey. Our paths met at a level crossing before the Congonhas bridge where we handed over the radios that would be our vital line of communication with the steam crews during the day.

After a few shots on the stretches of line around here, including the Congonhas Bridge itself, our convoy set off in pursuit along the dusty local road, looking for all the world like some latter day re-make of ‘The Italian Job’ and attracting much attention wherever we went. One local said that he had never seen four VW Kombis at one time!

VW-Kombi-Fest

Our lunchtime stop gave us an opportunity to wander round the streets of Jaguaruna, a town of around 15,000 inhabitants set in a fertile landscape of lakes, lagoons and green fields. However, it is the proximity of the town to the atlantic ocean that draws most tourists to the area, with 18 vast beaches along a 37km stretch of coastline and an active surfing scene. Alongside this, the area has some vast sand dunes which are a popular destination for sandboarders.

The town itself has an incredible variety of small shops with not a chain store in sight, selling everything from wool to surfing gear (at least two surf shops can be found on Rua Duque de Caxias). The local car dealership was, rather wonderfully, selling Jaguars.

Sights in the town include the striking church and tower of Nossa Senhora das Dores (our lady of sorrows) which was constructed in 1968, the old railway station (now a tourist information office) and the modest Museu Cidade de Jaguaruna which had an unexpectedly busy day with foreign visitors.

Our chase resumed in early afternoon as we headed out on the road to Morro Grande. A short drive brought us to the spot where 153 failed two days back, but today a different story was being written. We photographed the departure of our train and then hurtled along the road to a busy road bridge which afforded a great view over the line (the picture comprising a work gang repairing a small railway bridge, a couple of houses and a concrete water tower). Alco no. 153 looked quite magnificent as she passed, though not at full steam on account of a speed restriction placed on the bridge while it was under repair.

Alco no. 153 en route to Morro Grande

At Morro Grande the loco took water and attracted a large crowd of fascinated locals who soon became sought after additions to our photographic compositions. A similar story unfolded at our next stop, Esplanada, where a local VW Beetle driver was persuaded to re-park his car in a suitably visible position to add to the local colour for a runpast!

Our luck had held for such a long way, but here we learnt that the line to our intended destination, Urussanga, had just been blocked after a diesel had collided with a car at a level crossing! No-one could believe that we had come so far only to face falling short yet again. Thankfully, this proved to be less of an obstacle than it first sounded and we were able to set off again at about 3.30pm.

Alco no. 153 passes through a cutting not too far out from Urussanga

The next stop was a cutting not too far out from Urussanga where we settled down to wait for the sun to make an appearance and prayed that our locomotive would be able to set off when conditions were perfect. Thankfully this all went to plan. I figured that we were due a bit of good luck!

From this point on our train would not be able to stop until it reached Urussanga, but some speedy driving ensured that we were able to take a few more shots – each stop followed by a quick dash back to the minibuses and some speedy driving to overtake the train on the parallel road before repeating the process. The glow of the last light of the day was quite special, particularly as Alco no. 153 steamed through Morro da Fumaça.

Finally, we made it to Urussanga as the sun set. This was by no means the end of the day, merely the signal for a pause – we headed off to a local restaurant whilst the crew were scheduled to turn the loco at Esplanada. Naturally, nothing about this trip could ever be straightforward. The locomotive’s light had failed and this had to be fixed before they could set off, delaying proceedings a little whilst they waited for the repair team to arrive by road.

Night shoot at Urussanga

It wasn’t until 9.45pm that the locomotive returned (after yet another problem on the way back). It took about forty-five minutes for all the lighting to be rigged up for our night shoot and even then the loco ended up on the wrong track. Finally everything was in the right position and I must admit that the wooden loading facility did make a stunning backdrop. The final scene with the locomotive passing undermeath to be loaded with coal was incredibly atmospheric. It has to be said that the crew, the museum’s repair team and the specially arranged night shift deserved medals for their patience and co-operation in all of this madness!

The photographic day finally ended at 11.30pm, though by the time we reached our hotel it was nearly 1am. No chance for a lie in though, as we have to be up again at 5am…

Gallery