The Tramways of
Vitória + Vila Velha
Click on the pictures to see enlargements; "pc" = postcard.
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(01) Looking east over Vitória Bay, about 1950 [see map]. Vitória is on the left, Vila Velha on the right, the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. [pc, col. AM]
(02) The Empresa Ferro Carril do Suá opened a horsecar line in Vitória in 1907, using vehicles acquired second-hand from Niterói, Brazil. [pc, col. Elysio Belchior]
(03) EFCS also operated a little steam-powered railway from the end of the horsecar line to Morro do Suá [see map]. [pc, col. Elysio Belchior]
(04) One of the nine 4-wheel passenger trams built for Vitória in 1910 by Waggonfabrik Falkenried in Hamburg, Germany. [Siemens Museum, München]
(05) A German car inaugurating Vitória's electric tramway on 21 July 1911. Operator was the Banco do Estado do Espírito Santo. [col. AM]
(06) The Falkenried order of 1910 included this funeral car, which was towed by a passenger tram to the cemetery on the Santo Antônio line [see map]. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(07) A rare photograph of one of two 4-wheel trams built in 1911 by J. G. Brill in Philadelphia for the "BONDS DE VILLA VELHA" (inscription on the car). The Brill cars in Vila Velha inaugurated its tramway on 12 April 1912 [see map]. [col. AM]
(08) One of two 8-wheel trams that Banco Hipotecário e Agrícola do Estado do Espírito Santo purchased from Brill for Vitória in 1912. The inscription "B. H. A. do E. do E. S." is almost legible below the roofline. [col. AM]
(09) A Brill car on Av. Jerônimo Monteiro in Vitória about 1915 [see map]. Track gauge on both the Vitória and Vila Velha systems was one meter. [pc, col. AM]
(10) The center poles on Vitória streets held both the trolley wire and the street lights. [pc, col. AM]
(11) A Brill tram on Av. Vitória on its way to the beach about 1920 [see map]. The photographer was facing west. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(12) Tram ticket of the Banco Hipotecário e Agrícola do Espírito Santo. [col. AM]
(13) A trailer car built for Vitória's "B.H.A." by Les Ateliers Métallurgiques in Nivelles, Belgium. [col. AM]
(14) A 13-bench motorized tram pulling one of the 9-bench Belgian trailers past the casino at Forte São João [see map]. Date unknown. [pc, col. AM]
(15) Vila Velha tram 1 at Aribiri depot [see map]. This is one of Vila Velha's original cars from the Brill order of 1911; see picture 07. [col. AM]
(16) A very early view of Vila Velha taken from Morro da Penha. A Brill tram and trailer head south on Rua Luciano das Neves [see map]. [col. AM]
(17) A Vila Velha tram skirts Morro da Penha on its way to Piritininga [see map]. That's the shrine of Nossa Senhora da Penha atop the hill. [pc, col. AM]
(18) One of the 12-bench Brill cars of 1912 [see picture 08] photographed in 1936 at the depot on Rua 7 de Setembro in Vitória [see map]. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(19) The same tram and tramway employees as in picture 18. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(20) Car 41 after reconstruction in 1936. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(21) Huge 14-bench trams 52 and 53 were reconstructions of vehicles acquired in 1950 from the tramway system in Recife, Pernambuco state. [col. Nilton Pimenta]
(22) Part of a postcard view of Praça Costa Pereira, the main plaza in the Centro [see map]. [col. AM]
(23) The clerestories had been removed from most of Vitória's trams by 1950, but car 44 was still in original form when this photograph was taken in November 1958. [William Janssen]
(24) En route to Praia do Canto ("Corner Beach") in Vitória, 1958 [see map]. [William Janssen]
(25) The end of the line at Praia do Canto in 1958 [see map]. The tram route stayed a few blocks inland from the ocean. [William Janssen]

(26) A 12-bench car preparing to leave the dock at Paul on the Vila Velha line [see map]. Date is October 1963. [Earl Clark]

(27) Crossing the Aribiri River a few kilometers south of Paul [see map]. October 1963. [Earl Clark]
(28) Closeup of the scene in picture 27. There seems to be a fire on the other side of the trestle! Or is it water spraying from a broken pipe? [Earl Clark]
(29) Approaching the carbarn and offices at Aribiri, also shown in picture 15 above. [Earl Clark]

(30) Car 45 on the passing siding at Aribiri. [Earl Clark]

(31) Aribiri depot on the Vila Velha line. October 1963. [Earl Clark]

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