The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is an abandoned railroad built in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

between 1907 and 1912, during the

rubber boom The Amazon rubber cycle or boom (, ; , ) was an important part of the socioeconomic history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the commercialization of rubber and the genocide of indigenous peoples. Cente ...

. The railroad links the cities of

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

and

Guajará-Mirim Guajará-Mirim is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. It is located at an altitude of 128 meters. Its population was 46,556 (2020) and its area is 24,856 km². Geography Location Guajará-Mirim lies along the Mamoré River, ...

. It became known as the "Devil's Railroad" because thousands of construction workers died from tropical diseases and violence.

History

In 1846, José Augustin Palácios and Rudolf Oscar Kesselring convinced authorities in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

that the best way to secure access to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

was through the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. Bolivia had access to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, which was later lost to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

in 1884, but the lucrative trade routes with the United States and Europe were in the Atlantic. In 1851, the government of the United States became interested in access to Bolivian products (notably

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

), and contracted Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon to study the viability of a rail link between the navigable Amazon River and Bolivian production centres. Gibbon's study concluded that a railroad along the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...

rapids would allow efficient transport of goods from the Bolivian capital of

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

to US markets.

Construction

During the 1870s, the American George Earl Church made two attempts to overcome the Madeira River rapids in order to gain access to Bolivian rubber markets. Both efforts were defeated by the difficult terrain and by appalling loss of life to malaria, accidents, and violence. A successful bid to build the railroad began with the

Treaty of Petrópolis The Treaty of Petrópolis, signed on November 17, 1903, in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis, ended the Acre War between Bolivia and Brazil over the then-Bolivian territory of Acre (today the Acre state), a desirable territory in Bolivia-Brazi ...

(1903) whereby Bolivia gave Brazil the territory of

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

(191,000 km²), in exchange for Brazilian territory, a monetary payment, and a pledge that Brazil would build a rail link to bypass the rapids on the Madeira river. Construction began in 1907, and on April 30, 1912, the final leg of the Madeira-Mamoré Railway was inaugurated. The Chief Accountant from Oct 1911 - Sept 1913 was Mark E. Smith.

The "Devil's Rail-road"

There are no accurate figures for the number of lives lost during the construction of the railroad. In his book ''Brazil'', novelist Errol Lincoln Uys puts the number between 7000 and 10,000. The Brazilian government estimates 6,000 workers lost their lives. Fiorelo Picoli in his book, ''O Capital e a Devastação da Amazônica'', puts the figure at more than 30,000. The loss of life may seem low compared to other complex constructions projects in difficult terrain. By comparison, construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

claimed 30,609 lives (5609 workers died during the 10 year US management, the remainder perished while under the jurisdiction of France) because of yellow fever. However, much of the "devil's railroad" legend is based on the much deadlier failed attempts by George Church, and on the Brazilian

itself, which cost tens of thousands of lives.

Competition from Roads and Dams

The South American rubber boom ended because of competition from Asian producers and synthetic rubber, and the railroad became redundant. Initially, the Brazilian government was forced to maintain the superfluous facilities because of its obligations under the Treaty of Petrópolis. However, in 1972 Brazil completed the

BR-364 BR-364 is an inter-state highway in Brazil connecting the southeast state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo to the western state of Acre (state), Acre. The highway was opened in the 1960s and paved in the 1980s. It has brought economic development ...

linking Bolivia to navigable regions of the Amazon and the railroad was abandoned. The ( IIRSA) South American integration project includes a series of hydroelectric dams that will transform the Madeira river rapids into navigable lakes, finally realizing Gibbon's vision of fast and efficient access to Bolivian markets (two of the four dams already exist, the

Santo Antônio Dam The Santo Antônio Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River southwest of Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station has 50 turbines, each rated at 71.6 MW resulting in a total inst ...

and the

Jirau Dam The Jirau Dam is a rock-fill dam with an asphalt-concrete core, in the Madeira River in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's hydroelectric power stations have 50 turbines each 75 MW resulting total installed capacity of 3,750 MW. The power p ...

). If the project is completed, "more than 4,000 km of waterways upstream from the dams in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru would become navigable."

History

Construction

The "Devil's Rail-road"

Competition from Roads and Dams

References

Further reading