1944 Iritz Railroad Map of Southeastern Brazil (Leopoldina Railway)

A rare find, this is a 1944 Ernesto Iritz railroad map of southeastern Brazil highlighting the Leopoldina Railway - a key artery for transporting coffee and other products from the interior to lucrative export ports.

A Closer Look

Red lines emphasize the Leopoldina Railway's network, with cities and towns labeled throughout. The network traverses parts of 3 Brazilian states and covers over 3,000 kilometers. The routes of 8 other railways are illustrated and named via a key in the lower right. An advertisement for a shipping company, Edmundo e Vetromile Ltda., occupies the top portion of the sheet.

Leopoldina Railway

The Leopoldina Railway operated in Brazil from 1874 until 1965. It was the first railway in the modern state of Minas Gerais. At its peak, the network included over 3,200 kilometers of track. The railway was developed in the wake of increasing coffee exports and was championed by farmers and merchants eager for a more convenient and expeditious way to get their crops. Before the railroad, transport was dominated by companies that ran daily mule caravans. The first stretch of railroad opened on October 8, 1874, with only 3 stations. The Leopoldina station opened three years later. The railroad expanded through the late 1880s and 1890s, covering over 2,100 kilometers of track. Overexpansion led to financial difficulties, and the railroad declared bankruptcy in 1892. In 1898, ownership was taken over by the London-financed Leopoldina Railway Company Limited, which operated the railroad until 1950, when it was nationalized. The Leopoldina was incorporated into the Rede Ferroviária Federal in 1957, but its services were immediately cut back, and by 1965, fully dissolved.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Ernesto Iritz and published by the Leopoldina Railways Cervicio de Propaganda in 1944. This is the only known cataloged example.