Madeira-Mamoré Railroad, Historical railroad line in Porto Velho, Brazil.
The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is a decommissioned railway line in Rondônia that runs through dense rainforest from Porto Velho to Guajará-Mirim. The route crosses remote areas along the Madeira and Mamoré rivers and once served to transport rubber and other goods.
Construction started in 1907 as part of the Treaty of Petrópolis, through which Brazil agreed to build a transport link in exchange for Bolivian territory. After several attempts and heavy losses, the line was finally completed in 1912.
The railway earned its nickname 'Devil's Railway' because many workers died from disease and accidents during construction in the rainforest. This name still recalls the difficult conditions faced by those who built the line through remote jungle.
The railway stopped running in 1972 when highway BR-364 opened and offered a new route between Brazil and Bolivia. Today you can still find remains of stations and bridges along the old line, now overgrown by vegetation.
Workers from more than 50 countries came here for the construction, forming an unusually diverse group for a project of that time. Some of their graves still lie hidden in the rainforest along the old route.
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