2-995-885 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Bahia Railway, Brazil: Site of the station at Bahia - from a photograph by B. Mulock, 1860. View of '...the works on the Bahia Railway...[The] Railway, which is ultimately destined to add so much to the wealth and prosperity of Brazil, commences at the city of Bahia...and will ultimately terminate at the Great River, San Francisco, in the interior of Brazil, the navigation of which is uninterrupted for 2000 miles. With a liberality which marks their political wisdom, the Imperial Government of Brazil have guaranteed a rate of interest of seven per cent as a minimum on the cost of construction of this railway. The board of directors in London consists of eminent capitalists in the City, and the management of the undertaking has not fallen short of the expectations of the proprietors...the first section of the line...is twelve miles in length...The engineer-in-chief of the company is Charles Vignolles [sic], Esq., F.R.S., Westminster, under whose able orders the works have been so successfully carried out that the first section of the railway has been completed within the time originally fixed, and the whole line will probably be opened...[at] the end of 1863. The contractor for the works is Mr. Watson, of Parliament-street, Westminster'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.