About this journey

Baixo Guandu sits at a junction defined by the Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas (EFVM), the metre-gauge line whose rails reached the town in 1907, opening an outlet for local coffee and timber. That railway had been created by decree-law in February 1902, with its first 30-kilometre stretch inaugurated on 13 May 1904; its focus shifted in 1908 toward iron-ore transport from Itabira, and in 1942 Companhia Vale do Rio Doce — now Vale S.A. — took over operations under the Washington Accords.

The EFVM stretches 905 kilometres in total, built to a gauge of 1,000 millimetres with a minimum curve radius of 195 metres, a maximum grade of 1.5 %, and a maximum speed of up to 67 km/h. The passenger service covers 664 kilometres of that network, stopping at 30 points across 42 municipalities, following the Doce River valley through terrain that alternates between Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. The locomotive hauling the consist is a GE BB40-9WM, one of the types operated by Vale on this corridor. Governador Valadares, where the journey ends, received its first EFVM station on 15 August 1910, and the surrounding municipality is characterised by 60 % undulating and 25 % rugged terrain, with the Pico da Ibituruna rising to 1,123 metres near the city — a fitting landmark to close a ride through the heart of the Doce valley.