RFFSA

Rede Ferroviária Federal Sociedade Anônima
Reporting mark	RFFSA
Locale	Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Brazilian Federal District, Goiás, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina & Rio Grande do Sul
Dates of operation	1957–1996
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)  & 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Headquarters	Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Website	http://www.rffsa.gov.br/

The former headquarters of the RFFSA in Juiz de Fora.

The Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima (RFFSA) (Portuguese: Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A., Federal Railroad Network) was the state-owned national railway company of Brazil. It was created in 1957, and dissolved between 1999–2007.

Constituent Railways

The RFFSA was created by the merger of 18 separate regional railways.

• Estrada de Ferro Madeira-Mamoré
• Estrada de Ferro de Bragança
• Estrada de Ferro São Luís-Teresina
• Estrada de Ferro Central do Piauí
• Rede de Viação Cearense
• Estrada de Ferro Mossoró-Sousa
• Estrada de Ferro Sampaio Correia
• Rede Ferroviária do Nordeste
• Viação Férrea Federal do Leste Brasileiro
• Estrada de Ferro Bahia-Minas
• Estrada de Ferro Leopoldina
• Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil
• Rede Mineira de Viação
• Estrada de Ferro de Goiás
• Estrada de Ferro Santos a Jundiaí
• Estrada de Ferro Noroeste do Brasil
• Rede de Viação Paraná-Santa Catarina
• Estrada de Ferro Dona Teresa Cristina

In addition, the Estrada de Ferro Santa Catarina and the Viação Férrea do Rio Grande do Sul had been leased to the governments of the respective States, at the time.

Other railroads of the Federal Government would continue under special administration the Estrada de Ferro Ilhéus and the Estrada de Ferro Tocantins.

Privatisation and liquidation

Privatization was one of the alternatives for investments to return in railroads. The government of the PSDB gave the public rail lines access to transport cargo. However, most of the railroad companies were not interested in seeing a transport of passengers, as the service was nearly extinct.

Between 1996 and 1998, over 22,000 km of rail lines in Brazil (73% of the entire state rail system) were being transferred to various private organizations, which signed 30-year concessions to operate the railroad systems. The organized private railroad companies will invest $2.1 billion dollars within the 30-year concession as well as increase the volume of traffic, modernize, and expand their railroad systems.

The main goal of privatizing the RFFSA and FEPASA was to end the financial and labor troubles of the railroads, mainly due to a lack of investment by Brazil from the 1980s and the 1990s.

On December 9, 1999, the liquidation of the Ferrovia Paulista S.A. (FEPASA) began as a merger to the RFFSA, and then as an auction in the form of a concession for 20 years. Ferroban was the winner, which has an option to renew the 20-year concession. However, the control was split between América Latina Logística and Brasil Ferrovias.

On December 17, 1999, the liquidation of the RFFSA began by the General Meeting of Shareholders. By May 31, 2007, the liquidation was complete, becoming Brazilian Federal Law #11.483.

Paint schemes

From 1957 to 1993, the standard scheme of the RFFSA was red and black with two stripes that wrapped around the car body and dipped down in the front and rear (if applicable). The scheme sometimes carried subsidiary markings in which the lower stripe was widened to fit it. With the SIGO System in effect by 1983, almost all subsidiary markings disappeared and were replaced with a simple R F F S A and the number below it.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diesel traction presence in the Central Railway of Brazil, the RFFSA held a contest to create an innovative 'new image' paint scheme for its locomotives and rolling stock.

With an initiative well conducted, the contest became a significant rail fest. The 50th anniversary of diesel traction was also a reference to the historic network of the railroad. It recognized the development of diesel locomotives that helped shape the railway system today in Brazil. The event was first held in December 1993; tremendous support from various sectors of the RFFSA, as well as professional associations and even customers attended the event with all sorts of resources.

Citing a journalist from the Management of Social Communication in the RFFSA, a participation of shareholders competed against each other in creating the new scheme. The paint scheme competition event was open to anybody who was interested (regardless of training, schooling of even if they were employees or not from RFFSA). The only requirement was a display board showcasing the design by the participant. Officially, the standard locomotive model chosen to represent the new scheme was a EVSA GT26CUM-2. Once the scheme was chosen, an actual GT26CUM-2 would be painted in the new scheme from the SR-5 Sector.

The completed artwork would be sent to the Department of Communication, as a panel of judges - led by designer Elias Filho and the Sevig Company - would pick the winning drawing. The members of Communication, Engineering & Preserves would also assist into picking the drawing. On December 6, 1993, the new scheme was chosen. Paulo Henrique Cavalieri of Juiz de Fora, MG, was declared the winner in the new scheme. Consisting of Ash Grey, Sunflower Yellow & Black, the scheme refreshed the RFFSA look as well as baptizing the locomotives with names, municipalities, states, or cities of there they respectively operated. Dubbed by rail fans and modelers as 'Phase Two', the scheme was short lived; from 1993 to 1996 the scheme was applied to all sorts of locomotives from all the sectors and easily became dirty after a few months. By 1995 or 1996, the RFFSA was too poor in cleaning or painting a locomotive that even repainting a locomotive into the new scheme varied in success. No two locomotives of the same model were alike in a repaint.

The actual winner "who won but did not win" was Eike Pereira de Souza, an architect from the RFFSA's auto graphics planning department. He won a cash prize of 200,000 Cruzeiros.

The SIGO system on the RFFSA

The SIGO was a system implemented in 1983 to standardize the numbering system of railway vehicles in Brazil. Each piece of rolling stock is allocated a six-digit number, a check digit, and a letter to indicate its allocation. When the RFFSA began to repaint it's locomotives of both Metric and Irish Gauges in Ash Grey and Sunflower Yellow (1993–1996), the numbers were relocated towards the radiator section of the locomotive. In some cases, the locomotives were baptized with names, municipalities, states, or cities of there they respectively operated.

With locomotives, the first two digits are hidden, and used only on documents, e.g. 905212-7F.

• '90' represents: RFFSA locomotive (only written in documents).
• '5212' is the roadnumber of the locomotive.
• '-7' is the check digit.
• 'F' is the letter code for where the locomotive is located (The 'F' indicates: Juiz de Fora - Sector SR-3).

Number Series	Type of Locomotive
0001–0100	Steam locomotives – 760 mm (2 ft 5 7⁄8 in) gauge
0101–0400	Steam locomotives – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)  gauge
0401–0500	Steam locomotives – 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
0401–0500	Diesel locomotives – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) (meter gauge)
0751–1000	Diesel locomotives - 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
2001–3000	GE diesel locomotives - 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) meter gauge
3001–4000	GE diesel locomotives - 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
4001–5000	GM diesel locomotives - 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) meter gauge
5001–6000	GM diesel locomotives – 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
6001–7000	Alco diesel locomotives – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) meter gauge
7001–8000	Alco diesel locomotives – 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
8001–9000	Electric locomotives – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) meter gauge
9001–9999	Electric locomotives – 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge

Locomotives

Click on image to enlarge

• 

  Diesel-electric locomotive built in 1953 by English Electric in England for the Rede Ferroviária do Nordeste. Operated until the 1980s.

• 

  GE 64T, originally EFSJ 10 (1956); renumbered as RFFSA # 3090 in the 1980s.

• 

  RFFSA GE U6B #3049.

• 

  RFFSA MACOSA SD40-2 #5231-3F. Baptized with the name 'Aparecida do Norte'

Present day Brazilian railway companies

• América Latina Logística S.A. – ALL (ex-Ferrovia Sul Atlântico (FSA)) – gauges: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) and 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (FERRONORTE)
• Companhia Ferroviária do Nordeste – CFN – controlled by Transnordestina Logística S.A. – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos – CPTM – commuter services in São Paulo city and suburbs; controlled by the state of São Paulo – gauges: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in), on the two former Sorocabana lines 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Concessionária de Transporte Ferroviário S.A. – SuperVia – commuter services in Rio de Janeiro city and suburbs – gauges: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in), on the former Estrada de Ferro Leopoldina 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Empresa de Trens Urbanos de Porto Alegre – TRENSURB – commuter services in Porto Alegre, RS and suburbs – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Estrada de Ferro do Amapá – from 1953 to 2006 controlled by Empresa Indústria e Comércio de Minério S.A. (ICOMI), since then by MMX Mineração e Metálicos S.A. (MMX); this is one of two Brazilian railways with 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge, the other being Line 5 of São Paulo Metro.
• Estrada de Ferro Carajás – EFC – controlled by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão – EFCJ – controlled by the department of tourism of the state of São Paulo – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Estrada de Ferro Jari – EFJ – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Estrada de Ferro Trombetas – EFT – controlled by Mineiração Rio do Norte – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas – EFVM – controlled by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica S.A. – FCA – controlled by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Ferrovias Bandeirantes – FERROBAN – formerly controlled by Brasil Ferrovias, then incorporated by ALL (Sorocabana network) and FCA (Mogiana network) – gauges: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) (Mogiana and Sorocabana networks) and 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (Paulista and Araraquarense networks)
• Ferrovia Norte-Sul – FNS – controlled by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Ferrovia Norte Brasil – FERRONORTE – formerly controlled by Brasil Ferrovias, then incorporated by ALL – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Ferrovia Novoeste S.A. – NOVOESTE – formerly controlled by Brasil Ferrovias, then incorporated by ALL – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Ferrovia Paraná Oeste – FERROPAR – also known as FERROESTE
• Ferrovia Teresa Cristina S.A. – FTC – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
• Grupo Brasil Ferrovias S.A. – incorporated by ALL – gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) and 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• MRS Logística S.A. – MRS – gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
• Tramway Bertioga - Itatinga – controlled by the state of São Paulo's port authority Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (CODESP); more a local railway than an actual tramway – gauge: 800 mm (2 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in)

Preservation Groups

• Associação Brasileira de Preservação Ferroviária - ABPF

References

http://www.mafiactc.com/site/