Whilst returning from Beja after a
tour around the Alentejo one day in 1997 we came across the village
of Aljustrel.Whilst returning from Beja after a
tour around the Alentejo one day in 1997 we came across the village
of Aljustrel.
The name sounded familiar and I remembered that it was the end of a branch from the Funcheira - Beja line at Castro Verde. As far as I was aware the branch was freight only and served the now closed copper ore mines at Aljustrel: the colour of the local streams certainly proved this.
The road from the bypass crosses the intact line by a level crossing. In town we were contronted by an almost complete though disused station and goods yard with a largely intact track layout.
The Quail map stetes that the line opened on 2nd June 1929, but gives no dates for withdrawal of either passenger or freight service. Howvere, the book Railway Holiday in Portugal mentions the branch and states that in 1967 a steam hauled mixed service was operating. I had previously noted the existence of the disused branch at the Castro Verde end in 1990.
The remains looked as though they are merely sleeping and ready to spring back to life. Following the line back to Coste Verde and the line looked intact and in reasonable condition. The branch terminus would make a good model for a small layout.
Ian Buck
The railhead at Aljustrel served the nearby copper pyrites mine, one of several places across the southern Iberian peninsular where the copper rich seam of mineral comes to the surface. Other noted mines in this seam include those at Lousal, Sao Domingos (Mason & Barry) and the most famous of all, Rio Tinto across the border in Spain. The new mine at Neves Corgo, for which a new railway has been constructed, also taps into the same veins. The drift mine at Aljustrel is now owned by the Portuguese Government, and is currently held on a 'care and maintence' basis, but still employs 100 men. This compares with the new open-cast mine only a few miles up the road which employs fifty men in total to both mine the ore and maintain the structure.
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Loading staithes in the mine area, broad gauge track at the bottom |
3'0" gauge 2-6-0T supplied in 1937 by Orenstein & Koppel to increase output, stored outside the dual gauge loco shed at Adjustrel |
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3'0" gauge 4-wheeled 80hp diesel shunter, one of 4 supplied by the Belgian company Moes, stored outside the loco shed at Aljustrel |
5'6" gauge 0-4-0T built for the Societe Anonyme Belges des Mines d'Adjustrel in 1926 by Haine-St Pierre, now awaiting a restoation effort at Lousal |
1847
Concession to mine first granted by Portuguese government
1876
Concession sold to Companhia de Mineracao Transtanga who constructed
3ft (220mm) surface line to connect the head of the drift mine with
the processing machinery. Crushed ore was taken to the railhead at
Castro Verde by horse and cart. Three saddle tanks built at the
Falcon Engine Company at Loughborough, England, provided motive power
around the mine area. They carried names 'Tanstagana', 'Pedras
Brancas' and 'Fetaes'.
1926
Societe Anonyme Belge des Mines d'Aljustrel obtains rights. They
modernised the machinery, obtaining new locomotives from Orenstein
& Koppel and constructed the broad gauge branch. Two vertical
boilered 0-4-0 tram engines were built for the branch by Cockeril.
The line formally openend on 2nd July 1929.
1937
New narrow gauge motive power supplied by Orenstein & Koppel.
0-6-0 well tank and 2-6-0 side tank to meet increasing ore
production. The underground railway was upgraded and also the branch
strengthened to take larger locomotives. The branch was by now
operated by the then still-private CP - Compenhia Portuguese de
Caminho de Ferro. The passenger service usually operated with a 2-6-0
and offered first and third class accommodation.
1975
Passenger service withdrawn
1993
The mine, owned by the Government since WWII, closes. With newer and
cheaper sources of ore elsewhere a drift mine cannot compete.
Remaining Locomotives
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1665mm gauge |
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Steam |
1 0-4-0 well tank |
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Diesel |
3 0-4-0 locomotives |
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902mm gauge |
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Steam |
1 2-6-0 tank, 1 0-6-0 well tank |
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Diesel |
7 0-4-0 locomotives |
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Electric |
1 4-wheeler |
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750mm underground |
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Diesel |
1 0-4-0 locomotive |
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Electric |
3 4-wheelers |
Mike Williams
