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EFL La Brugeoise et Nicaise et Delcuve Goods Van

The closed La Brugeoise by Marumbi Modelismo represent an important phase in the history of the Leopoldina Railway, one of the most significant railways in Brazil during its period of operation. Leopoldina, which at its peak extended for more than 3,200 km, connected Rio de Janeiro to Juiz de Fora, Vitória, Macaé, Volta Redonda, Nova Friburgo and many other cities in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais .

Founded in 1854, Leopoldina has had several defining moments in its history that have helped shape the context of closed La Brugeoise. If you are an EFL expert, you can skip to the next color photo.

Early 20th Century (1900-1920): During this period, the railway consolidated its economic and social importance by facilitating the transport of agricultural and mineral products. The expansion of the tracks and the modernization of locomotives boosted economic development in the regions the line covered. An important example is the construction of the large Barão de Mauá station in Rio de Janeiro. It was also during this period that Leopoldina acquired the La Brugeoise metal enclosures, the history of which will be detailed below.

Goods van in factory photo, Beyer-Peacock Review, January 1931 issue.

​1930s: During the Great Depression, the railroad faced serious economic challenges. Despite this, the Brazilian government began to invest in infrastructure improvements and fleet modernization, helping to maintain Leopoldina's competitiveness.

1940s and 1950s: The Leopoldina Railway continued to be essential for the transport of goods, especially agricultural and mineral products, during World War II and into the 1950s. Industrial growth and urbanization also increased demand for the services of the railway.

1960s: The railway begins to face increasing competition from road and air transport. The deterioration of infrastructure and the need for investments in modernization became evident, leading Leopoldina to initiate restructuring processes.

1970s: The financial crisis and pressure for greater modernization and efficiency brought significant challenges to administration. Leopoldina, incorporated into Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA), a state-owned company created to centralize and coordinate Brazilian railways, is part of its plan to eradicate deficient branches. This incorporation aimed to improve the management and operation of railways in the country.

Between 1900 and 1975, the Leopoldina Railway, in its classic configuration, played a crucial role in the economic and social development of the regions it served. The metallic closed vehicles acquired between 1926 and 1947 were a modern and significant part of its fleet until the creation of the RFFSA in 1957.

Closed La Brugeoise, now with RFFSA colors and typologies, renumbered as FA-1102.

Marumbi chose a common 30-ton closed metallic goods van, acquired by Leopoldina Railway from the Belgian company La Brugeoise & Nicaise et Delcuve, with the order placed in February 1926. This wagon has several characteristics typical of Leopoldina's closed wagons, such as the roof in gable, the stepped side staircase, the curved handhold and the simple apparent spring bogie, widely used on the railway. Due to the typology and history of the wagon, Marumbi offers the model in two scales: HO, with HOm bogies, and O scale, for those modeling 760 mm railways in On30.

Simple apparent spring bogie, developed by Marumbi Modelismo for this model.

Therefore, it is possible to use this wagon to reflect Leopoldina's steam era, as well as its main diesel locomotives, by choosing paint trims and making appropriate modifications. Below, we see a La Brugeoise goods van working side by side with a Pacific tank locomotive from Leopoldina, still in the 60s.

As mentioned, Leopoldina underwent an intense process of modernization and elimination of deficit branches between the 1960s and 1970s, under the administration of RFFSA as its 7th Division. These processes resulted in the relocation of a large part of the fleet to the Cearense divisions and to the EFOM line, where these goods vans, after serving Leopoldina for four decades, found a new use.

Let's start by looking at the original railroad paintings. The first of them is the factory painting, the photo of which is at the top of this text. Color references were provided by Marcelo Lordeiro, who also contributed to mechanical designs and the provision of almost all of the photos used in this article.

In 1957, with the incorporation of the Leopoldina Railway (EFL) by Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA), the goods vans received a new visual identity. The standard RFFSA livery was adapted to reflect the regionalism of each of its forming railways, resulting in a phase rich in livery variations.

The La Brugeoise goods van, therefore, now features the following paint pattern:

Basically, the painting pattern of the La Brugeoise goods vans includes the inscription of the railway and the region to which it belongs, the numbering with the typology and sleeve, in addition to the tare and capacity inscriptions. Below, there is a small space for the date and description of the last repair, and, on the opposite side, the tricolor box indicating the revision of the moving parts.

In a later painting, the La Brugeoise goods vans began to display the RFFSA logo, adopted in the early 1970s. In addition, the inscriptions "7th DIVISION" and, in some cases, "REGIONAL CENTRO" were included preceding the identification. We emphasize that these paintings were much rarer, the first being the painting that most represents the wagon throughout its phase at Leopoldina.

To increase its transport capacity, Leopoldina modernized part of its fleet of La Brugeoise wagons, replacing the original bogies with die-cast models with two exposed springs. This modification increased the goods van's carrying capacity to 47 tons, resulting in the goods vans being classified as FB instead of FA. Marumbi informs that all FB number decals come with bogies with two apparent springs, while FA wagons have bogies with just one apparent spring.

A few units received a plaque with the RFFSA logo and complete inscriptions. Marumbi makes this decal available to the model maker, who must apply styrene to the goods van after painting to represent it.

Despite attempts to expand their capacity, the La Brugeoise goods vans were already almost forty years old. This led RFFSA to allocate the remaining units to end uses, such as transporting bagged cement and bricks. The difference in volume between these goods vans and Leopoldina's new FRC and FHC wagons was quite visible.

In addition to the ordinary cargo service, Leopoldina allocated some of these wagons closed to Rapid Transport, the railroad's road service. This service offered priority cargo transport, often combining road transport and rail for a door-to-door service. On several occasions, these wagons were coupled to passenger trains to optimize transport time. These trains are often pulled by GE U8B, another product you can find on our website.

These wagons were identified differently from the others by the inscriptions “TRANSPORTE RÁPIDO / FAST SHIPPING” and “EXPRESSO / EXPRESS”. In addition, they had a white stripe on the door with the inscription “LEOPOLDINA RAILWAY ROADSERVICE / RODOFERROVIÁRIO E. F. LEOPOLDINA”.

Once the possibilities of use at Leopoldina have been exhausted, part of these goods vans will be a second life in a system where they could still be productive, EFOM's paintscheme:

At EFOM, in addition to being equipped with bogies adapted for a 76cm gauge, the wagons also received bell-mouth couplings and were identified with the TD series, which corresponded to the identification adopted by the Central-West Region for its class. These goods vans began to operate in the transport of cement and general cargo, remaining in service until the end of the narrow gauge's commercial operations, in 1983.

Later, they received the SR-2 livery, as in this photo of the TD-15 in São João del Reyjunto of locomotive 69 in 1982, photo by Sérgio Martire.

With the end of EFOM operations, a large part of the fleet was demolished, including the La Brugeoise goods vans, which suffered the same fate. Currently, there are only one confirmed specimen left in Porto Novo/RJ, one in Campinas/SP, one in the former CFN network and two in the Demosthenes Rockert Workshop, in Fortaleza/CE.

Remaining copies in Fortaleza, photo sent by Davi Lucas.

The Leopoldina La Brugeoise & Nicaise et Delcuve BoxCar from Marumbi Modelismo feature:

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  • Project carried out based on the manufacturer's original mechanical drawings and measurements taken in the field, on the remaining example from Campinas/SP.

  • Faithful, fully detailed chassis, including carriage and brake systems.

  • Plug-n’-play hitch box for kadee “scale” #158 or #153

  • Bogies that accept Locohobbies, Intermountain, Kadee or any other NMRA wheelsets in the case of the HO model

  • Bogies that accept Locohobbies 29” HOm wheelsets in the case of the HOm model

  • Bogies that accept Kadee 24” On30 wheelsets in this case

  • Precise decals drawn on photos and graphic designs of the original typologies

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