CFB - Benguela Railway

1301 km railway with 100 years of history
Benguela railway is the only railway connection from Central Africa to the Atlantic. Its construction began in 1903 and was finished at February, 2nd, 1929.

On June 10th, 1931 the recently built Angolan port of Lobito received the first copper load from Katanga.

Benguela Railway no. 365, this one is oil fired - some burnt wood.

CFB: The Cubal by-pass
Later, in the 70s, was built the Cubal by-pass. Considering all by-passes and deviations, the railway has 1679 km and it ascends 1854 meters in the first 350 km.

CFB: The world biggest private eucalyptus plantation
CFB owned 37 000 ha of land and used annually 570 000 tones of wood to fuel locomotives from Lobito to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CFB: Rehabilitation until 2012

As part of the National Railway Plan, the complete rehabilitation of the 1301 km long railroad to Moxico County is estimated to cost 150 million dollars and to be concluded in 2012. This plan considers the repairs of engines and bridges, replacement of sleepers, upgrading of stations and demining. In the last years the project has been involved in the conclusion of four important projects:

Calenga-Santa Iria Project, which re-established the railway traffic between Caála and Huambo in 2002.
Lobito-Cubal Project, with an extent of 153 km, was concluded in December 2004 and operational by July 2005.
Luena-Luau Project (border with Congo Republic) with an extent of 311 km.
SITLOB Project - Lobiton and Benguelan Interurban System of Passenger Transportation

In 2001 the connection from Lobito to Cubal was announced to be ready by the first quarter of 2002 ... but the bridge of the Cubal by-pass was in worse conditions than expected and three metal bridges hadn't been considered... August 2002 was the next date addressed, but in November only 121 km of railroad had been restored. The arrival to Cubal, 152 km from Benguela, was postponed until December. The CFB (Benguelan Railway) manager, Daniel Quipaxe, stated to Angop in December 2002, that the connections between the regions of Benguela and Huambo were expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2003. As the construction was limited to the placing of stones and cracked stones, due to a lack of sleepers, there was a new rescheduling announced in March 2003. The works on the Rio Cubal Bridge finally began in May 2003, joining Portuguese engineers and Angolan technicians, and were finished seven months on February 6th, 2004. The bridge's roadway, in pre-reinforced concrete, has six 25 m long spans; one of them was entirely demolished, and reconstructed, as was one of the support pillars. Finally, on 18th December, 2004, the Lobito-Cubal by-pass was reopened, but it only began to be used in July 2005, because there were still being carried out works on the 300 meter long and 10 meter wide bridge upon Halu River, at 79 km from Lobito.

The circulation between the cities of Huambo and Caála, which had been dependent on the acquisition of 3000 sleepers required for the reconditioning of 3 km of track, was re-established on December 6th, 2002, with a great festivity and lots of rain. The passengers and cargo transportation from Huambo to Dango (outside the city) is also active. Dumilde Rangel, Governor of Benguela, stated in April 2004, that the connection between Huambo and Kuito (Bié), with an extent of 420 km, had been expected for May 2005.

Out of curiosity :
The 99 years old operation and utilization agreement, licensed / assigned to the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela SARL (Benguelan Railway Company), ended on November 28th, 2001. All fixed and circulating assets of the company reverted to the estate of Angola.

Stamp’s Centenary: 1870 - 1970 ( Independent Angola - 1975-11-11 )

Also out of curiosity :
Above, you can see some stamps commemorating the stamp's centenary, which ‘live’ Angola Independence. Bellow, left, the first coloured postcard from Portuguese Africa: Bridge upon Catumbela River, at the 272nd km - Alto de Catumbela. The rail track arrived here in 1909. Bellow, right: Alto de Catumbela Station; for many people living there, it was the first picture they saw of the ‘city’.

First coloured postcard from Portuguese Africa: Bridge upon Catumbela River, at the 272nd km - Alto de Catumbela.

Alto Catumbela - 268,8Km railtrack - 1220m altitude

CFB holds the only 2, still operational, Garratt steam engines in the world (Locomotives 215 and 216). They are reserved for a future museum.

In 1983 started operating 12 Diesel locomotives, bought from Brasilian’s General Eléctrica.

links:

CFB at Jorge Macedo’s Home Page

CFB at Aida Saiago’s Home Page

CFB at Luau’s Virtual Community

CFB’s timetable from July 2005 !!!

Virtual Lobito

The Garratt Locomotive

CFBBenguela Railway

CFB
Benguela Railway