Estação Elihu Root (Brazil)
On Janurary 18, the Railway Heritage World Blog went to Araras/SP, to visite the railway station Guabiroba, which is currently known as Elihu Root, named in honor of an American diplomat who visited the region in 1906.
Currently, this building is in ruins. The City Hall is coming up with some plans, but to make it true, the project should have investments of some private investors. The station was a part of the Brazilian movie Sinhá Moça launched in 1952.
This infrastructure was a part of the Descalvado railway branch; the name Guabiroba is the name of a tree. The current railway station was built in 1891; the warehouse besides it was built before, in 1882. In 1968 the station became a halt, losing a part of its importance. The building operated until 1977, when the railway line was about to complete its 100th anniversary! The tracks were removed in 1998. From this moment on, this railway complex had the damages of its abandonment and weather exposure increased, losing a big part of the roof of its platform in 2003.
To explain its value, we will translate a text wrote by Ralph Mennucci Giesbrecht called As três mortes de Elihu Root (The three deaths of Elihu Root)
There can't be anything more poetic than an small, old and abandoned train station somewhere in the woods. How many stories can they tell us? There are several of them: one is called Elihu Root. It is there, near Araras, in ruins, with the bushes growing around it. I met it thirteen years ago. Who used to come by train from Santa Cruz das Palmeiras, São Paulo, was obliged to pass by it. By the name Guabiroba, it was opened in 1877, and in 1891, was built the building that today exists. I heard that its current name came from an American Secretary of State, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, during the first decade of this century (20th). In the summer of 1906, he was presiding the Pan-American Conference in Rio de Janeiro, and, at the end of this, he was offered a visit to a coffee farm, and the choice was the Santa Cruz Farm. After that, he embarked to Santos on a ship, and there he took a train that followed directly to Guabiroba, where he got off and took a cabriolet to the farm. On his way back, Elihu Root stopped at the station of Americana, a village without electricity; at this station he was received by hundreds of Americans who had emigrated there 40 years before, fleeing the South destroyed by the Secession War. They received him with torches, which, in the dark night, created a really impressive sight. Mr. Root was touched to tears with such reception. Due to all these adventures experienced by him, at a time when distinguished Americans were a rarity in our country, the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro, who had sponsored the trip to the farm, paid tribute to the illustrious visitor, replacing immediately the name Guabiroba for his name. Mr. Root remembered this visit until his death, in 1937. The small and beautiful station survived until 16 February 1977, when the last train, now of Fepasa, passed and collected the last passengers. On that day, the station of Elihu Root died. Today, 32 years later, only its skeleton is still standing.
Twelve years ago. I wanted to know more about this small station. I wrote to the Mayor of the town of Clinton, in the State of New York, the birthplace of Elihu Root, asking if there was any living descendant of him still living there, telling about the existence of the station. Days later, I received a phone call of the mister Elihu Root ... grandson, who signed Elihu Root III. A few days later, as he promised, I received a letter, followed by an exchange of e-mails (Ah, the internet…). By then, he became aware of what happened to the station, and by some photos that I took and sent. I apologized for all Brazilians, because of the abandonment in which it was, a victim of the mismanagement of our railway policy. He also sent me copies of a few pages of a book, according to him it is a rare one, which tells some moments of the life of his illustrious ancestor, which quote the episode at Americana. A little later, he sent me an amazing photo of his grandfather, dated 1902. Three months later, I got a letter from Mrs. Molly Root, his wife. In it, she told me that a little more than a month before, her husband unfortunately had died, but that she would have a great pleasure to welcome me and my family in her home when I visit her country. This was the third time Elihu Root died.
Besides Elihu Root, in 1962 the station received the British royalty, the prince Philip.
The Railway and the City
Built to give support to the farmers, the station was followed by the construction of some urban infrastructure, like houses, a school, warehouse, a bridge and a church. All this complex became a neighborhood of Araras city. Until nowadays, this place has rural features; it is located around 10 km of the other neighborhoods of the city. As a part of the city history, the Elihu Root neighborhood became a part of the plan of touristic development of Araras.
Do you remember the Cultural Center “Leny de Oliveira Zurita”? This railway station makes part of the touristic development of Araras too.
Final Consideration
This infrastructure is abandoned for a long time by now. It will not be very easy to reuse it and to preserve it, many work should be done for that. We hope that this will not let its memory be erased, causing the fourth death of Elihu Root.
