The museum
The line's story.
Filipe Mesquita de Oliveira — CC BY 2.5 · Imagens de Rondônia — Public domain · Leonardo.davi.machado — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carolina Baldoni — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carolina Baldoni — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Freyah — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carolina Baldoni — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Madeira-Mamoré Railway Complex in Porto Velho, capital of Rondônia, is the old rail yard of a line built between 1907 and 1912 in the rubber boom to link Porto Velho with Guajará-Mirim and bypass the rapids of the Madeira river. The line came out of the 1903 Treaty of Petrópolis, under which Bolivia ceded Acre to Brazil in exchange for, among other things, Brazil's pledge to build this route. It became known as the «Devil's Railroad» because thousands of workers died during its construction from tropical diseases and violence; the Brazilian government puts the toll at about 6,000. Its heyday ended with the rubber boom, undercut by Asian and synthetic rubber. The complex closed in 2019 for restoration and reopened in May 2024 with its squares and museum, a rebuilt wooden riverside deck, a walking path and green areas. The museum tells the story of the line; check times before visiting.
The line's story.
On the Madeira.
Rubber-boom story.
Madeira riverfront, central Porto Velho, Rondônia
Because thousands of workers died of tropical diseases and violence while it was built in 1907–1912.
