Railway Museums in Brazil: State Politics and the Rise of the Volunteer Museum

In 1977 Patrick Dollinger, a French-born engineer, helped to create the Associação Brasileira de Preservação Ferroviária (ABPF, Brazilian Railway Preservation Association) and shortly afterwards a group of volunteers began work on 24kms of track secured from the federal State railway company,the Rede Ferroviária Federal SA (RFFSA). The line, between Campinas and Jaguariúna in São Paulo state, began heritage rides in 1981. This essay considers the rise of the ABPF, a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation, which is also active in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Some of its rail heritage sites today have the highest visitor figures of any attraction in the museum sector in Brazil. It has achieved this without Government support.