In the second half of the nineteenth century, Portugal built the main branches of its railway system. In this paper, I will use technical and military reports, parliamentary debates and sundry bibliography to analyse the influence of the different stakeholders. I investigated the expectations, priorities and agendas of engineers, army officers, policymakers and lobbyists in the design of the Portuguese railway network. I argue that historiography about Portuguese railways usually considers the rationale behind their discussion as entirely technological and focuses mainly on their outputs, taking railways for granted, or black-boxed. However, the planification of large transportation systems depends on the sociotechnical context and on hierarchies of power of their time. I will show that experts (mostly engineers) played a decisive role in the planning of the network, but a large part of its design was due to non-technical issues, including political machinations, budgetary constraints and corporative lobbying.
Arquivo Histórico da Economia, Lisbon, Conselho Superior de Obras Publicas, books 1 (1852–1853), 10 (1860), 21 (1865), 22 (1865), 32 (1871), 32-A (1871) and 34 (1873), and box 18 (1875).
Arquivo Histórico Militar, Lisbon, Arquivo Particular de Sá da Bandeira, div. 3/18/9/16/16, div, 3/20/23/44.
5.
Boletim do Ministerio das Obras Publicas, Commercio e Industria [Bulletin of the Ministry of Public Works, Commerce, and Industry], 1854, 1858, 1860, 1862 and 1866.
6.
Diario da Camara dos Deputados [Diary of the House of Deputies], 1857, 1861, 1879 and 1882.
7.
Diario da Camara dos Dignos Pares do Reino [Diary of the House of the Honourable Peers of the Kingdom], 1888.
8.
Diario de Lisboa [Diary of Lisbon], 1860, 1862, 1865, 1866 and 1867.
9.
Diario do Governo [Diary of the Government], 1857 and 1859.
10.
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro [Railway Gazette], 1890 and 1891.
11.
Revista de Obras Publicas e Minas [Journal of Public Works and Mines], 1876, 1877, 1878, 1880 and 1889.
12.
Terranova, 2018.
13.
Maria Fernanda Alegria, A Organização dos Transportes em Portugal (1850–1910): As Vias e o Tráfego [The Organization of Transports in Portugal (1850–1910): The Routes and the Traffic] (Lisbon: Centro de Estudos Geográficos, 1990).
14.
Albino Francisco de Figueiredo e Almeida, Vias de Comunicação [Communication Ways] (
Lisbon:
Tipografia da Revista Popular, 1851).
15.
Pedro Tavares de Almeida, “A Construção do Estado Liberal. Elite Política e Burocracia na Regeneração (1851–1890)” [The Construction of the Liberal State. Political Elite and Bureaucracy During Regeneration (1851–1890)], PhD dissertation, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Portugal), 1995.
16.
Paul Bairoch. Commerce Extérieur et Développement Économique de L’EUROPE au XIXe Siècle [Foreign Commerce and Economic Development in Europe During the Nineteenth Century] (
Paris:
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 1976).
17.
Greet de Block, “Designing the Nation: The Belgian Railway Project, 1830–1837”, Technology and Culture 52:4 (2011), 703–32.
18.
Rui Branco, O Mapa de Portugal. Estado, Território e Poder no Portugal de Oitocentos [The Map of Portugal. State, Territory, and Power in Nineteenth Century-Portugal] (Lisbon: Horizonte, 2003).
19.
Francisco Maria de Sousa Brandão, “Estudos de Caminhos de Ferro de via Reduzida ao Norte do Douro” [Narrow-Gauge Railway Studies North from the Douro River], Revista de Obras Publicas e Minas 11:125–26 (1880), 145–83.
20.
José Luís Cardoso, “A Economia Como Solução (1821–1974). Da Revolução Liberal à Revolução Democrática” [Economics as a Solution (1821–1974). From the Liberal Revolution to the Democratic Revolution], in José Luís Cardoso and Pedro Calafate (eds), Portugal Como Problema, vol. 6 (Lisbon: Fundação Luso-Americana, 2006).
21.
Francisco Comín, 150 Años de Historia de los Ferrocarriles Españoles [150 Years of Spanish Railway History] (Madrid: Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles, 1998).
22.
João José Pereira Dias. Memória Acerca dos Caminhos de Ferro de Segunda Ordem no Districto de Braga [Essay About Second-Rank Railways in the Braga District] (Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 1881).
23.
Maria Paula Diogo, “A Construção de Uma Identidade Profissional. A Associação dos Engenheiros Civis Portuguezes (1869–1937)” [The Construction of a Professional Identity. The Portuguese Civil Engineers Association (1869–1937)], PhD dissertation, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Portugal), 1994.
24.
Thomas Parker Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930 (Baltimore MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983).
25.
Inês de Azevedo Isidoro, Teresa Marat-Mendes and Vera Regina Tângari, “The Portuguese Railway in Time and Space – Mapping Phases of Growth, Stagnation, and Decline (1845–2015)”, Planning Perspectives 33:3 (2018), 363–84.
26.
Melvin Kranzberg, “Technology and History: Kranzberg’s Laws”, Technology and Culture 27:3 (1986), 554–60.
27.
Bruno Latour, Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies (
Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press, 1999).
28.
Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (
Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press, 1987).
29.
Marta Coelho de Macedo,Projectar e Construir a Nação. Engenheiros, Ciência e Território em Portugal no Século XIX [Projecting and Building the Nation. Engineers, Science, and Territory in Portugal in the Nineteenth Century] (Lisbon: ICS, 2012).
30.
Avelar Machado, “Os Caminhos de Ferro Portuguezes” [Portuguese Railways], Revista Militar 27:3 (1875), 69–71.
31.
Joaquim Emídio Xavier Machado, “A Praça de Almeida e sua Influencia Sobre o Caminho de Ferro da Beira Alta” [The Almeida Fort and Its Influence on the Beira Alta Railway], Revista Militar 31:11 (1879), 333–41.
32.
Pablo Martín-Aceña, Elena Martínez-Ruiz and Pilar Nogues-Marco, “Floating Against the Tide: Spanish Monetary Policy 1870–1931”, in ÖgrenAndersØksendalLars Fredrik (eds), The Gold Standard Peripheries (
London:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 145–73.
33.
Ana Cardoso de Matos, “Asserting the Portuguese Civil Engineering Identity: The Role Played by the École des Ponts et Chaussées, 1825–1866”, in Cardoso de MatosAnaDiogoMaria PaulaGouzévitchIrinaGrelonAndré (eds), The Quest for a Professional Identity: Engineers Between Training and Action (
Lisbon:
Colibri, 2009), 177–208.
34.
Ana Cardoso de Matos and Maria Paula Diogo,
“Bringing it all Back Home: Portuguese Engineers and Their Travels of Learning (1850–1900)”, HoST–Journal of History of Science and Technology1 (2007), 155–82.
35.
Augusto Pinto de Miranda Montenegro, “A Rede Complementar dos Caminhos de Ferro ao Norte do Mondego” [The Auxiliary Railway Network North from the Mondego River], Revista de Obras Publicas e Minas 20:237–38 (1889), 315–41.
36.
Jesús Moreno Fernández, El Ancho de la vía en los Ferrocarriles Españoles de Espartero a Alfonso XIII [Gauge in Spanish Railways from Espartero to Alphonse XIII] (
Madrid:
Toral Technical Trade, 1996).
37.
D. Pedro V, “O Caminho de ferro de Leste. A razão economica, e a razão estratégica” [Eastern Line. The Economic Rationale and the Strategic Rationale], in Escritos de El-Rei D. Pedro V, vol. 4 (Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, 1927).
38.
Hugo Silveira Pereira, “A Política Ferroviária Nacional (1845–1899)” [The National Railway Policy (1845–1899)], PhD dissertation, Universidade do Porto (Portugal), 2012.
39.
Hugo Silveira Pereira, “The Technodiplomacy of Iberian Transnational Railways in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century”, History and Technology 33:2 (2017), 175–95.
40.
Hugo Silveira Pereira and Bruno J. Navarro, “The Implementation and Development of Narrow-Gauge Railways in Portugal as a Case of Knowledge Transfer (c. 1850–c. 1910)”, The Journal of Transport History 39:3 (2018), 355–80.
41.
Magda Pinheiro, “Chemins de fer, Structure Financière de l’État et Dépendance Extérieure au Portugal: 1850–1890” [Railways, Financial Structure of the State, and External Dependence of Portugal: 1850–1890], PhD dissertation, Université de Paris (France), 1986.
42.
Magda Pinheiro, Estudos Sobre Finanças e Dívida Pública em Portugal no Século XIX [Studies About Finance and Public Debt in Portugal in the Nineteenth Century] (
Lisbon:
ISCTE, 2013).
43.
Magda Pinheiro, “L’Histoire d’un Divorce: l’Intégration des Chemins de Fer Portugais dans le Réseau Ibérique” [History of a Divorce: The Integration of Portuguese Railways in the Iberian Network], in MergerMichèleCarrerasAlbertGiuntiniAndrea (eds), Les Réseaux Européens Transnationaux XIXe-XXe siècles: Quels Enjeux? (
Nantes:
Ouest Éditions, 1995), 335–49.
44.
Magda Pinheiro and Ana Cardoso de Matos, “La Construction du Réseau Ferroviaire au Portugal: Concepts, Modèles et Intervenants” [The Construction of the Portuguese Railway Network: Concepts, Models, and Intervenients], in BarjotDominiqueEspositoMarie-Claude (eds), Globalization, National Patterns of Development and Strategies of Firms (19th–21st centuries) (
Paris:
SPM, 2016), 34–53.
45.
Nuno Manuel Camejo Carriço Pousinho, “Pretos e Brancos. Liberalismo e Caciquismo no distrito de Castelo Branco (1852–1910)” [Blacks and Whites. Liberalism and Caciquism in the Castelo Branco district], PhD dissertation, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Portugal), 2016.
46.
Marquês de Sá da Bandeira, Notas Sobre o Plano de Defesa de Lisboa [Notes on the Defensive Plan of Lisbon] (
Lisbon:
Imprensa Nacional, 1867).
47.
Clemente José dos Santos (ed.), Caminhos de Ferro. Pareceres Parlamentares de 1845 a 1884 [Railways. Parliamentary Reports Between 1845 and 1884] (Lisbon: Parlamento, 1884).
48.
Luís Aguiar Santos, “A Crise Financeira de 1891: Uma Tentativa de Explicação” [The Financial Crisis of 1891: An Attempt to Explain It], Análise Social 36:158–59 (2001), 185–207.
49.
Luis António Lopes dos Santos, “Política Ferroviaria Ibérica: De Principios del siglo XX a la Agrupación de los Ferrocarriles (1901–1951)” [Iberian Railway Policy: From the Early Twentieth Century to the Merging of the Railway Lines (1901–1951)], PhD dissertation, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), 2011.
50.
Maria Isabel Soares, “Carvalho, Lourenço António de (1837–1891)”, in Maria Filomena Mónica (ed.), Dicionário Biográfico Parlamentar, vol. 1 (Lisbon: ICS, 2005–2006), 658–70.
51.
José Manuel Sobral and Pedro Ginestal Tavares de Almeida, “Caciquismo e Poder Político. Reflexões em Torno das Eleições de 1901” [Caciquism and Political Power. Reflections About the 1901 Elections], Análise Social 18:72–74 (1982), 649–71.
52.
Fernando de Sousa, História da Estatística em Portugal [History of Statistics in Portugal] (
Lisbon:
INE, 1995).
53.
José Ferreira da Cunha e Sousa, “Estradas e Caminhos de ferro” [Roads and Railways], Boletim da CP 13:145 (1941), 121–24.
54.
Manuel Raimundo Valadas, “Memoria Apresentada á Associação dos Engenheiros Portuguezes, Refutando a Opinião do sr. Miguel Carlos Correia Paes, Relativamente á Posição que Deve Occupar a Estação Terminus D’aquellas Linhas” [Essay Presented to the Portuguese Engineers Association, Refuting the Opinion of Mr Miguel Carlos Correia Paes Regarding the Location of the Terminus Station of Those Lines], Revista de Obras Públicas e Minas 9:98 (1878), 81–105.
António Lopes Vieira, “The Role of Britain and France in the Finance of Portuguese Railways 1850–1890. A Comparative Study in Speculation, Corruption and Inefficiency”, PhD dissertation, Leicester University (United Kingdom), 1983.
57.
Albano Viseu, “Clemente Menéres: The Skilful Strategist of the Tua Railroad”, in McCantsAnneBeiraEduardoManuel Lopes CordeiroJosé Paulo B. Lourenço (eds), Railroads in Historical Context: Construction, Costs and Consequences (
Porto:
Projeto FOZTUA, 2012), 69–100.
58.
Erik van der Vleuten, “Understanding Network Societies”, in van der VleutenErikKaisjerArnje (eds), Networking Europe: Transnational Infrastructures and the Shaping of Europe, 1850–2000 (
Sagamore Beach MA:
Science History Publications, 2006), 279–314.
59.
F. Watier, “Relatorio do Engenheiro Francez Monsieur Watier Sobre a Construcção dos Caminhos de Ferro em Portugal (tradução)” [Report of French Engineer Mr Watier on the Construction of Railways in Portugal (translation)], Boletim do Ministerio das Obras Publicas, Commercio e Industria 1 (1860), 76–131.
