ABÍLIO BEÇA and Tua railroad A narrative in cartoon format
J. R. da Fonte Hugo Pereira
Abilio Beça and Tua railroad. A narrative in cartoon format J. R. da Fonte Hugo Pereira José Rodrigues (da Fonte) is the nickname of José Alberto Nogueira Rodrigues. Painter, sculptor, cartoonist, he has graduated in Arts and Design by IPB, the polytechnic institute in Bragança. He authored “A vida e a obra do Abade de Baçal em banda desenhada”, a 132 page book, all in cartoon format, about the life and works of Abade de Baçal (1865-1945) (the abbot of Baçal, a village close to Bragança), who was a major character of the cultural and social life of Bragança and Tras os Montes. The main museum in Bragança now has his name and includes most of the fabulous collections that the abbot amassed during his life. Hugo Silveira Pereira was born in Oporto in 1979. In 2005, he completed his History undergraduate program in the Arts and Humanities College of Oporto University. Three years later he completed his master program in Contemporary History in the same institution with an investigation about the relationships between the lower house of the Portuguese parliament and the construction of railways between 1845 and 1860. He has a PhD degree since 2012 with a dissertation about the Portugal railway policy in the second half of the 19th century. He published several papers about the History of Portuguese railways. In 1887, the Tua line finally arrived to Mirandela, in the heart of Trás-os-Montes. Amongst goods and passengers, the trains also carried the hope of progress and development for the region. However, that narrow gauge track left a bad taste in the people of Trás-osMontes mouths, since it failed to connect Bragança, the main city of the province, to the national rail network. In the following years, many a man tried to convince either the government or a few businessmen to build the extension of the track to Bragança, but they ultimately failed. In the beginning of the 20th century, though, a man would succeed. That man was Abílio Beça. Using his personal influence in Bragança and his political influence – as member of the Regenerador party – in Lisbon, he was able to persuade the government to finance the construction of track with a guarantee of interest. In Bragança, he managed to get a contractor to perform the task of setting the rails – João Lopes da Cruz. In 1906, the railway was at long last inaugurated. In the day of the grand opening, Abílio Beça was highly praised in Bragança as a defender of the province of Trás-os-Montes. In this cartoon we aim to tell the story of this man, born and raised in Trás-os-Montes and that during his lifetime was responsible for many improvements in the region. We did not intend to write an academic or scientific paper. We rather preferred to prepare an entertaining and didactic work about a man who dedicated a great part of his life to Trás-osMontes and Bragança and who eventually died at the hands of his own achievements... This story was ordered for the Third International Conference, in Foz Tua, from 11 to 13 October 2013, where portuguese and english versions have been released.
The FOZTUA project FOZTUA Project is a joint interdisciplinary project sponsored by EDP, in order to study, preserve and disseminate the memory of Tua Valley and Tua railroad. This project intends to challenge the academic community to study the centurylong history of the Tua railways and the development of a peripheral region (Tua Valley in Trás os Montes) in a peripheral country (Portugal, 19th century), to publicize the memory and the “stories” of the line, and to discuss its impact in the region. The project intends to bring together scholars of various aspects of railroad history in order to share their research on other railroad projects, considering their decision-making processes, the management of labor, technical difficulties to overcome, and the economic and social impact of the lines. Coordinators: Anne Mccants Eduardo Beira José M. Lopes Cordeiro Paulo B. Lourenço
www.foztua.com