The first Brazilian railway line was only 14 km long and was inaugurated on April 30, 1854, in Rio de Janeiro by Emperor Dom Pedro II. The locomotive that marked this beginning was the Baroneza, the first steam-powered engine to operate commercially in Brazil.

Over time, the railway network expanded throughout the country. In 1909, the tracks reached Goiás from Minas Gerais, boosting migration, trade, and the process of urbanization.

In Pires do Rio, modernity arrived in 1922 with the inauguration of the Railway Station. Around it, a new settlement emerged in an area that had long served as a stopover for muleteers. The first residents were local farmers and families from nearby villages such as Roncador Antigo, which lost economic relevance after it was no longer the end of the railway line. Soon, migrants from other states and even immigrants, such as Syrian families who became prominent in local trade, also arrived.

In the 1940s, the expansion of the railway created the need to build a Workshop Shed for train maintenance, attracting even more residents to the young city. Because of that, the history of the building that now houses the Pires do Rio Railway Museum is deeply intertwined with the history of the town itself.

With the strengthening of the railway, Pires do Rio later played an essential role in the construction of Brasília. Trains departing from the city transported materials, equipment, and workers, and the Workshop Shed served as a strategic point for repairs and maintenance, ensuring the operation of the trains that supplied the construction site of Brazil’s new capital.

Workshop Shed

Built in the 1940s, the building still preserves its original features: brick walls joined with clay mortar, French-style roof tiles, and a stepped parapet. It had no doors or windows in order to disperse the smoke from the locomotives. The floor was constructed on two levels: part cement and part compacted ground with gravel.

For decades, the shed was the heart of railway activity in the city, contributing to the economic and social growth of Pires do Rio, the state of Goiás, and the entire Central-West region. With the modernization of transportation, the workshop was decommissioned, but its historical and cultural value remained.

In 1987, when the Federal Railroad Network (RFFSA) decided to demolish the building, Professor Jacy Siqueira and other cultural figures from Goiás mobilized to transform it into a museum, preserving both railway memory and local identity. The following year, the site was listed as municipal heritage, and in 1998 it was also recognized as state heritage.

The collection of the Railway Museum began entirely through donations. To coordinate this effort, Professor Ercy Rocha Saud, active in Pires do Rio’s cultural scene, was appointed and remained as the museum’s director from its founding until her passing in 2011.