Largo dos Guimarães

This guide to Largo dos Guimaraes in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, begins with the tram brake failure of August 2011 that killed six people and hurt fifty-four more, and the conductor, Nelson, blamed within a day by officials though loved by everyone who rode with him. It traces the years the tracks sat empty, the tear-shaped symbol of mourning that spread through the neighborhood, and the garden someone planted in the rails as an act of faith. Note where the tram now turns around, beside the bars and shopfronts that have barely changed in a century.