Work began on 12 April 1856 in the presence of Dom Pedro II and the imperial family and a plaque commemorating this event still exists at the beginning of the Avenida Barão do Rio Branco in Juiz de Fora.
Finally, on 23 June 1861, Dom Pedro II and representatives of the company travelled the full 144 km (89 mi) from Petrópolis to Juiz de Fora in a stagecoach.
It is designated RJ-134 between Petrópolis and Areal, BR-393 in Três Rios, RJ-151 from Comendador Levy Gasparian to Mont Serrat, MG-874 between Simão Pereira and Matias Barbosa and finally BR-267 from Matias Barbosa to Juiz de Fora Several buildings and bridges remain from the old União e Indústria, among them the Santana bridge in Alberto Torres, restored by the government.
There are also the Domingos Soares da Veiga viaduct in Areal, the Bridge of Herons in Três Rios and the former Paraibuna station in Mont'Serrat, municipality of Comendador Levy Gasparian, which was built in 1856 for the change of mules.
A major exhibit is the stagecoach "Mazeppa" in which Pedro II made the first voyage on the road between Petrópolis and Juiz de Fora.