www.iberianrailwayssociety.org

Issue No. 15 Winter 2009 he inaugural IRS meeting took place at the Model T Railway Club in London on 22nd February 2006, and was attended by about 20 prospective members from all around the UK. A general discussion took place and introductions, suggestions and proposals were made. At this meeting a small committee was voted on and tasked with setting up the Society on a formal basis.

The Committee members are: Chairman David Stevenson Secretary Charles Phillips Journal Editor Michael Guerra Treasurer & Membership Secretary Tony Bowles Publicity & Exhibitions Myles Munsey

THE BASICS The remit of the Society is to stimulate interest in and disseminate information about railways on the Iberian Peninsular and the Balearic Islands. It was felt at this time that extending this remit to Spanish and Portuguese speaking areas of the world would be too ambitious.

It is proposed that a Society Journal be published four times a year and that this would be the main conduit between members. Local meetings and branches were also to be established wherever possible to encourage membership from the widest possible area. A fledgling library could be made available to members as time went on.

Consideration would be given to organising trips from the UK, both formal and informal, as a way of enabling members to meet in a very convivial atmosphere and whilst indulging their passion for rail travel!

MEMBERSHIP Membership was to be open to all and would entitle the member to receipt of the magazine, use of the Societies’ facilities and attendance and voting rights at an Annual General Meeting.

MEMBERSHIP RATES FOR ONE YEAR – APRIL 2009-MARCH 2010 UK £13.50 EUROPE £16.00 REST OF WORLD £17.00 Web Download £5.00 Payment CHEQUE (Payable to: Iberian Railway Society) - Send to: Tony Bowles 1 Station Cottages Stow Road Toddington Cheltenham GL54 5DT

Those joining during the year pay the Annual Rate and will receive all copies of the journal for that year. Membership of the IRS is subject to the rules and constitution of the IRS. Membership records are held on a computer database in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. 2 Title Page

The Society 2 The Chairman’s Page (& AGM Notice) 4 The Editor’s Page 5 Northern Spain & Part 4 6 Developments on La Mancha 17 Spanish Railway Travels - 1964, Part 2 19 New 28 IRS Sales 28 North Spain 2009, Part 1 29

Contributions for publication should be, if possible, by email or computer disk (to avoid time spent transcribing text). Photos should be of good quality, sharp, well composed or of significant historical interest. Prints, slides, digital photos or good scans can be accommodated. All prints and slides should be sent by recorded delivery, they will be scanned as quickly as possible and returned by recorded delivery. Scans of 6”x4” prints should be scanned at 300dpi, 35mm slides should be scanned at 1600dpi, digital photographs should be 1920x1200 minimum. Articles can be of any length, though generally of between 500 to 800 words for a book review, and up to 4,000 words for a main article. Maps should be of a good clear line, and legible at quarter page size.

Submissions should be to: Michael Guerra, 6 Nash Close, Welham Green Hatfield, HERTS AL9 7NN Email (pref): [email protected] Front Cover: Silla station. Renfe Class 251-029 passing through with small containers on flatbed cars. October 2009 Photo by Geoff Eley 3

HOLA! (This time in Spanish!)

reat News. We have finally reached 50 members. Just to be clear that's 50 in one G year rather than reaching Membership Number 50. This is the first time we have achieved it and it's been my aim since we formed in 2006 and hopefully marks the start a move into bigger things. We got to 49 when my friend Phil Blackman, unbeknown to me I should add, joined at Sutton Coldfield. Then following a web enquiry from Malcolm Clements we reached 50. Many thanks Malcolm, it really bucked me up. By the time you read this we will have been at the National Model Railway Exhibition at Warley and with a bit of luck we might get a few more members there as well. It's too late to suggest you come up and make yourselves known but if you did many thanks. The show saw the introduction of some new Sales Items, the details of which are in a separate item elsewhere. If you buy from us it does help to bolster our reserves and enable us do more in the future. I did say at one point that it was my intention to retire as Chairman, however for several reasons I have decided to throw my hat into the ring again. We have reached 50 members, no one else has come forward and several members have contacted me privately and asked me to reconsider, which I have obviously done. We still need some help though so if anyone wishes to volunteer their services please let me know. Sales Officer anyone??

As is traditional at this time of year: Feliz Navidad con mis mejores deseos para el año para el año que viene.

Adios,

David Stevenson, Chairman – Iberian Railways Society 3, Aldersey Road, Worcester, WR5 3BG Tel: 01905 358440 Email: [email protected] Notice of the 2009/2010 Annual General Meeting

he Annual General Meeting of the Iberian Railways Society will be held on Saturday 30th T January at 1200 in the library of the Model Railway Club Headquarters, Keen House, Calshot Street, London, N1 9DA. The meeting is intended to be procedural only to pass the accounts, elect the new committee and to deal with any outstanding issues. The regular Social Meeting will be held later in the year on a date to be confirmed and to which we hope as many as possible will be able to come. Members may wish to note that the Italian Railways Society is holding it's winter gathering on the same day at the same location. This is on the same lines as our regular gathering and is a very enjoyable day and I am assured you would be very welcome here as well. If you need any more details or precise locations please contact me. David Stevenson, Chairman

4 e are still going through the ‘swag’ of our trip along the Camino de Santiago. W Postcards, leaflets, tickets, receipts etc. all bring to life a holiday adventure that pictures alone cannot do. We store all this stuff in the 350x250x75mm boxes our fish man uses to deliver, after we found that WH Smith A4 box files were not up to the job. The contents of each fish box is carefully scanned and archived, before being marked up and stored as ‘treasure’. They are proving to be a useful resource for various school geography projects, hopefully they will serve the grandchildren equally well. We are not going to the Balkans next year as planned, it has been delayed a year to allow our 20th wedding anniversary to arrive (May 2011), and so we will have an excuse to travel back from Venezia on the VSOE. Hopefully the management will approve. Instead, next Easter we are limiting ourselves to 10 days around Avignon and Nice. It will be the first time we have travelled into Europe without taking a night train, possible as it is to leave Welham Green at 07:24 and arrive in Avignon at 16:27; and returning from Nice in a day via Lille. That being said, 7 hours on a TGV is pretty tortuous in their uncomfortable 2nd class seats, so we shall be booking 1st class for the return. Christopher Elliott has been sending me regular reports as to the progress on the Perpignan to Figueres section of the LGV to . Given the success of the LGV Méditerranée, at around 7 hours it is not difficult to see how attractive a direct service from Lille to Barcelona will be for UK travellers (if it can be made to connect with the 09:01 from St Pancras to Bruxelles), but how much more attractive an 8 hour direct night train would be. Currently the line is complete, but awaiting completion of the stations at Figueres, Girona and Barcelona. Figueres is getting an out-of-town station at Vilafant 3.5kms from the centre of town, while Girona is getting an underground station which is running a year or so late (which is unsurprising given the scale of the project). It will be 2014 before Paris (or Lille) will be connected to Barcelona directly by LGV, and it will be interesting what effect that will have on the Joan Miro Trenhotel, despite the main market (hopefully) transferring from the airlines. Renfe have started using Series 7 Talgos for new Trenhotels, and given the age of the Paris-, Paris-Barcelona and Genève/Milan-Barcelona sets one wonders whether the old stock will be replaced before the new LGV has had an affect. One also wonders whether the Trenhotel (if it continues) will continue to use the old route via Port Bou, or use the LGV and start from Paris Lyon. Time will tell. Interestingly, RZD (Russian Rail Network) is looking into using Series 7 Trenhotels on their Moskva-Warszawa-Berlin overnight services. Finally, I must thank David Stevenson for not resigning. It is certainly a huge relief to me personally, as he really has become the perfect lynch-pin for the Society. We may be small, but without his expertise and ability it would have been far harder for the Society to function. He has been far more than a safe pair of hands and richly deserves our thanks.

Michael Guerra

5 Northern Spain and Portugal: Part 4 – CP in northern Portugal & tramways around Text by Alan de Burton, photographs by Patrick Chandler

Tuesday 17 June: Over the border: Vigo to Porto

oday we were to leave Spain for Portugal. Unfortunately we weren't realistically able T to go by train. Trains to Porto leave at 07:40 and 19:44, so we used a group coach leaving at 12:30 to the northernmost Portuguese railway station of Valença. This gave a further opportunity to use the morning walking around Vigo, a rather hilly town. There is a major passenger port building once served as an intermediate call by ocean liners on their way between northern Europa and South America. Various high speed vessels were in port, but there was no publicity at all to show where they were going. After the group coach had left us at the CP station at Valença waiting for the departure of the train to Porto, I had time to explore the town. Near the station is modern and boring but the old town inside fortifications is a tourist trap with shops, restaurants and medieval churches. I could have justified a longer stay. The 14:11 stopping train for the 130 kms ride over the Linho do Minho to Porto Campanhâ was formed by a 3-car dmu of class 0601. These are not air-conditioned but have stainless steel bodies. The bodies are so wide that the 3+2 seating in 2nd class isn't a problem. We would use these units on almost all our subsequent group journeys on Portugal's broad gauge. The Linho do Minho is mainly single track till the electrified Porto suburban area. Leaving Valença, the ride was very poor, but better further south. We had estuary and coastal scenery as far as Viana do Castelo, where the 1912 vintage 632m long Elevador do Viana leads up to Santa Luzia monastery. Thereafter the line runs inland. We passed frequent towns and villages and for almost the first time on the trip the sun shone strongly on what was now very much southern European scenery. Grapes from vines in this area are used for making 'vinho verde' = green wine. Since 2004, the line has been electrified from Nine, a vast station and junction for a branch to Braga. Electrification of most suburban services north of Porto dates from this period, using 3400 series 4-section articulated high-floor emus. On from Nine is mainly double track. Lousado is the junction for the branch to Guimarâes, a line converted from metre gauge to broad and electrified in 2004. Lousado to the next station at Trofa used to be mixed gauge. The metre gauge used to diverge here to Porto's Trindade terminus, but Trofa now has an empty platform awaiting possible extension for the replacement metro. The junction station at Ermesinde for the Linho do featured a new overall roof. After a ride of just over 2¼ hours our train terminated at Porto's Campanhâ main line station, which features modern high platforms and canopies but original station buildings. Since this is on the edge of the city centre, we used a fleet of taxis to take us to the Mercure, the last hotel of the trip. As a whole the Mercure proved a good hotel. Parts of Porto's city centre are run down, including the area close to the hotel where the back streets reminded the author of a Napoli slum. The author witnessed the hotel front desk staff literally picking up a vagrant in the foyer and depositing him on to the pavement outside. Porto city centre is 6 very hilly, and to the north of the deep valley of the river Douro. There are a number of spectacular bridges over the river. The original railway bridge of 1877 is now derelict, but the high level cast iron Dom Luis I bridge of 1886 carries modern Metro do Porto trams and pedestrians. After checking in, two of us took a short return ride on the metro route D trams over the Dom Luis I bridge and on on-street reservation to the southern terminus at D. Joâo II. We didn't know at that time that the last one stop extension to the new southern terminus had been opened only 3 weeks before our visit. Other group members used the close by down to the shoreline where there are many restaurants. This funicular reopened in 2004 in completely new form having only previously operated from 1891 to 1893.

Wednesday 18 June: Douro Valley and narrow gauge to

Our prime ticketing for the remainder of our time in Portugal comprised a 4 day InterRail ticket. On the other days some members of the group like myself also paid additionally for compulsory reservations where they wanted to use CP's prime or Intercidades trains. Our first use of the InterRail ticket was for the first of potentially 3 return trips up the valley of the river Douro on the . Two trips were to ride the 3 metre gauge lines that run north up side valleys of the Douro, the third for the heritage broad gauge steam traction. The river Douro rises in Spain, but with the help of a few locks, much is navigable for large river cruising vessels. The river valley is highly scenic, and where practical the valley sides are dedicated to growing vines, whose grapes end up in Port wine. The railway was opened in stages from 1875 and and reached the Spanish frontier in 1887, but the 29 kms beyond Pocinho to the Spanish border was closed in 1988. We started at Porto's Sâo Bento city terminus, now reduced to 4 tracks but still exhibiting classic Portuguese ceramics on the walls of its main hall. The line heads straight into a tunnel, possibly right under our hotel. The train was another 3-car class 0601 dmu for the journey of 143 kms and 2 ¾ hours to Tua. From Porto Campanhâ station, we followed the same line as the previous day to Ermesinde, where our double track line diverged to the east. Electrification and double track ended at Caíde. We were crossing hilly countryside when we called at Livraçâo, the junction for the metre gauge line to Amarante we would use a couple of days later. The train crested a summit at the 1562m long Tùnel de Juncal, and then descended to reach the deep and scenic valley of the river Douro at Mosteirô, 77 kms from Porto. We then followed the valley east to Régua, the centre of the designated Port district. It is also the change point for the metre gauge line to Vila Real, which we would also use a couple of days later. There is a dump of old metre gauge steam and diesel rolling stock behind the station on the north side. The first km or so on from Régua is mixed gauge enabling the metre gauge line to cross the river Corgo before diverging up the valley of that river. Continuing along the valley of the Douro, the train now called at all stations. At Pinhâo were berthed a couple of river cruisers more customary on the Rhein or the Mosel. At Tua, we left the broad gauge train, which continued up the Douro valley to the present end of the line at Pocinho. One member of the group took the opportunity on another day to continue on 7 to Pocinho along the upper Douro valley. He found that the Douro valley above Tua is very scenic and the valley becomes much narrower and vines dominate. Above Alegria there is a major deviation dating from 1980 where the line was diverted through a new tunnel due to the construction of a dam and major locks. Pocinho is a place of only railway significance. Metre gauge track on the 105 kms Linha do Sabor from Pocinho to Miranda-Duas Igrejas closed in 1988 was still down and disappeared to pass over a derelict twin deck road/rail bridge over the Douro. The group would ride the furthest and longest of the surviving narrow gauge lines. The metre gauge was opened from Tua for the 54 kms to the town of Mirandela in 1887, and on another 81 kms to Bragança in 1905-06. However the section above Mirandela was closed in 1991, although as we would see about 4 kms to Carvalhais was reopened in 1995 as the Mirandela Metro. The line has been closed for short periods recently due to washouts of the track formation. We found the diesel single railcar 9506 awaiting us at Tua had only about 24 seats in 1+1 configuration for the Mirandela Metro service, so some of our group had to stand for the journey of just under 2 hours. These railcars are rebuilds with new air conditioned bodies of stock purchased in 1980 from JZ, the then Yugoslav railways. The initials JZ appear on the axle boxes. There are only 2 train pairs per day running through from Tua to Mirandela. Much of the line up to the intermediate loop at Abreiro is in the gorge of the river Tua, with vineyards at places on the valley sides, whereas after Abreiro the valley is more open and given over to general agriculture. We were pleased to see active permanent way work in progress just south of Mirandela with a number of track machines present. We didn't stop at the traditional station at Mirandela but at the new transport interchange of Mirandela Piaget a couple of hundred metres beyond. The transport interchange is primarily a bus station. Then we took a round trip on the Mirandela Metro beyond to Carvalhais, a shuttle of about 13 round trips per day for which we had to pay separately although it uses the same rolling stock. The Mirandela Metro is financed by the local Sociedade Metropolitano Ligeiro de Mirandela. We called on the way at halts named after Jacques Delors and Jean Monnet, whose EU funds had provided the necessary finance. For this trip 9506 was coupled to 9505. The depot is at the terminus at Carvalhais, which also serves a regional college. 9505 took us back to Mirandela where we had about 1½ hours to kill. 6 of us had an excellent meal in a restaurant in Mirandela. What amounted to a mixed grill plus a beer cost about 7 Euros each! Continuing on 9505 once more, this car's more normal seating plan saved anyone having to stand when we continued back down the valley back to Tua. Finally another 0601 series broad gauge 3-car dmu took us back to Porto Sâo Bento reached at 20 55.

Thursday 19 June: Free Day in Porto

A number of group members started the day together to ride Porto's heritage trams and to visit the Museu do Carro Electríco, the tram museum. Porto began operating the first electric tramway system in Iberia in 1895, using standard rather than metre or broad gauge. After WW2, the system gradually shrank till by the 1990s it was just a token line running from the edge of the city centre. The city has recently developed the heritage operation. With the inauguration of a new route in 2007 running on new tracks through the city centre streets and passing our hotel, there are now 3 heritage routes. Each of the 8 19 June 2008. Standard gauge Porto STCP tram #213 (?) built by STCP predecessor CCFP at Carmo stop

19 June 2008. Standard gauge Metro do Porto car #047 Bombardier built Eurotram at Aeroporto terminus

9 routes nominally operates half hourly, but we observed that certain advertised journeys didn't operate. We gathered that the problem is staff shortage, but we also saw workings for staff training. We started our trip from the new terminus at Batalha near the hotel and top of the funicular, and rode route 22 through parts of the city centre on car 131 (4-wheeler built by Brill in the USA in about 1910) to Carmo. Here we changed to route 18 and car 213, a very similar car built locally by the tramway company in a batch in 1938 – 45 but to a 1912 design. This took us downhill to its Massarelos terminus and the tramway museum on the banks of the Douro. We were now in Portugal: a museum which not only had a museum guide on sale but an English edition as well! The admission charge also included handsets with prerecorded commentaries including English. With the exhibits these told us that horse trams first operated in Porto in 1872 and mule trams in 1878; mules were good on hills. In 1895 the Companhia Carril de Ferro do Porto operated the first electric trams. In 1946 this was taken under municipal control as the STCP = Serviços de Transportes Colectivos do Porto. The STCP started a conversion to motor buses, and from 1959 to as well. At various times STCP operated double deck motorbuses and trolleybuses but finally abandoned trolleybuses by 1997. All the present motor buses are single deck. The museum exhibits include electric trams built over the full period up to the last rather plain cars of 1947-49 and a sole prototype of 1951, plus works cars and a single deck . The former power house and the present car shed for the heritage fleet occupy other parts of the building but are not open to public display. After the visit members of the group split up for their own activities for the rest of the day. Patrick Chandler and myself concentrated on the Metro. Having left the tram museum, we caught tram 216 to ride waterfront line 1 to Passeio Alegre. Car 216 is of the same series as 213. The return working turned short at the depot, so we caught 213 again on route 18 back to Carmo. From here we started our serious metro riding. There isn't anything quite like the Metro do Porto elsewhere. In the 1990s the authorities realised that Porto's transport was being strangled by the motor car, and sought a 'big bang' approach to improve it. Combined with electrification of CP's suburban services north of the city, the metro was the answer. Success is shown by the order of 30 Flexity Swift trams from Bombardier to top up the present fleet of 72 Eurotrams, whose bodyshells were built in Derby. This suggests the degree to which they succeeded. Although the urban bus and heritage tram operator STCP has a financial interest in the system, it is operated independently of STCP by the French concessionaire Transdev. As with most French transport systems, the involvement of a concessionaire operator isn't publicly obvious. Readers may find helpful the map and article in Today's Railways Europe #81 of September 2002 and in the book Metros in Portugal published by Robert Schwandl in 2008. Is it a tramway or a metro? The cars are most certainly urban trams, and run on the right unlike trains which in Portugal run on the left. The 35m long Eurotrams do operate down pedestrianised streets. They are based closely on Strasbourg's Eurotrams but are 2.65m wide rather than the 2.40m. However, they also operate in city central area deep level metro tunnels, and extensively on former metre gauge railway formations for distances of up to 30 kms from the city. Parts of the old metre gauge routes were originally 900mm gauge. The entire Metro network was conceived more or less as a 10 single entity and nearly all was opened between 2002 and 2006. There are two spines which cross in the city. Route D is entirely new and crosses the city centre on a north- south axis. Route A to C plus E run from the east of the city centre past CP's Campanhâ main line station in in a generally north westerly direction and split up to 4 northern termini using parts of the formation of CP's former metre gauge lines from its Trindade terminus. As noted, we had already had a short return ride a couple of days before on route D which is the prime north-south route crossing the city centre and the high level Dom Luis I bridge over the river Douro. This had given us the opportunity to battle with the fares system and the ticket machines. The Metro and STCP urban buses (plus heritage trams and the funicular) share a zonal fare system. Metro stations are unstaffed, except by the large number of security personnel who patrol stations and trams, so you have to struggle with the machines yourself. While the tickets issued are on card, they include some kind of chip and stored fares something like a prepay London Oyster card. The first time you buy a ticket, the fare costs 50 cents extra for the ticket itself. Thereafter you can reuse your physical ticket to avoid paying the 50 cents extra every time, but you have to put it back in the machine to pay and charge it up for your next journey. Combined with having to tackle how many zones you need for a journey, the result isn't friendly for tourists or quick for anybody. If you are buying a day ticket, you need 10 zones for the whole metro system, but the machines only sell tickets for up to 9 zones. Fortunately our ride a couple of nights before on the cross river section of route D on single tickets had covered the 10th zone. Don't be put off by the ticketing: the Metro is worth riding. We started riding underground at Aliados in the city centre heading on line D again, this time northwards to its northern terminus on the surface at Hospital S. Joâo. This end of the route also serves a university. We returned south to Trindade where the two spines cross, and changed to head on a B (but could also have been A, C or E) to run underground at first to rise to the surface at CP's Campanhâ station and continue a further stop to the eastern terminus at Estâdio do Dragâo. In the middle of the day, workings on this group of lines were by single sets. We returned one stop to have a look at CP's Campanhâ station, have some lunch and for me to purchase some seat reservations to use on main line trains a couple of days later. The interface between CP and the Metro at Campanhâ isn't very convenient. Refreshed, we caught a route E tram to Aeroporto. This is on a short branch opened in 2006 that was something of an afterthought, hence the non-sequential lettering of the route. After running in tunnel through the city centre, the line emerges at the site of CP's old Trindade terminus to use the former railway alignment. The airport branch itself is on a new alignment, while the airport is modern but signing a bit deficient. I cannot recommend using the Metro as a means of accessing the city from a plane because of the probable difficulties of using the ticket machines if more than a VERY few knowledgeable customers also want to purchase tickets from the machines. There is no human alternative. We retreated a short distance to the junction station of Verdes to catch a B to the furthest terminal at Póvoa de Varzim. As you would expect with a line heading 30 kms from the city (and 62 minutes run from its other terminal), urbanisation isn't continuous and at Vila do Conde there is a major ruined aqueduct. The Metro has rubbed out most signs of its former railway existence, but occasional station buildings do survive in 11 20 June 2008. Metre gauge CP diesel single unit #9508 rebuilt by EMEF-GOP on ex-Yugoslav chassis at Amarante station

20 June 2008. Broad gauge CP diesel loco #1422 built by SOREFAME hauling 4 coaches on 1702 Régua to Porto enter- ing Livraçâo station

12 alternative use. Póvoa de Varzim has both a station and berthing sidings. We returned on one of the hourly semi-fasts that supplement the stopping services that run every 20 minutes. Most of the track is based on French style two-block concrete sleepers, but some sections are grassed. We changed trams at Senhora de Hora to take the more urbanised route A to Senhor de Matosinhos. This route differs by significant street running through pedestrianised main streets in Matosinhos. Much of this section is definitely a street tramway! Traditional STCP trams had reached Matosinhos in the past by a different route. We returned to Senhora de Hora to use the final branch, route C to ISMAI (an acronym for a further education establishment). The line to ISMAI is a truncation of a former metre gauge route to CP's broad gauge at Trofa. While route C uses parts of the old formation, its route on the way through the pedestrianised main street of the modern town of Maia is new and includes a viaduct at the present outer end. By this time it was the evening peak and some workings had 2 sets in multiple. All that remained was to return to central Porto for an evening meal. Seeing the loading of evening peak workings from the city, we readily understood why they had ordered 30 more trams. These will be differently configured for the longer journeys, while the Eurotrams will work the shorter routes.

Friday 20 June: Narrow gauge to Vila Real and Amarante

At first sight this trip up the Douro was going to be a near repeat of the experience two days earlier. However, it was the Friday before a public holiday weekend, and there were many more people travelling. When we reached Porto Sâo Bento station, there were entertainers in the main hall, and there was a major crowd waiting for the 09 15 train. Fortunately, CP had anticipated this and the train today was formed by two instead of one class 0601 3-car dmus. With heavy loading and large groups to handle the train dropped time and was 15 minutes late when we left it at Régua. The weather was also hotter and we welcomed climbing out of our non-air- conditioned main line train into the cool of 9502, another 9500 series single railcar on which we would ride on the for the 25 kms north to Vila Real. This section of the line was opened in 1906, and all that remains open. It was extended on from Vila Real to Chaves in stages by 1928, but this was closed in 1990. The bay platforms for the metre gauge are on the south side at Régua, and we immediately joined the mixed gauge track over the viaduct over the river Corgo. As soon as we crossed the viaduct we diverged left at the halt named Corgo, where the depot for the metre gauge is located in the V between the 2 lines. For the rest of the way, the line runs up the east side of the river Corgo, and is scenically the finest of the 3 remaining metre gauge lines north of the Douro with views from high up the side of the valley. There is more cultivation of vines than on the Linha do Tua and more population. There is an intermediate loop at Povoaçâo and an especially good horseshoe loop after Carrazedo. We were only 3 minutes late into Vila Real after a journey scheduled for 53 minutes. This isn't the first line up the valley. A short lived line of 900mm gauge was opened in 1875. Two steam locos were ordered to replace the animal traction but never used. We had just over an hour and a half to kill in Vila Real. Close to the station is a 13 plinthed Henschel built Mallet 0-4-4-0T with its original number of MD 409. The main part of the very substantial town is beyond a girder bridge over the gorge of the river Corgo. A café proprietor told us that almost everyone wanting to go to Porto would use the bus just taking an hour. We were not in Spain: café proprietors could speak English! The main event in the town would be Monte Carlo style road racing the coming weekend, the Circuito Automóvel Dolce Vita de Vila Real. We returned down the valley to Regua in the same railcar that brought us up, and used another class 0601 dmu to take us back towards Porto as far as Livraçâo to use the third of the metre gauge lines of the area. The Linha do Tâmega was opened for the 13 kms up the valley of the Tâmega from Livraçâo to Amarante in 1909, and extended in stages to reach Arco de Baúlhe as late as 1949. However, like the other two lines, the line was cut back, in this case in 1990 to Amarante. Since regular service was also changed to internal combustion operation (words chosen carefully) in 1949, the top end of the line never had regular steam passenger service. The present branch journey in railcar 9508 similar to the others is pleasant but less scenically dramatic than the others and takes 27 minutes. The shed at Livraçâo contained a Swedish built NOHAB railcar of the previous generation and another dumped outside. At the upper end, the short time in Amarante gave us time to do more than look briefly at a modern shopping parade on a busy main road on the edge of the presumed town centre. The main surprise of the day was the 17 51 train back from Livraçâo to Porto Sâo Bento. Although the English Electric designed hood style diesel locos have not had regular diagrams for passenger trains since 2006, the 17 51 produced #1422 hauling 4 non air conditioned stainless steel coaches with 2+2 seating. The diesel fans throughly enjoyed the ride back to Porto. The experts tell me that class 1400s are now more likely to work passenger trains in Argentina than Portugal.

Saturday 21 June: Douro Valley steam, and personal trip to B and Guarda

Two thirds of the group's members including myself decided they preferred alternative arrangements to the Ffestiniog's day out on the regular steam heritage train on the Linha do Douro. This included myself, so this description is based on the notes of the participants. Two group members instead rode Portugal's fourth surviving metre gauge line on the from Espinho via Sernada do Vouga to Aveiro. The steam train ride was from Régua to Tua with 2-8-4T 0186 built by Henschel in Germany in 1925. The train comprised 5 x 4-wheeled carriages with open balconies and a Sentinel / Sorefame 0-6-0DH 1185 of 1968 on the rear. The fare included on board entertainment with musicians, cake and 2 glasses of Port. The train was shadowed by an infrastructure vehicle for fire protection. After the train terminated at Tua on the outward journey, the steam and diesel locos swapped ends of the train before returning the train to Regua. The group finally returned to Porto on the same train from Régua as on the previous Wednesday. However, this wasn't straightforward this time. The train left late, and made a protracted refuelling stop at Livraçâo with passengers on board. Since there were two power cars and only one fueling point, the train had to move up from one point to the other after the first power car had been refueled. A signal failure 14 at Ermesinde further delayed the train, which was about an hour late into Porto. For myself, I had only made one round trip before on the main line from Lisboa to Porto, and that in the 1980s, I decided that I would have a comfortable 'InterCity' day out, travelling on the Lisboa main line () to Coimbra B and then on the Beira Alta main line to Guarda and back. Electrification of the Linha do Norte was completed in 1966. I had purchased the compulsory seat reservations in Porto a couple of days in advance. They were not expensive: 4 Euros for each loco hauled Intercidades train and 8 Euros for Alfa Pendular trains which in British terms are Pendolinos. On a Saturday morning the city was very quiet when I made my way to Porto Sâo Bento to catch a local emu to Porto Campanhâ as a connection to my main line train. Electric loco 5606 hauled 8 coaches of CP's stainless steel bodied version of French Corail stock on the 07 43 Intercidades from Guimarâes via Porto to Lisboa. The trip down the coast was foggy much of the way. Immediately leaving Porto Campanhâ, the new double track bridge over the Douro opened in 1991 was new to me; on my previous trip the original single track bridge was still in use. Track quality initially was poor with some sections of jointed track. At Espinho we joined a deviation only opened on 4th May 2008 to serve the new underground station. The quality of the track suddenly improved at Válega, and south of here almost till Pampilhosa, all the level crossings had been closed and replaced. There appeared to be a realignment at Aveiro and a new overall roof for the station. The poor track resumed at Pampilhosa. I left the train at the strange station of Coimbra B. B apparently stands for Bifurcaçâo but is never spelt out. After Porto Campanhâ, this may well be the most important main line junction in the country, with fast and stopping trains on the main line and branch trains on the 2 km shuttle to Coimbra town station and to Figueira da Foz. However, it is primitive. There are no subways or footbridges between the street and the main (southbound) island platform or from there to the northbound island. A bell sounds when trains approach to warn people crossing the nearest track from the street to the southbound platform, while a man with a flag supervises people crossing between the two island platforms when there is a main line train imminent, but that is all. The southbound island has a plaque to remind us that Papa Joâo Paulo II used the station on 15 May 1982. The northbound island has no train departure indicators. Signing in standard BR typeface seems incongruous. The station will be replace by another in a different location when Portugal builds its planned new high speed line. My next ride was for the 169 kms on the main line to Guarda. This was completed in 1882 and electrified in 1996. My Intercidades train comprised electric loco 5607 hauling 4 air conditioned stainless steel coaches. These coaches were interesting. While they fulfilled the same function as the Corail type stock I had used from Porto, all the details were different. Builder's plates said they had been rebuilt at the railway's Entroncamento works about 15 years before, I assume from a previous generation of non air conditioned stock of quite different nature. At first the train headed northwards retracing the route I had used before as far as the junction station of Pampilhosa, where it turned off to the east. The line continued as double track for a few kms to Luso-Buçaco, where it became single and headed over viaducts and through tunnels along the most difficult part of the route from the engineering point of view. The line later negotiates the prongs of the reservoir Barragem da Agueira, whose waters are bright green, before the train stopped at Santa Comba Dâo, altitude 167m. 15 For most of the rest of the journey the line is climbing north-eastwards through a mixture at first of woodlands, vineyards and cultivated land. It keeps north of the Serra de Estrela, Portugal's highest mountain range peaking at 1993m. The train made further stops at Nelas and at Mangualde, altitude 450m. Thereafter population became quite sparse, and by the time the train stopped at Celorica de Beira the scenery was becoming rocky with open moorland and wide views. After Vila Franca das Naves (altitude 544m), the line continues climbing but turns 180 degrees south round barren moorland. The train terminated at the modern junction station of Guarda, which is at an altitude of 811m. The electrified single track line continues another 47 kms beyond Guarda to the frontier station for Spain at Vilar Formoso, but only the overnight Sud Expresso between Lisboa and Hendaye / Irún runs through. Considering Guarda is a major town with a population of about 45,000, I was puzzled by the few facilities close by. Only later did I discover that the town itself is 7 kms way and over 200m higher: the highest in Portugal at an altitude of about 1050m. The loco ran round the train at Guarda and I had the same formation back to Coimbra B. At Coimbra B, I found that some main line trains were running very late, and even the Alfa Pendular on which I had a reservation departed left 26 minutes late. In view of the many shortcomings of the Standard Class accommodation in the Pendolinos of Britain's Virgin Trains, I was interested to see how Portugal's compared. I found that the seats line up with the windows and the toilets don't smell. There are airliner style TV screens down the length of the carriage, but whatever they showed didn't impinge. After Pampilhosa, the train speeded up, the tilt mechanism was active and the ride quality was very good. The fast section finished at Válega, after which the ride quality was poor even in the Pendular. After minor delays the train arrived in Porto Campanhâ half an hour late, and I caught a local to Porto Sâo Bento. On the final evening a companion and I had a proper Portuguese fish meal down by the Douro. While it was good, all but the drink was at British style prices.

Sunday 22 June: Flight from Porto to London

After breakfast in the hotel, a coach took us at to Porto's airport, where we checked in for TAP Air Portugal flight TP334 to fly to London's Gatwick Airport. Despite the modern buildings, the airport seemed to hark back to the past of flying in two respects. Firstly check-in procedures were manual at staffed desks rather than largely by the self check-in machines BA use at Gatwick. Secondly there were no serious queues, and using the airport was comfortable. The plane was another minor contrast, an Airbus A319 rather than BA's aged Boeing 737. There was even a hot snack on the flight. The map in TAP's in-flight guide was also interesting. You would think that Portugal was part of a far flung empire including obscure parts of Africa, while TAP also serve many cities in Brazil I have never heard of. The cultural ties of the Portuguese speaking world are clearly still very strong. Arriving at Gatwick's South Terminal was back to British reality, although the wait for checked baggage was reasonably short.

16 Developments on La Mancha By Myles Munsey

Our publications Officer Myles Munsey describes the construction of overhead catenary on his layout 'La Mancha'.

while ago I purchased a rather attractive RENFE train set. 'Train set' in this A instance refers to a boxed set consisting of as class 269 electric locomotive and three double-deck coaches made by Electrotren and finished in the striking Cercanias (suburban) livery of red and white. This is a model hard to obtain in the UK so I seized the opportunity to add this item to my inventory of rolling stock. It was exactly what I was looking for to operate the daily commuter train from La Mancha to Madrid (the coaches even have Charmatin on the side) but like a lot of the models I have bought, it stayed in the cupboard for quite some time before it got a proper airing. Reality dawned at that point because it looked rather silly ambling along with the pantograph down and no overhead wire to power it. I simply had to put the wires up. Fortunately as the train consist is push-pull with a drive-end trailer at one end, no running round is required, so only the track into the platform needed to be wired. This was just as well because putting up catenary over points and crossings can be extremely difficult. Although only one track was involved, this presented its own difficulties as clearances were tight. In a lot of places, standard masts could not be used. The solution was to use tower masts with a boom or outrigger from which to support a bracket holding the wire. This may look like over-engineering but the effect is superb!

17 I chose Sommerfeldt components. These are aimed primarily at the German market but many of the masts are not wildly different from RENFE ones. Besides they are extremely well made, robust and extremely well detailed. There are enough items in the catalogue to cater for any wiring application and there is a wide selection of wire lengths, which is important to consider as masts are never evenly spaced. I formed an impression of where the masts had to go early on and bought all the required kit to put up several lengths of catenary. Before committing to permanent installation a dummy run was essential using quite a bit of trial and error but it is essential to run a loco up and down to try and gauge exactly where the pantograph is going to pass. This is especially difficult to judge on curves. Like the catenary itself model railway locomotives are being made for a market ever more demanding of accuracy. This means that the pantographs are getting narrower so exact placement of the wire is paramount. Anyway over the course of a few evenings, I advanced to the stage seen in the photographs. I'm very pleased with the result. It looks really good and it is wonderful to see the locomotive trundling along with the pantograph bobbing up and down. The masts and wires were re-painted from the original DB green to light grey with the booms picked out in a slightly darker shade. By all means paint the wires as I have done but try not to paint the underside or else rub it clean with emery paper. Paint really does impede the progress of the locomotive. The overhead wire will also make a difference to the way the layout is operated of course. Loco-hauled passenger trains will still be run but these will now be infrequent and I don't suppose the DMU will get quite so many outings either! One of the next tasks will be to equip some of the posts with catenary signs. Some years ago I bought a rather nice sheet of authentic RENFE signs from a trader at a model swap meet at the Delicias Railway museum in Madrid. Now those signs will come into their own at long last. After that I am going to make a big change at the right hand edge of the layout where the farm over bridge will be replaced with a short tunnel. The bridge looks good but somehow it doesn't seem in keeping with the scene as it is too wide and I have now discovered is too low for the overhead wire to pass underneath!

18 Spanish Railway Travels – 1964 Part Two - Valladolid To Oviedo

By Rarfe Chambers

ichard and I were almost half way through our 1964 tour. We had come from R , where we had met up, more or less due west to Valladolid, and now we would be heading north to Oviedo and east to , and in my case to the French border and England, whilst Richard returned home to Barcelona. Thursday afternoon, the 23rd.July 1964 found us on the platform at Valladolid Campo Grande station, watching trains of course. The station pilot was the wonderful 040-2109 ‘El Deva’ (Schneider 1864), but sadly shunting was also being carried out by 10357, a modern Spanish-built Sulzer-engined diesel-electric 0-6-0, which didn’t look too good for the fate of the centenarian steamer. On shed was a nice ex-Norte, very French- looking compound ‘Pacific’, 231-4010 (Soc. Alsacienne 1914), and some Renfe standard types, which also accounted for most of the movements through the station that afternoon. Exceptions were the southbound ‘Iberia Express’, with the usual giant power of 242F2003 (MTM 697/56), the northbound Madrid – Hendaye ‘Talgo’, drawn by 2T (later UIC no. 352-002) ‘Virgen de Aranzazu’, and one of the ‘American Aid’ 1958 Alco diesel-electric single-ended Co-Cos, no. 1818, which left on the 16.24 Valladolid – Madrid ‘Semi-Directo’ semi-fast. At last, the ‘Shanghai’ Barcelona–Galicia ‘Rápido’ arrived behind another ex- Norte ‘Frenchie’ compound, 240-4003 (Soc. Alsacienne 6280/12), but was taken onward, with Richard and me on board, by massive Renfe standard 241F2255 (MTM 1952). Half an hour up the line, at the (then) important junction of Venta de Baños, the yard displayed two more diesel shunters, but also two of the huge 3-cylinder 2-10-2s, 151-3101 and 151F3115. We ‘crossed’ another one on a southbound freight at Palencia, and there was yet another one in the shed yard there. Leaving Palencia, we caught a glimpse of the metre-gauge again, with FSC mogul tank no. 4 shunting the yard; Palencia was the terminus of the Secondary of Castille line from Medina de Rioseco. We were moving into mining country now, which should mean many more locomotives around, for all the shunting and ‘trip’ freights, gathering a few mineral wagons here and there. Sure enough, at Paredes (but sadly lined up in storage in a siding) we spotted ex-Asturias-Galicia-León Railway 030-2416 ‘Gasper Casal’ (name not seen), 030-2420 ‘San Fernando’, and 030-2421 ‘El Cid’, all built by the somewhat less well known firm of Emil Kessler in 1881. By that date, Kessler’s should have been more properly named Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft, Karlsruhr. I have no record of noting a maker’s plate on any of this class of locomotive, but it is possible they always used ‘Kessler’ as the better recognised name. Many others of this class were built by Richard Hartmann at Chemnitz. We arrived at León at five past nine; not quite so late as at Valladolid, and much earlier than Soria, even though delays had been imposed on our original plan. There were a couple of ex-Norte 2-8-0 second-string work-horses in the yard, 140-2321 (Euskalduna 1928) and 140-2334 (Babcock & Wilcox 1929). The shed yard held two of the impressive ex-Norte heavy-haul compound ‘Mountain’ giants, 241-4007 (Euskalduna 19 1927) and 241-4017 (Babcock & Wilcox 1927); and, because we were now in 3000V dc electrified territory, one of the big British Vulcan Foundry Co-Cos, 7753, from the late fifties. From León, we were moving into an area of quite complicated railway geography, and I was hard pressed to keep my bearings; although Richard at all times claimed he knew where we were and where we were going. On Friday morning, we were still riding the Renfe ‘via ancha’. The ‘Vulcans’ were much in evidence, on freight and passenger; indeed our train, the 09.30 León – Gijón ‘Correo’ was in the charge of 7761. Stored in a siding alongside the new electric depôt were two of a previous generation of locomotives from the inception of electrification, 6101 and 6102. These very ‘Shildon’ looking Co-Cos were Spanish-built (Soc. Naval 1924) Baldwin / Westinghouse units, but their working days, we feared, were most likely over. Half an hour later we paused at La Robla, and got our first glimpse of the justly famous metre-gauge Ferrocarril de La Robla, where a handsome 0-6-2T, no. 4 ‘’ (Soc.Franco-Belge, La Croyère 1892, but rebuilt FCR Valmaseda 1909) was shunting the yard. Moving on, twisting and turning up through the Puerto de Pajares, we could see why this line had been a prime candidate for electrification, threading a most extreme snake-like pass through the Cantabrian Cordillera. The line straightened a little, rolling down the valley of the River Lena to our stop at Ujo, where we could transfer to the Collanzo branch of the metre-gauge Vasco-Asturiana Railway. On shed at Ujo (Renfe) we were pleased to note four of those most interesting octogenarian German- built 0-6-0s, happily still in gainful employment, unlike their brothers seen at Paredes. They were 030-2419 ‘Alfonso VIII’, 030-2433 ‘Blasco de Garay’, 030-2435 ‘Fontan’ (name not seen) and 030-2447 ‘Calderon de la Barca’. Ujo was not much of a pueblo, being solely involved in coal and the railways, but we were surprised at the local pub adjacent to the station by the landlord’s response when we asked for food. It was about one-o-clock mid-day, when normally one would expect food to be on offer. He said, full of apologies, that he had nothing at all to offer in his humble bar; except, if we really wanted him to, perhaps he could rustle up a couple of meat sandwiches. We said ‘yes, please’, but privately debated what the meat, or even the bread, would be like. Had the donkey died recently? We did El Jefe an injustice. When the food came, it was absolutely fresh bocadillo bread stuffed with beef steaks that any restaurant would be proud to serve and put its name to. You never know in Spain. Suitably fortified, we made our way to Ujo Taruelo, the station of the Vasco- Asturiana Railway, always remarked upon for its immaculate locomotives. A coal train left for Oviedo behind a 2-6-0 Engerth-type, VA 18 (Krauss 7803/21), then our train for Collanzo (described as ‘Rápido’ in the timetable, but so far as we could tell indistinguishable from any other passenger train on the line) briefly paused to pick us up, with sister Krauss VA 17 (7804/21). Was this locomotive delivered out of number order with 18, or had there been yet more maker’s plate swapping in the repair shops? On the way up the line, at Moreda de Aller, VA 55 was shunting. This was a handsome 2-8-2T, origin unclear, but probably by Baldwin from 1900. Like the Engerths, it was immaculate, as promised by all that we had read about this railway. We arrived at the Collanzo terminus, where nothing happened for over an hour, except that VA 17 cut off its train, turned on the platform-end ‘puente giratorio’, and ran round its train. 20 Collanzo 24/07/64 - FC Vasco-Asturiana #17, 'Engerth' 2-6-0 (Krauss 1921) about to leave on the 17.15 'MV' to Oviedo. (Note Giesl ejector) Yet another Engerth, VA 16 arrived on an ‘Omnibus’ from Oviedo, and then 17 took us back down the line on the 17.15 dep. ‘MV’ to Oviedo, in which we enjoyed the solid dusty luxury of the same coaching stock as the uphill ‘Rápido’, earlier in the afternoon. Below Ujo, at Figaredo, we passed VA 55 again, still shunting. Perhaps it was the afternoon ‘trip’ freight. Also shunting was one of the St. Leonard 0-8-2T class, VA 102, and at the next place, Mieres, shunting was in the hands of 2-8-2T VA 51. This was a different class to 55, although definitely American, by Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. One hour downhill from Collanzo, we passed by the Ablaña steel works, where another ex-Norte 0-6-0, 030-2425 ‘Armaña’ (R Hartmann 1881) was shunting the broad gauge sidings. Half an hour later we ran into Oviedo (VA) terminus, passing the m.p.d., which was shared by the Vasco-Asturiana and the Economical of Asturias railways. We could see one of the EA locomotives and three VA, including our first sighting of one of the famous British (Scottish) 4-4-0 tanks, still to be found in those days all along from Oviedo to San Sebastián. This one was VA 3 ‘Pravia’, by Dübs from 1903. Leaving Oviedo next morning, ‘Pravia’ was still there, but had been joined by his brother, VA 1 ‘Victor Chavarri’. We caught the 09.57 Oviedo – San Esteban ‘Rápido’, drawn by yet another ‘Engerth’ 2-6-0, VA 14 (Krauss 7805/21). Just eighteen minutes down the line at Manjoya, we ‘crossed’ another 4-4-0T, VA 4 ‘Grado’, on a San Esteban – Oviedo ‘Rápido’. We would really have liked to have had one of the 4-4-0Ts on our train - nothing against the Germans, honest, but the little Glasgow ‘tankie’ would have 21 been preferable. On arrival at San Esteban de Pravia, we found VA 2 ‘Oviedo’ shunting. If we could find VA 5 ‘Mieres’, that would complete the class of five; although strictly ‘Mieres’ was delivered a couple of years later, after the North British swallowed up the Dübs Company. ‘Mieres’ was numbered in the North British works plate series, so perhaps we can claim to have ‘cleared’ the class of Dübs tanks after all.

San Esteban de Pravia 25/07/64 - FC Vasco-Asturiana #105, 0-8-2T (St. Leonard 1927) on shed. (Note Giesl ejector) Ominously, the San Esteban yard also contained a brand-new diesel-hydraulic 0- 6-0, no. D1. My notebook records ‘Yorkshire Engine Co. type, by Soc. Naval, Rolls Royce engine’. The IRS booklet ‘SNG’ lists this type as built in 1965, but we saw D1 in 1964! On shed were a couple of the interesting St. Leonard 0-8-2 tanks from 1927. If you peer at Richard’s photograph closely, you will make out the cast number-plate 105, and yet booklet SNG lists only numbers 101 to 104. Mystery! In anticipation of a long afternoon, we stoked up on a good Asturian early lunch, the main ingredient of which was ‘Fábada Asturiana’, a very thick and substantial soup or stew of large white broad beans and very fatty bacon, much more fat than bacon. Then we retraced our steps from San Esteban to Pravia by ‘Omnibus’ local, with VA 14 again, changing at Pravia to a Luarca – Avilés ‘Automotor’; a 2-car Billard DMU, 2010 (motor) and 5016 (trailer). Later research into this railcar set left us with a puzzle. According to the booklet SNG, there was a 2010 built by Franco-Belgo (La Croyère) for the Catalanes Railway, and a 5016 built by Euskalduna for Mallorca. It seems unlikely that we recorded the numbers incorrectly, as we were in intimate contact with the train, and I definitely wrote ‘Billard’. If I did get the numbers wrong, there was also a 2101 and a 5106 which were part of a series of Billard units supplied to the ESA, the Economical and Strategic Railway of Alicante. The mystery is not likely to be solved, nor will the next 22 one, I think. At the depôt at Pravia I noted in my book ‘bogie railcar no. AM1’. My best guess is that the booklet SNG incorrectly reported AM1 as M1, a diesel-mechanical railcar, wheel arrangement 6w-6w (sic), built in 1936 by Mariano del Corrall (who he?) for the Astillero – Ontaneda Railway, and passed to the Ferrol – Gijón Railway in 1956. My understanding of the railway geography in 1964 and today is rather hazy, but I think there was (is) a junction between the Ferrol line and the Vasco – Asturiana at Pravia. A forty five minute run to Avilés, a quick change into the FC Carreño electric railcar set, and a further forty five minutes saw us arriving at Gijón. On the way, at Candás, we saw two vintage steeple-cab 4-wheel electric shunters, numbers FC1 and FC2 ‘believed to have come from Valladolid c1915’ (ref. booklet SNG). I am ashamed to admit that I paid little attention to our train, noting only ‘2-car train’, but I now realize the cars, and the line, held quite a degree of interest.

Aboño 25/07/64 - FC Langreo #406, 2-8-0 ex Alaskan Railroad (Lima Loco. Works 1942) parked apparently out of use, with a glimpse of an Erie Railroad bogie coal hopper in front.

We made our way by means of an ancient tramcar to the coal terminal at Aboño, and ‘did’ the FC Langreo four foot eight and a half gauge motive power depôt. The best ‘cop’ there was FCL 406 (Lima Loco. Wks. 7876/42), one of the fairly recently acquired typically American 2-8-0s, bought from the Alaskan Railroad. A ‘job lot’ was bought of Alaskan 2-8-0s and some large coal hopper wagons from the Erie Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville. When you add in the shipping costs, one wonders whether it was such a bargain after all. They were bought to upgrade the mineral trains when the deviation line by-passed the famous rope-hauled incline on the main line – but then the diesels came. I don’t think I have ever seen a photograph of these locomotives and wagons in use out on the line. Somebody may know different, and be able to provide a photograph. There were also six 0-6-0 tanks present; five by Haine St. Pierre, Belgium, 23 Aboño 25/07/64 - FC Langreo #25, 0-6-0PT (Haine St. Pierre 1906) on shed, with a glimpse of 1962 Sentinel Rolls- Royce diesel-hydraulic shunter #300 behind. and one by Babcock and Wilcox, Spain. The Belgian tanks were almost unique in Spain, being pannier tanks. I can only think of one other, on the FC Carcagente-Denia, and that was an ingenious local rebuild of a Black Hawthorn 4-4-0 saddle tank. Less welcome was 0-6-0 diesel-hydraulic no. 300, an apparently brand-new Sentinel/Rolls Royce shunter of familiar aspect. Quite near to my home, there was at least one at Pitstone chalk quarry, between Cheddington and Tring on the ‘West Coast’, supplanting a nice little Peckett saddle tank. It appeared brand-new, but booklet SNG states maker’s plate 10138/1962. One suspects that it wasn’t a great success for some reason, as it looked virtually unused, and when an order was placed for eight similar specification locomotives only a year later, the order went to Germany, to Henschel and Sohn, Kassel. We moved on, walking through the Carreño metre-gauge rail tunnel through the rocky ridge that separated the Aboño coal concentration dumps from the seaport, to reach the Musel docks, looking for installations and locomotives of the JOP, the harbour works authority. On the four foot etc. gauge tracks, we found a couple of fine well-kept Hohenzollern 0-6-0 tanks, nos. 16 and 15. 16 was Hohenzollern 292/83, and I noted ‘outside cylinders’. I also noted that 15 and 16 were ‘different’. According to the 1963 IRS pocket book SP, they had adjacent maker’s numbers and came from the Langreo Railway, retaining their adjacent running numbers. Even if they had left Dusseldorf as identical brothers, one had been rebuilt, or at least altered (new cylinders) by the time of our visit. A comparison of my photograph of no. 16 with Lawrence Marshall’s photograph of no. 15 in his ‘Via Estrecha’ book shows this quite clearly. We also 24 discovered two metre-gauge locomotives parked in the docks area. To quote my notes of the time, “TCL3, 0-6-0T, Krauss tramway type. TLC4, 0-6-0T, larger variety.” There is a reference in pocket book SP to a firm called Construction Internacional SA. Musel, with the information “formed 12/4/1929, this concern participated in port extension works at Musel, and now operates quarries connected by a private metre gauge line to their pre-cast concrete factory situated by the eastern entrance to the port”. Although the locomotives appeared complete and quite possibly useable, there was no sign of life around them.

Musel Docks 25/07/64 - JOP (Port Authority) #16, 0-6-0T ex Langreo Railway (Hohenzollern 1883) on shed. Next came one of those little adventures that could add spice to railway exploration in Spain. Having spent the best part of three hot hours prowling around the port of Musel, we climbed a little wearily on to the standing-room-only tramcar to Gijón. I had only been standing there a few moments, savouring the aroma of the adjacent passengers, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking round, I saw that I was being beckoned off the tram by an official of some sort, dressed in a very smart dark blue uniform, well spattered with ‘scrambled egg’ and gold braid. I in my turn tapped Richard on his shoulder. When we got off the tram, much to the interest of the other passengers, we were conducted with grave civility to the harbour-master’s office for interrogation. I was glad that Richard spoke such fluent Spanish; it was after all still Franco’s Spain. It turned out that we had been carefully watched as we explored the docks, but we were not suspected of anything too bad. Blue Uniform and his pals had decided that we were British newspaper reporters, intent on compiling and publishing articles to decry and laugh at Franco’s Spain and its backward ways and antiquated equipment. It 25 Musel Docks 25/07/64 - Constructora Internacional SA. #TLC3, metre gauge 0-6-0T (Krauss?) parked, not stored, but is it out of use? took Richard quite some time, avoiding politics as best he could, to convince them that far from laughing at Spain and the Spanish we were really keen on their country, and full of admiration for their skilful conservation of such a collection of fine engineering machinery from many countries, particularly the United Kingdom. At last they were convinced, but then they insisted that we be given a full ‘official’ guided tour of the whole Musel docks complex. We had no choice but to accept the tour with a suitably polite level of enthusiasm and interest. Quite tiring, to say the least! Back at Gijón, we caught the Langreo Railway 19.20 Laviana ‘Mixto’ local, drawn by double-headed Henschel diesel-hydraulic 0-6-0s, 503 and 504, which seemed to be absolutely brand-new locomotives. On shed at Gijón were three of the Baldwin 0-6-0 tanks, and two more of the Alaskan Lima 2-8-0s, nos. 404 and 405. At Sotiello we ‘crossed’ another variety of American locomotive, FL 1600, a 1950 box-bodied Bo-Bo diesel-electric, acquired second-hand from the St. Louis Terminal Railroad quite recently. We alighted at Noreña, location of the famous right-angled level crossing with the metre gauge Economical of Asturias main line, to change trains. Ten past eight p.m. was a busy moment at Noreña. If we think of Gijón and Oviedo as being in the ‘up’ direction, in the space of seven minutes there was the arrival and departure of FL 503 plus FL 504 on our down Laviana ‘Mixto’, arrival and departure of FEA 102 (1958 Euskalduna Bo-Bo diesel-electric) on an up Santander ‘Correo’, arrival of FL 505 on an up Laviana ‘Correo’ and departure of FEA 39 (Krauss 2-6-2T, 6150/09) on an up Infiesto ‘Tranvia’ local. FEA 39 took twenty minutes to deliver us to Oviedo (Estación 26 Noreña 25/07/64 - FC Económicos de Asturias #39, metre gauge 2-6-2T (Krauss 1909) on an Infiesto - Oviedo 'Tranvia' local. Economicos). This ‘Tranvia’ was very full, and we had to stand, jammed in to the narrow corridor of the ancient wooden carriage. Just where I was standing there was a notice pasted on the woodwork above the window, declaring that ‘this carriage was last fumigated on – 6th. July 1929! I immediately began to itch. The other notice, as on all the wooden carriages, was ‘positively no smoking’ – some hopes. The final spottings of a busy Saturday were at the Oviedo FEA m.p.d. No. 4 was a St. Leonard 2-6-0T from 1891, reputed to have been transferred to the Astillero – Ontaneda Railway in 1906 and scrapped there in 1947! (ref. IRS booklet SNG – another mystery). No. 28 was a Borsig 2-6-2T from 1909, 38 a Krauss 2-6- 2T from 1921, 31 a 1900 Baldwin 2-6-2T, 41 and 43 were Babcock & Wilcox 2-8-2Ts from 1942, and 103 was a Babcock/GE Bo- Bo diesel-electric from 1958. Boo! Hiss!

27 Valencia New

A view of the construction of the new ‘temporary’ terminus at Valencia on the site of the old early goods depot. In the upper picture you can clearly see the existing train shed on the distant right. Picture taken by Geoff Eley on 19/09/09. IRS SALES Correo Back Issues. A CD containing all previous issues of Correo up to the preceding year in PDF format. £5.50 including postage.

DVDS The Society now sells the Ticket to Ride DVDs Out & About Barcelona. Includes RENFE, the FGC, freight, TALGOs and an overview of this wonderful city. £25.00 including postage Out & About Lisbon. Includes CP, the trams and elevadores, Barreiro and scenic shots of the city. £25.00 including postage TALGO Cabride - Portbou to Girona TALGO Cabride - Girona to Barcelona TALGO Cabride - Barcelona to Reus Algarve Cabride - Lagos to Tunes (with a Class 1800) Algarve Cabride - Tunes. Faro to Vila Real (with a Class 1800) Cab Rides are £20.00 each including postage. More than just cabrides they include station views, scenic shots where appropriate and shots of rail action en route.

COASTERS Set of four square coasters showing some modern scenes from the FGV, RENFE and FEVE. £6.50 including postage

For all items please send a cheque to IRS Sales, 3 Aldersey Road, Worcester, WR5 3BG. Overseas members should enquire first about postage costs, send an email to [email protected]. Payment can be made via paypal for overseas members only.

28 North Spain 2009 By Michael Guerra

Part 1: London to Madrid- By Land rom Coach 1 at the far end of a Eurostar at Paris Nord it usually takes 8mins to F reach the platforms of Ligne 5 towards Place d’Italie (provided you have bought your Metro tickets at St Pancras). July 18th was not a usual day. It was the day all the French exchange students return home from the UK. The platform was inundated with 500+ French teenagers and all their worldly possessions, milling around in labelled groups, and just beyond the glass doors at the end of the platform were around a thousand eager parents waiting to greet them. And so 30mins after arriving at Platform 5 from St Pancras we finally made it to the Metro to take us to Austerlitz (the station in Paris, not the town in Slovakia where Napoleon defeated the 3rd Coalition in 1805).

Paris Austerlitz 18/07/09, 19:00 local. On the left the Joan Miró to Barcelona, on the right The Francisco de Goya to Madrid, both awaiting traction.

Austerlitz is not the station it once was at the height of Wagons Lits, and the fact that the rebuilding still hasn’t been completed (after 8 years) is a sad reflection on the state of classic lines in France. A number of office buildings have been recently built on the North (river) side of the platforms, with a new road bridge covering the newly rebuilt platforms 1-4. Platforms 5-8 were in the process of having new platforms and permanent way when we passed through. We arrived in plenty of time to leave our bags and trot off to the Mosqueé de Paris for sweet mint tea and cakes. We often tarry there or in the adjacent Jardin des Plantes for an hour or so before night falls, and before the night trains are shunted into the platforms. Anyone visiting a large French station recently will have noticed that the cheminots that used to walk up and down the platforms to couple locos or pass messages to the drivers now use those strange 2-wheeled electric scooters called Segways. They look a little incongruous, whizzing up and down, always looking on the verge of falling over, but they certainly save a lot of leather if you have to walk up and down the long continental trains. Perhaps they will go on strike a little less now. 29 But we live in a high-speed, post Wagons Lits age. In France medium and long distance travel is dominated by TGVs, cheap airlines, and for those even lesser-heeled: overnight road coaches. The number of overnight trains departing Austerlitz seems to have halved in the last 10 years as SNCF blinker themselves to the idea that everyone wants airline ‘comfort’ (little view, plastic-encased food and uncomfortable seats with no legroom). Fortunately, there is still the Trenhotel. We booked passage on EN407, the Francisco de Goya, which departs Austerlitz at 19h45. The current stock is showing its age, despite a mid-life refurbishment and new Elipsos vinyls on the outside. Yes, they clunk terribly on jointed track, and drum noisily on anything apart from new welded track. But we take the train because life is a journey, and not a destination. Besides, it is worth the price of admission to be able to watch the restaurant waiters perform their dance when the Talgo swings on curving track. The current Paris-Madrid/Barcelona and Genève/Milan-Barcelona stock are based on the Talgo 200/Pendular day stock (Series 5) which was designed in the mid- 1980s and has the simple secondary-only suspension and non-floating floor. The current Francisco de Goya entered service in the summer of 1992 and at 17yrs old feels a little ‘loose’. In Maquetren 198 there is a picture showing the Barcelona-Cádiz Trenhotel (Antonio Machado – Spanish poet who died in 1939) departing on June 24th 2009 formed of new Series 7 cars. These apparently have primary suspension and a floating floor, and are quieter than the earlier Series 5 and 6. They are certainly quite quiet when used in the Class 102 and 120 Ave trains. We monitored the passing of Les Aubrais (20h43) and Blois (21h08) from the comfort of the Coche Restaurante while enjoying 3 courses of haute-cuisine (cocina- alta?), and by Poitiers (22h09) we were brushing our teeth. There are a number of other unadvertised stops (such as Angoulême near Bordeaux) for driver changes, but the next big stop is at Hendaye/Irun where, between 02h00 and 02h30, the train goes through the gauge-changer. The gauge-changing shed is at the north-end of the Irun north (Transfesa) yard, about 100m inside Spain. An SNCF BB7200 takes the train from Austerlitz (on the 1500V network) to Hendaye where the Madrid-bound meets the

Google Earth picture of Hendaye & Irun, showing the position of the Talgo gauge-changing shed. 30 Paris-bound Francisco de Goya. The Madrid-bound train pulls into the seaward side of Hendaye depot; an SNCF Y8400 comes in behind the Trenhotel from the north end headshunt. Then the BB7200 comes off, pulls forward (south) across the international bridge to the gauge-changer to pick-up the northbound Trenhotel and take it back to Paris. On the south side of the gauge-changer the Renfe Class 252 has run round behind the northbound train while a Renfe shunter is coupled on and pushes the Paris-bound rake forwards into the shed. Once the northbound train has left, the southbound train is propelled over the slip joint into the shed to be picked up by the Class 252. I dream seeing Vitoria/Gasteiz at 04h05, but I’m not really awake until Burgos (05h20), or dressed until Valladolid (06h22). The sun is coming up and at 07h00 we wander down to breakfast. In a 1st Class T2 you get vouchers for a deluxe breakfast, which is the continental breakfast (fruit juice, coffee/tea, fruit salad, pain-au-chocolat, brioche, croissant, toast, butter, jam), plus a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs. You also get a fabulous view of Avila in the morning sun. You used to get a glimpse of El Escorial, but the train seemingly now takes a different route. About 30mins before Chamartin we pass Las Matas where our train was built. Outside the main assembly sheds are 4 or 5 newly-delivered Alvia power cars. We note the enormous changes at Fuencarral depot. There is a split between the standard and broad gauge stock. At the south end of the yard a gauge-changer dominates, and we pass a line of sad, disused Renfe/WL T2 cars, covered in graffiti; perhaps testament to the loss of the old night trains to either high-speed or Talgo interlopers. As in France, the future is high-speed, and anything that does not fit that business model is considered fit to be scrapped. Spanish railway magazines are full of withdrawn classic services and the problems that the new Ave services bring. At Burgos we were to find out how stupid some of these decisions were, but arriving on time at Madrid Chamartin, we were looking forward to good food, good weather and staying up late. We arrived at Platform 15, one of the outer Iberian gauge platforms (the centre ones are International gauge with future connection via the new tunnels through to ). And once off the platform we meet my youngest half-brother and enjoy our first chocolate y churros of the trip.

18/07/09 Passing the Talgo SA factory at Las Matas, north of Madrid 31 Rio Tinto Garratt 146 (Beyer-Peacock 6561, 1928) Photo by Graham Walker