www.iberianrailwayssociety.org Issue No. 25 Summer 2012 he inaugural IRS meeting took place at the Model Railway T 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 (post available) Publicity & Exhibitions Myles Munsey (post available) 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 was proposed that a Society Journal be published four times a year and that this would be the main conduit between members. 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 2012-MARCH 2013 Web Download £5.00 Payment CHEQUE (Payable to: Iberian Railways Society) or Paypal (from website) 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. IRS SALES Correo on CD. All previous issues up to the preceding year in PDF format. £5.50 inc P&P. DVDS -The Society now sells the Ticket to Ride DVDs Out & About Barcelona. £25 inc P&P Out & About Lisbon. £25 inc P&P TALGO Cabride - Portbou to Girona £20 inc P&P TALGO Cabride - Girona to Barcelona £20 inc P&P TALGO Cabride - Barcelona to Reus £20 inc P&P Algarve Cabride - Lagos to Tunes (with a Class 1800) £20 inc P&P Algarve Cabride - Tunes. Faro to Vila Real (with a Class 1800) £20 inc P&P COASTERS - 4 scenes from FGV, RENFE & FEVE £6.50 inc P&P 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. 2 Title Page The Society 2 The Chairman’s Page 4 The Editor’s Page 5 A Trip To Can Tunis 6 Portuguese Urban Tramways & Metros 16 RENFE’s Black Fives 27 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: Barcelona Francia 20/04/2012. 10 mins before the departure of the Elipsos Trenhotel back to Paris with Renfe Class 252-065. Michael Guerra 3 HOLÀ ! reetings from a wet and dismal Worcester. Hopefully the weather will be better G next weekend when Deb and I depart for Costa de la Luz, a part of Spain where the nearest railway is over 40 miles away. Not good planning on my part. Recently I have been suffering from high blood pressure and so was unable to make Michael's afternoon on the 26th May which was very disappointing. The rest of the committee were there though and obviously the day turned out to be fun and very productive. We are still a very small band although still enthusiastic. The change to PDF- only production has gone well and this new edition of Correo will, I am sure, prove that we have taken the correct decision. One or two other societies are thinking about this method for the future and at least two have already moved over. The problem for some of the bigger groups and societies is scale, once you go over a certain number then all sorts of economies of scale come into play on production and postage in particular, and a move towards PDF will mean a print subscription increasing exponentially. This is difficult, if not impossible, to resolve but has to be faced as technology moves on. I have no doubt that younger potential members can be encouraged if the magazine, our life blood, is available on an iPad, iPhone or other portable device. Thank goodness we did faced this early, so our decision was easier. All over Iberia the economy has taken a huge backward step and this will impact on the rail network. Already FEVE is to be disbanded and incorporated within RENFE, the economics of some the newer high speed lines are being questioned, particularly those just opened towards Galicia. I cannot help thinking that if RENFE bit the bullet, ran more trains to a clock-face timetable then more passengers would be likely to use them. This applies to other lines though, not just the high speed ones. Huelva for example, its station and railway attracts just three trains a day to and from Sevilla; while coach companies operate over fifteen services a day. The infrastructure is there, why not use it? As for the Huelva-Zafra line the timetable is a complete mystery to me, one train a day from Zafra to Huelva and none back. Work that one out because I can't; it is no wonder that RENFE is in trouble. Perhaps there are good reasons for these weird timetables, if there are, and you know why, let me know; I'll be fascinated to find out. Enough of the whingeing. Here's to good summer and another year of the Iberian Railways Society. - Adios, David Stevenson, Chairman – Iberian Railways Society 3, Aldersey Road, Worcester, WR5 3BG Tel: 01905 358440 Email: [email protected] 4 elcome to the 7th year of he Iberian Railways Society. Boy, hasn’t it gone in a W flash! As I sit writing this I am also planning a business trip to Madrid, visiting the Talgo factory at Las Matas, which is the logical next step from the trip to Barcelona described in this issue of Correo. I’ll be taking the sleeper from Paris again, though hopefully having a little more time for breakfast. This is the first issue to be published solely as a PDF. While it is disappointing that not everyone has decided to continue with their subscription, it is now possible for the Society to continue on a firmer financial footing. Given the dramatic increase in postage, even a UK subscription would have exceeded £15 for 4 small journals. I think it is for the best, and I for one is a lot less stressed over the production of each issue. After the desperate cry for articles in Correo 24, a number of you stepped up to the mark and sent in a little something. Thanks must go particularly to our Treasurer Tony Bowles, for finding photographs to illustrate Charles’ Portuguese tram article, something I have been meaning to run for a while. It is such cooperation that makes this journal possible, and makes me a little tearful. On May 26th four of the committee came together at my house to mostly watch Iberian Railway DVDs and enjoy a small luncheon. It was good fun, and while there was very little official business the issue of what to do at model shows was raised. At the moment, Myles goes to a number of shows and takes with him a number of items for sale, including back issues of Correo (which are actually sold at less than cost). Now that Correo is in an electronic format only, the question of what to display was raised by Myles. Given that we are now an electronically connected Society it was suggested that the Society purchase (when it has the funds) some kind of tablet computer and projector for shows. It would then be possible to display Correo as a slideshow, interspersed with video footage of Iberian railways as a promotion for the Society. Of course, if any member has somehow found themselves with a spare and unwanted tablet computer and/or compact projector, and wishes it to be used for the promotion of Iberian railways, then you know where to send it (to Myles of course!). Michael Guerra 5 A Trip to Can Tunis By Michael Guerra here are times when business can be a pleasure, and this was one of those times. T Regular readers may know that your editor has been running something called ‘The Sleeper Project’ for a number of years; something most people have said is quite possibly insane, but have also said they would really like to try.