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Issue No. 13 Summer 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 4 The Editor’s Page s 5 Northern & Part 2 8 What’s In The National Archives 15 CP Narrow Gauge 16 Something About a Sewer 23 Aguilas Railway Museum 31

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: Azpeitia Basque Railway Museum. Brown-Boveri Swiss-built Crocodillo 4002 of the FV (1928). Photo by M. Guerra 3

OLA!

ery many thanks to those of you who have renewed so far this year. It's worth V mentioning that the renewal rate has gone down though which is very disappointing. With this in mind I have decided not seek re-election at the next AGM as Chairman of the Iberian Railways Society. The time has come for a fresh face at the helm to take the IRS forward. I intend to remain a member and am happy to assist in any way I can to promote the Society but after four years I feel I have done as much as I can. If you would like to put yourself forward or would like to know more about what is required please get in touch by email or phone on 01905 358440. I want to thank the other committee members for all they have done and wish them, my successor and the Society all the best for the future. In the meantime best foot forward and I hope to see many of you over the next few months at Sutton Coldfield and Warley.

Adios,

David Stevenson, Chairman – Iberian Railways Society 3, Aldersey Road, Worcester, WR5 3BG Tel: 01905 358440 Email: [email protected]

TranVia 10 arrives at the Santa Cruz terminus of Europe's most southerly system in Tenerife on 12.03.09. David Stevenson 4 y apologies for this tardy edition of Correo. A series of hardware and M administrative problems conspired to make me a month later than usual. To obviate any further renewal issues would you let me and/or Tony Bowles have your current email address ([email protected] / [email protected]) I would like to thank our network of Mediterranean correspondents: Rarfe Chambers, Geoff Eley, Graham Harrison and Christopher Elliott. Together they are building a picture of the various works connecting the Costas with direct high-speed lines from and . Despite engineering and political difficulties in it is clear that RENFE/ADIF are taking advantage of the various European grants and loans available for strategic infrastructures. However, one is left with the feeling that, like SNCF, focus on AVE infrastructure will deflect resources from the low-speed network. Already this has resulted in an increasing share of fruit and veg travelling by road, despite the introduction of gauge-changeable freight and container wagons.

Madrid- AVE The new AVE line has resulted in the construction of a new station at Valencia. 800m outside the gorgeous Norte station a new AVE terminus is being erected on the site of the long-disused goods depot (sometimes used for multiple units or the odd loco between turns). It appears to be close to the entrance of the Jésus Metro station, but it is a couple of stops from the main Xátiva stop which serves the Norte station. The ADIF leaflet describes this station as ‘temporary’, and further research has unearthed plans to turn Valencia Norte into an Atocha. (Go to www.valenciaparquecentral.es for info.)

Photo taken from the Web showing the model of the winning design for Valencia’s new station.. The old Art Deco buildings will become an enclosed public space with a new park over the space where extended platforms used to be. The new station will transform both local road layouts and rail infrastructure. 5 The new temporary terminus will allow underground work to begin that will bring all tracks below grade, underneath a new 12-storey office block. The old, cool shed roof will stay, and where the platforms extend beyond the old shed will become a park. The buffers still seem to end at the same place, but 2 storeys down. Work is supposed to be completed by 2014. At St Pancras International I love the way Eurostars come all the way into the station; unlike at Euston or Atocha. Detaching waiting travellers from their trains instils a sense of insecurity about the journey and makes train travel less attractive. It still amazes me how many people still come to St Pancras to be near trains they are not travelling on, simply because they represent adventure; which is ironic for a service that only shuttles backwards and forwards across the Channel. The historic town of Cuenca is dramatically positioned above a steep cliff and has a beautiful historic centre. Cuenca will significantly benefit from the new Madrid- Valencia AVE line, as it will become 45mins from Madrid and only 30mins from Valencia (compared to 2h37m and 2h36m respectively in 1986 by TER). This will put Cuenca within easy commuting distance of both Madrid and Valencia. This is important as Cuenca is no.2 on my wife’s current Paradors-To-Stay-In-Before-I-Die list!

Booking RENFE Tickets Online The expanding AVE network comes with a dramatic increase in new trains which caused a couple of hiccups in obtaining tickets for our impending tour of North Spain. For those readers yet to test the water with regards to planning and booking their own complex itineraries it has been an interesting learning experience. Our family holiday (for 2 adults & 3 boys) takes in Paris, Madrid, Palencia, , Zamora, Santiago de Compostella, Leon, Oviedo, and Burgos with side trips to Medina del Campo and . We stay in 3 Paradors and 4 other hotels, and take around 18 trains. We had to book the Paradors almost a year in advance, as we will be staying in Santiago during the festival week of St James. The other hotels we booked directly online about 5-6 months in advance. So far so good. The railway tickets were a little more complex. Eurostar book 120 days in advance. We are departing on the first day of the school summer holidays so it was important that I booked the outgoing at the very moment the booking became live.— I didn’t. I forgot and tried to book the next day. It was impossible to find 5 Standard seats on the first 6 trains of the day. We eventually had to buy 5 Leisure First seats on the 12.29 to Paris. However the 1st class seats don’t have uncomfortable armrests and the included lunch would be welcome. The next step was to book the outgoing Trenhotel (EN409 Austerlitz to Chamartin). This books 90 days in advance, and as we have seen this train full it was really important to get this one right. As the youngest twins are too large to share anymore we had to book a T4 and a T2 separately. I got up early and had them booked by 6am! The T2 (without en suite) comes with ‘le cooked breakfast inclus’ so it is better value than first thought. I booked my wife and the youngest boy into a Grande Classe for the return, and that comes with en-suite toilet and shower, a 3-course evening meal and of course breakfast. I booked the Trenhotels online through Raileurope and it was fairly straightforward, provided you start on their overnight train page. I followed the guidance in Mark Smith’s new book “The Man in Seat 61”, which is an excellent guide to planning and booking train and ferry trips around the world, though all the same information can be found on his excellent website: www.seat61.com. 6 Renfe book 62 days in advance and it is definitely worth booking via their website (go to seat61 to find out how). If you book early enough you will be able to purchase special Web fares, which are sometimes only a third of the normal price you would pay if you were booking at a station or via Raileurope. There are only a limited number of these fares so you really need to pounce on them when they become available. They are absolutely specific to a train, so if you miss it you cannot use them on the next one. Unlike Raileurope, however, the tickets are not sent by mail, and you have to print them out yourself. When you have completed a purchase, the button with ‘Imprimir Billetes’ on it will appear; clicking on this will download a PDF document which you can then print directly from the Acrobat reader, or save to print later. The only disadvantage to this is the size of the ticket, which at an entire A4 page each is a bit excessive, and you will have to fill out your name and passport number at the bottom of each one to make them valid. The only difficulty we had was due to the introduction of the Alvia multiple units over the northern network in the Summer timetable change. We planned this trip last year, using the Winter 2008 timetable, so when we came to book tickets between Leon and Oviedo we found the train we wanted didn’t exist anymore (loco-hauled Talgo) and a differently timed Alvia service had been substituted. This service change was so recent that we couldn’t book on the 62nd-day-before, any attempt would provoke an error message. Eventually, on the 58th-day-before booking was possible, but only for Estrella fares (which are a little more expensive, but are transferable to a different train on the same day). The web booking of trains is not possible for Diurno or local trains; those still need to be booked at the station, though it is possible to book Regional Expres trains online (no seat reservation is given). FEVE does not as yet have a working online ticket purchase system, so we will have to book our La Robla tickets at Leon. Overall the total RENFE ticket cost was less than half what we would have paid for a set of Interrail and Interrail 26+ passes with attendant seat reservation and supplements; however, it makes for an extremely inflexible itinerary. We love planning and devising itineraries. It is not for everyone, but I can thoroughly recommend the process. You start with an idea of where you would like visit, make a small list of other interesting places along the way, then decide if they require an overnight or 2. Check the school calendar (even if you are not travelling with children it is good to know when the little darlings are free) and then start filling dates. We generally plan a year in advance, never less than 6 months. Remember that if you want the best ticket deals you need to have your itinerary complete at least 120 days before departure. Use a spreadsheet to plan your hotel and train bookings. Take a good look at town maps to ensure that you know how to get from your hotel to the station and vice versa. Give yourself plenty of time to make transfers across a city. It may only take 20 minutes to get from the Eurostar platforms at Paris Nord to Austerlitz; but only if you already have your Metro tickets. Otherwise it could take you 15-20mins to get a ticket from the crowded ticket office even before you get down to the platforms for Metro Line 5. For that reason you have to plan for an hour. We have already planned our trip for Easter 2010 (finances permitting): Amsterdam, Praha, Budapest, Bucuresti, Sofiya, Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Athina, Beograd, Venezia, Paris. It should be interesting, as it crosses 11 countries with 11 different languages and 7 currencies. I really hope they all understand English and take plastic! 7 Northern Spain and Portugal: Part 2 – the Basque Country and FEVE to Santander Text by Alan de Burton, photographs by Patrick Chandler

Tuesday 10 June: Day Out on Euskotren and Bilbao Metro

he previous installment left us arriving in Bilbao after dark. The group now had two T days in Bilbao before setting off westwards on FEVE to Santander. A basic description may be helpful to some readers of firstly Euskadi, the Basque country, secondly the Bilbao area and its transport. The Basque language is spoken by about 600,000 people as a first language, from the Bilbao area east to the French frontier and just beyond. With Castillian (Madrid) Spanish, it is one of the two official languages in the area and is used on all public signing, etc.. It is not an Indo-European language, and its complex grammar is totally unique. Bilbao was at the heart of traditional Spanish heavy industry, although as elsewhere in Europe this has declined in comparative significance. Bilbao is now the centre of a conurbation of about 1m people. Flat paper maps are inadequate to visualise what the city looks like. It lies about 10 kms from the Bay of Biscay in a deep and twisted valley on the banks of the river Nervión, which is chocolate coloured and apparently highly toxic. Rail transport is complicated by having 5 separate operations, all but one metre gauge. Fares systems don't appear well integrated, but I found no difficulty in using the all-pervading ticket machines. The 5 operations are as follows: 1. The broad gauge routes of ADIF / Renfe out of the Abando city terminus. Abando terminus is above street level in the city centre, and has 8 platforms under an overall roof. Even in 2008, there were only 2 trains per day to Madrid. The station has been busy with suburban services since they were concentrated here in 1999 and the former La Naja station under the forecourt of the FEVE Concordia terminus closed 2. The metre gauge line of FEVE out of its Concordia city terminus just below Abando and running west to León and Santander. The route from León has been described and the route to Santander will be described as we travelled on it on 12 June 3. The metre gauge line of the Metro de Bilbao. The underground section through the city centre was opened in 1995 and connects with a former suburban line to the coast at . It has had subsequent extensions. 4. The metre gauge lines of Euskotren, taken over by the Basque government from nationally owned FEVE in 1982. Strictly speaking the name Euskotren has only been used for the last 10 years, and the infrastructure has recently been hived off to Eusko Trenbide Saria. The principal line runs east from Atxuri terminus to Donostia and Bermeo. Most of the group used it on the trip on 11 June to the transport museum at Azpeitia described later. There is also a second line in the east of the city detached from the first which runs from to an interchange with the Metro at Casco Viejo and on to Lazana. This took its present form in 1996 but I didn't have the chance to take a ride. 5. The metre gauge tramway in the city centre opened in 2002 - 04. It is now about 5 kms long. 8 10 June 2008. Metre gauge EuskoTren 3500 series CAF built EMU at Bilbao Atxuri station There is also the 1266mm gauge Monte Artxanda and downstream the 1893 vintage Puente Bizkaia transporter bridge over the river Nervión. This was wrecked in 1937 during the Civil War but restored in 1941. Euskotren also operate a funicular outside the city between San Salvador and Larreineta opened in 1926. Patrick Chandler and myself spent the main part of the day on a return trip on Euskotren to Donostia (formerly San Sebastián) and on to Hendaye in France and back again. The line is about 106 kms long from Bilbao to Donostia, and another 21.3 kms on to Hendaye. We started from Bilbao's Atxuri terminus on the 09 34 to Donastia, one of the twice daily fast trains worked by one of 3 comfortable emus (310 – 312) converted to a high standard (2+1 throw over seats and toilets) during one of the operator's several attempts at attracting through traffic between Bilbao and Donostia. All have failed, since the journey time on a twisting mainly single track route is entirely non-competitive with express coach services using motorways. The line from Bilbao to Donostia (then called San Sebastián) was opened by a number of companies over the period 1882 – 1901. In 1906 these were consolidated into the the Compañía de los FFCC Vascongados (FV), who ran it for most of the 20th century. They electrified it at 1500 v. d.c. in 1929, and started doubling the line from the Bilbao Atxuri end from 1950. We started our trip for the day by a short journey on a tram from the Uribitarte tram stop on the opposite side of the river to the hotel to its final stop alongside Euskotren's Atxuri terminal station. While waiting for our train,we witnessed one of the truck drivers' protests against the price of fuel going on all over Spain at that time. The 3 platform Atxuri station is sandwiched by the river Nervión, and in a severe flood in 1983/84, some rolling stock was swept into the river. The tram line continues round the station building and alongside the Euskotren line along the riverside as far as a small servicing facility about 1 km up the line. 9 10 June 2008. Metre gauge Bilbao CAF built Eurotram #406 at Basurto terminus at Bilbao.

The Euskotren line follows the winding river valley of the river Nervión at first, then the valley of the river Ibaizabal which is also chocolate coloured. Between Goldakao and Usánsolo the line uses a 1443m long deviation tunnel dating from route doubling in 1955. Just before Amorebieta, the line to Gernika and Bermeo diverges to the left. There is a spur forming the third side of a triangle, only served by a branch shuttle in the early hours of Sunday morning! The Bermeo line was opened through Gernika as far as then Pedernales (now Sukarrieta) in 1893, extended in 1955 the last few kms to Bermeo, the major fishing port in Euskadi. This line was finally electrified in 1973. Gernika is known for being bombed in the Civil War, but visitors from the group found little to report. We then headed along single track through the major town of Durango, where the works is located. However, a new alignment is under construction for several kms. This will be a third alignment, since the present one is already a deviation of 1923. We reached a summit at Mallabia, then headed towards the sea down a steep sided valley. From Ermua to Eibar, the railway threads a town somehow wedged in the valley with high rise flats everywhere: almost Japan with graffiti but without the characteristic overhead power cables. One curve in Ermua has a radius of only 80m. Since 1989, Euskotren have provided a local stopping service through the town twice or three times per hour. The line reaches the coast at Deba. When we were travelling we didn't realise that the coastal section on from Deba to Zumaia had been closed to passenger trains from 1995 to 1998 while a new route was built including a 1254m long tunnel because of the precarious nature of the former coastal alignment.

10 After Zumaia, we headed to Donostia with the sound of 'The British Grenadiers' coming over the muzak! At Zarautz, the line skirts the rear of the upmarket apartment blocks of a seaside resort. From the train, we witnessed on an adjacent road another truck drivers' protest about the cost of fuel. From Maia-Orion the line follows the river Loria. In the vicinity of Lasarte-Empalme on the edges of Donostia we met the transshipment point for the steel coil freight that FEVE and Euskotren haul from points west. While Euskotren had abandoned freight in 1986, it resumed 10 years later, but at present still apparently using FEVE locos. Here also, a short suburban branch line opened in 1998 joins from Lasarte-Oria. On the approaches to Donostia, we pass through a new tunnel and Lugaritz underground station opened in 2005 and our train terminated at Donostia Amara terminus, where the present station building opened in 1990. There wasn't time to use the independently operated Monte Igualdo funicular elsewhere in the town. The 21.3 kms line from Donostia to Hendaye was opened by the Compañía del FC de San Sebastián a la Frontera Francesca in 1912 using an adjacent station at Amara in then San Sebastián. However, until 1954 trains towards Hendaye started on a loop in the city streets. There is a tunnel 2046m long soon after leaving Amara, and 14 others which are shorter. The line was only converted to the present 1500 v d.c. traction standard in 1978. Our train was 4-car emu 211 on the frequent service which originates at Lasarte-Oria and reverses at Donostia-Amara. The line is single after Loiola and there is a depot at Rentería. The line traverses a continuously built up strip but is not on the coast and follows ADIF / Renfe for much of the way. The line crosses the frontier river Bidasoa on its own bridge adjacent to that of the dual 1435mm / 1668mm lines and terminates at Hendaye (Hendaya to Euskotren) in the forecourt of the French station. The line over the border was closed from 1936 till after WW2. We returned to Donostia for lunch, then took the hourly stopper back to Atxuri station in Bilbao on a journey that takes 2h 38m as against 2h 13m on the twice daily express. We then took a ride on the Bilbao tramway opened in 2002 – 04. This is partly on the course of the former Renfe line through the closed La Naja station. This is operated by Strasbourg style Eurotrams, although in Bilbao's case built by CAF in Spain. Euskotren is also opening a new tramway shortly in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The last stop but one on the Bilbao tramway serves TermiBus, the bus station for interurban services. Here it becomes clear why neither FEVE or Euskotren seriously serve longer distance passengers. There are frequent services by air-conditioned coaches to all relevant points. Many of the vehicles are either 3-axle rigid or articulated vehicles with about 70 seats. We then headed down to catch the Metro at its San Mamés underground station to ride to its coastal terminus at Plentzia. Although they are metre gauge, the Metro cars are 2.8m wide, wider than most British rolling stock. The line has left hand running, and full ATO (Automatic Train Operation) and ATP (Automatic Train Protection). It emerges from continuous tunnel at but then threads continuous suburbs. The depot is at Sopelana. The line finally takes to the countryside at the last wayside station at and is single track to the seaside terminus at Plentzia. The surface line was first opened in 1893, electrified in 1929 [as part of the FV system] and absorbed into the Metro when the underground section was opened in 1995. We returned to the city and had a look in ADIF / Renfe's Abando station. With mild amazement we saw the Renfe express from Vigo arrive comprising an electric loco and a single coach [It appears 11 to be a Vigo – Bilbao portion running with the A Coruña – Hendaya Arco 12800— eds]. Looking for a meal, we discovered for the first time the local eating habits: no evening meals before 20.30, even in the otherwise excellent hotel restaurant. On this occasion Burger King would suffice.

11 June 2008. Metre gauge EuskoTren steam loco #FV 104 built by Nasmyth Wilson in Leeds in 1898 hauling 2 coaches (built by CAF in 1925) at the Azpeitia Museum terminal station at Lasao

Wednesday 11 June: Day trip to Azpeitia for the Museo Vasco del Ferrocarril (Basque railway museum)

The group's day trip to the railway museum was (on the outward journey) by stopping train as far as Zumaia on the Euskotren line to Donostia which the two of us had already used the previous day. Since Euskotren doesn't seriously carry through passengers, this was suburban emu 217 without toilets of a class previously used on the suburban sections of the present Bilbao metro. Leaving the train at Zumaia, a midicoach took us up the valley to the 1990s Museo Ferrocarril at Azpeitia. We had an opportunity for a lunch stop, but found that while Azpeitia had several bars, it offered little to eat. While the Museo is nominally a railway museum, it also has road exhibits, including a working former Zaragoza tram and an ex London Transport post-WW2 double deck which like many of its fellows had been sold off to Spain. While the driver's position was unchanged, the staircase and doors had been changed to permit right hand boarding and seated conductor operation with a supplementary front exit. The museum also has a machine shop with working belt driven machine tools. We had a special train ride on the line's 4½ km line to Lasao and 12 back opened in 1998. This line runs along a river valley on a trackbed originally operated by the FC del Urola, opened as an electric railway in 1926 and closed in 1986. The loco was 2-6-0T 'Aurrera' FV 104 built by Nasmyth Wilson in Manchester in 1898, hauling two coaches built at Beasain in 1925 by the predecessor [Carde y Escoriaza] of the present rolling stock builder CAF. The train crew even organised a successful runpast. The loco was new to the FC de Elgoibar a San Sebastián, and duly passed to that railway's successor FV (the Vascongados). After electrification of the FV system, the loco was relegated to depot shunter at Durango and was subsequently plinthed and resurrected. After a successful visit, the coach returned us to Bilbao. Unfortunately, the hotel had booked a large group of teenagers into the hotel and spread their room allocations throughout the building. This caused some of our group disturbance from noise during the evening and night.

12 June 2008. Metre gauge FEVE emu #3605 etc rebuilt by Sunsundegui at FEVE's Concordia terminus at Bilbao.

Thursday 12 June: FEVE Bilbao to Santander, and side trip on Renfe to Reinosa

After our stay in Euskadi, it was now time to take a 118.7 km 3 hour journey on the metre gauge with FEVE to reach Santander, the main city in the province of Cantabria. The first sections of the route were built in 1890 and absorbed into the FC de Santander a Bilbao which completed the route by 1898. The company went into FEVE's predecessor EFE in 1961, and into FEVE itself in 1972. A coach took us from the hotel back to FEVE's Concordia station to await the late arrival of the 08.02 train, formed as expected by another 2400 series 2-car dmu. The line heads straight into a tunnel, while in the inner suburbs engineering works in 13 progress will relocate the line underground. At Irauregui, a freight connection comes in from the right while we follow the narrow valley of the river Cadagua. Double track finishes at Zaramillo, and the electrified line to Balmaseda and Bilbao turns off at Aranguren. At various places on this trip we crossed freight trains mainly carrying steel coil. At Traslaviña we crossed the 'El Transcantábrico' tour train, most impressive, electro-diesel loco 1905 hauling 14 bogie coaches. The scenery was very hilly but otherwise like southern England, with sheep and cattle grazing in green fields. We reached a summit at the 1442m long La Escrita tunnel, and started descending the valley of the river Carranza. After Carranza itself, the railway and the river traverse a deep valley with cliffs each side. At Gibaja we crossed a train the other way and changed crews. We continued through a gorge to Udalla and followed the river until it reached salt water, where the station of Treto is the wrong side of the river to serve the seaside report of Santoña. Thereafter the scenery was tamer, and at Gama there is a rubbish transfer station for freight. At Orejo, a branch electrified in 1981 comes in from Liérganes, and we were under the wires the rest of the way into Santander. On the way in, we met FEVE coal trains once again. Between Maliano and Valdecilla the line was diverted in 1983 to make room for development of the Nueva Montaña steelworks. There is still heavy industry in the area, and the adjacent port in the bay on the approaches to the city is active. Arriving at Santander, the joint broad and metre gauge station was opened in 1943. Once again, it was clear that the train does not seriously cater for end to end passenger traffic. It runs only 3 times per day, takes twice as long as a coach and misses towns on the coast which would provide intermediate traffic. A coach took us on to the NH Hotel Ciudad de Santander. On the way we saw the Brittany Ferries 'Pont-Aven' at the ferry berth on the front, no doubt awaiting departure for Plymouth. Since it was only lunchtime, we had the option of a pay-on-the-day trip on a local broad gauge Renfe train for a an hour and a half ride each way for the 88 km to Reinosa on the main line from Santander towards Madrid. Those interested took taxis to the station, where we caught the 14.15 train which runs through to Valladolid. This was formed by a non air conditioned 2-car class 440 emu with particularly grubby windows. The line was opened in 1866 and has a ruling gradient of about 1 in 52. It was electrified in 1955 and is only single track, not a great problem since there are only 3 intercity trains per day to Madrid and apparently not too much local passenger traffic or freight. We were amazed that it is commercially acceptable to run the third intercity train of the day on a schedule not due into Madrid till 23.52. After leaving Santander and skirting the town of Torrelavega, the line climbs scenically up the valley of the river Besaya and over the ridge of the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range, with views of soaring motorway bridges. The altitude at the foot of the climb at Los Corrales de Buelna is just 97m, but 49 kms further on at Reinosa where we left the train it is 851m. Unlike in Britain, land was still green at this altitude. The infant river Ebro flows through town on its journey east to the Mediterranean. Since we arrived mid-afternoon, the town was effectively shut, but shops reopened after 16.30. The author didn't purchase a copy of the same day's Daily Telegraph on sale in a shop in the town. We returned at 17.30 on another class 440, a unit 14 that was a total contrast to the last. It had been refurbished, equipped with air conditioning, tinted windows and comfortable throw over seats. Scarcely anyone in the group had been to Santander before. Hence we weren't entirely prepared to find that many restaurants in Santander don't open for dinner till 21.00, and unlike in Bilbao there was no sign of any fast food alternatives for the desperate. This was all in a city that is a major seaside resort; the holidaymakers must all be Spanish! Some of us had to renew our skills at provisioning in local shops, with the bonus of finding bottles of wine costing only 2 . The 'corner shop' does still exist in Spain.

What’s In The National Archives Charles Phillips

his is a brief note about what is in the National Archives at Kew relating to Iberian T Railways. The National Archives holds a total of 14 copies of the Continental Bradshaw. They are: April 1855, August 1861, February 1870, May 1913, August 1914, July to September 1927, October to November 1936, May to June 1937, May to June 1938, October to November 1938, April to May 1939, May to June 1939, July to October 1939 and apparently December 1935. There are a number of Cook’s Continental Timetables from 1947 to 1973. Sadly Cook’s timetable until recent years did not give as much information as the Continental Bradshaw, which sadly finished in 1939. There are examples of Wagon Lits timetables from 1929 to 1939. There are two Portuguese railways timetable for 1934 and 1956. There are fourteen Spanish timetables between 1929 and 1986.

My own personal collection has the Continental Bradshaws for April 1905, March 1914, June 1928, April 1929 and July 1938. I am happy to make these available. Out of interest I also have the British Bradshaws for April 1905 and June 1928. So if anyone wants to know how to go from Valencia Harbour to Valencia in either of those years I can advise them. I also have a reprint of Cooks Continental Timetable for August 1929 and practically a complete run of Trains Illustrated for which I am quite willing to allow access to. Also the Railway magazine between 1946 and 1980.

The Iberian Railways Society will be present at: German Railway Society Exhibition Saturday 26th September 2009 Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

15 CP Narrow Gauge By Tony Bowles

he lingering death of the narrow gauge lines in Portugal continues with the T announcement of the closure for 'repairs' of the remaining sections of both the Tamega & Corgo lines from 25/3/2009. This follows the cutback of services on the Tua line from 14/12/2008 limiting rail services to the section south from Mirandela as far as Cachão, with these two events eliminating all narrow gauge connections to the broad gauge valley line. Although this article covers the CPs metre gauge lines, the first section of narrow railway in Portugal was built to 900mm gauge by the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro de à Póvoa de Varzim; which it remained until conversion in March 1930 following the merger in 1927 with the neighbouring CF de Guimarães to form the CF do Norte de Portugal. These lines covered the well populated coastal area to the north of the city of Porto along with the broad gauge Minho line to Valença and its branch to Braga. The Porto area lines have disappeared in their original form but the core parts, the lines to Guimarães & Póvoa have been redeveloped to match modern needs whilst the rural sections from Póvoa to Familicão and Guimarães to Fafe were the first narrow gauge closure casualties in the mid 1980s along with the Dao line. The line to Póvoa now forms part of the using standard gauge low floor ; with the Guimarães line from Lousado having been rebuilt as a broad gauge branch and electrified. In the more rural areas however the narrow gauge lines were largely built to provide at a lower capital cost and their economic sustainability was even more marginal. Here generally speaking the first built lines survived far better than the later additions. The last section of narrow gauge to be opened was the Tamega line extension from Amarante to Arco de Baulhe in 1949 and this along with the whole of the that was not opened throughout until 1938 were among the second batch of casualties at the end of the 1980s along with the Corgo line north of Vila Real and that between Sernada do Vouga & . Less than two years later the Tua line's later built extension from Mirandela to Bragança was also closed, following the provision of a new far straighter road between the two. Apart from the short isolated section of the Tua line around Mirandela, the only narrow gauge operations now remaining are along the Vouga line from Espinho through Sernada do Vouga to Aveiro. Even here the central section of the line between Oliveira de Azemeis and Aguedo only sees two trains each way a day and but for the fact that the lines maintenance facilities are at Sernada may not have survived this long. Services at the northern end have already been cut back to Espinho Vouga and have therefore lost the previous cross platform interchange with the broad gauge at the main line station in Espinho. The reasons for all this are only too evident having visited the country a couple of times recently after a gap of nearly 30 years. these days is very much dominated by the motor vehicle with much investment having been made in improving the road system since accession to the EU. The situation now looks very 16 similar to Britain in the 1970s with a shrinking rail system trying to compete with the expanding road network. In this environment the narrow gauge lines were largely doomed with the costs of trans-shipment having already stripped them of their remaining freight traffic in the 1980s. There is now a motorway that runs south from Chaves to Vila Real, Regua & on to Viseu that enables one to drive the length of the Corgo line in less than a fifth of the time it used to take one of the Henschel 2-4-6-0 mallet tanks to travel the same distance. The latter would only make sense as part of the tourist market these days involving widespread use of volunteer labour which is simply

The first of the Companhia Nacional's beloved Kessler 2-6-0Ts, number E81 heads the early afternoon passenger working from Braganca near Rebordaos in August 1974. The locomotive was a mere 88 years young at the time hauling 4 wheel coaches of a similar vintage, all dating back to the opening of the Tua line. 17 Former CF do Estado 0-4-4-0T number E165 heads an early morning Povoa de Varzim to Famalicao train near Gondifelos in October 1967. The 10 locomotives of this type first operated on the Corgo line but became increasingly redundant there following delivery of the 16 larger 2-4-6-0 Mallet tanks.

Former CF do Estado 2-4-6-0T number E207 departs Pedras Salgadas with a northbound Corgo line train for Chaves on 8/9/1969. These locomotives were delivered over a 12 year period as the line was progressively extended from Vila Real to Chaves. The widened main road runs over the formation here now with the parallel motorway running along the west side of the valley. 18 Kessler 0-6-0T number E56 shunts the metre gauge yard at Tua in August 1974 marshalling stock for the afternoon mixed to Braganca to be worked by one of her larger 2-6-0 sister engines. This was the other type of locomotive supplied to the Companhia Nacional, this time for use on their line from Viseu to Santa Comba Dao where the 6 locomotives remained until CP days.

A Henschel 2-4-6-0 Mallet tank crosses the now completely closed double deck road & rail bridge over the River Douro departing Pocinho with the mixed train to Duas Igrejas on the Sabor line which like the Corgo & Tamega lines was built and operated by the state owned CF do Estado until formation of the CP in 1949. 19 One of the most modern pair of Kessler 2-6-0Ts number E113, having taken over the train at Mirandela, approaches Avantos with the early morning mixed from Tua to Braganca on 8/11/1977. She was in her 70th year at the time but was withdrawn not long afterwards because of accident damage, however sister engine number E114 was still performing this duty nearly 2 years later. 20 On the afternoon of 8/11/1977 Henschel 0-4-4-0 Mallet tank number E169 departs Abreiro station with the afternoon mixed train from Tua to Braganca. Following dieselisation of the Porto suburban services in 1976/7, most of this class was transferred to Tua where they performed most of the mixed train duties for a year or two until diesel locomotives arrived here also.

One of the original engines still managed to outlast the Mallet tanks on mixed train duties, as here Kessler 2-6-0T number E114 crosses Romeu viaduct with the early morning mixed from Tua to Braganca on 2/5/1979. Mixed is bit of a misnomer in this case as with the May Day holiday the previous day no freight had made its way up from Tua. 21 Much has changed including the gauge at , the former busy metre gauge junction of the suburban lines on the northern edge of Porto, here a 3 car unit departs the Metro do Porto station and passes the old CP station building on its way into the city.

In earlier times at Senhora da Hora, Henschel 2-8-2T number E142 heads the 7.57 Povoa de Varzim to Porto approaching the station. This was a modern engine by narrow gauge standards of the time, one of 4 built in 1931 for these services.

22 Something About A Sewer By Rarfe Chambers

nlike Her Majesty the Queen, I have only one birthday per year, and by a little U family tradition my wife Gill grants me a day’s pass-out, with a few Euros tucked into my pocket, and the loving good wishes to “go and find some trains”. Thus, in mid- August I set forth on a Sunday morning, on a modest enough excursion, driving first to my local station at Callosa del Segura, approximately half-way between Alicante and Murcia.

My target destination was a location where I suspected it was still possible to observe trains “street-running” along a main town street, in the manner that could be seen in various places thirty or forty years ago. A study of Google maps and satellite images seemed to indicate the ex-MZA main line from Murcia to Madrid passed directly along such a main street, curving from the East to the North through the centre of the town of Alcantarilla, Murcia. Google might not be up-to-date, but still there might be the chance of photography to record the street-running phenomenon. I think it was the late Stanley Holloway, star of stage, screen and radio, who used to sing a comic song including the memorable words “for there’s somethink abaht a sewer, ‘as a very straynge alewer”. The dictionary translation for the word sewer into Spanish is alcantarilla, and it seems to me a little unfortunate that quite a nice medium-sized town in Murcia should carry such an aromatic name. Spanish place names beginning with ‘al’ usually derive from Moorish roots, but I don’t know how Alcantarilla is constructed. Alcantarilla is modestly notable for a quite interesting rural industries ‘living 23 Callosa, 10/08/08, 09.22 dep. Murcia-Alicante cercanías, with 592-021M + 011R + 022M. (i.e. correctly formed, not always the case)

Callosa, 10/08/08, 09.55 dep. Valencia-Murcia regional, with 592-222M + 211R + 221M 24 museum’, and for at one time being the terminus of the Alcantarilla and Lorca Railway, which eventually became part of the piecemeal-connected trunk line, always slow to travel on and now mostly closed, from Murcia to Granada. The AL terminus was located conveniently enough in the town, but for many years the line stopped short of the MZA line from Albacete to Murcia, leaving through passengers with about a five hundred metre trudge from the AL ‘Campoamor’ station to the MZA ‘Villa’. I had travelled from Murcia to Granada in the summer of 1963 by the afternoon railcar, a big ex-Norte 1938 Ganz-built 4-axle diesel-mechanical unit, and although my notebook of the time survives, it records only the time of calling at Alcantarilla; nothing is mentioned of reversal, and I honestly can’t remember – neither can my brother Richard. I think it probable that in those days trains were calling at Alcantarilla Villa and reversing over a spur through the remains of the Campoamor station, on the North-to-West side of the triangle of lines. The railcar was double-ended, and the two minute stop would suffice to relocate the driver to the other end. To return to the account of my outing; at Callosa station there was a notice pinned up that caught my eye, announcing that since a fairly recent date the cercanías trains would no longer be calling at the wayside stations of Alquerías-Los Ramos, Torreaguera and Beniaján, and I wondered why that was. The first photograph of the day shows a northbound cercanías (red) class 592 DMU at Callosa, and the second shows my train in the opposite direction, the 09.55 to Murcia, with a ‘regional’ (orange) class 592 DMU. Note the woman inconveniently placed in the foreground, and having a good stare at me taking the photograph. She moved to that position just to improve her view, I am sure. No doubt you have all been stared at in Spain – it is a national pastime. Spanish children are instructed repeatedly from a very early age to “look at this, look at that, look at him, look at her!” I recall that when travelling in Spain in the late sixties and seventies with my lovely young wife, she was frequently examined carefully from all four points of the compass on various station platforms. Mind you, she was well worth staring at, I am proud to say, and she always withstood the ordeal calmly and coolly. The DMU took me towards Murcia, and after the stop at Beniel, it became apparent why we were not stopping at the previously-mentioned halts. Just as the Cartagena line came into view on the left, we swung gently right on to a new alignment, very smooth and quiet in running. At what I took to be the site of a new station (obviously late in the building of) for Alquerías, there was one of the old ex-Renfe Alco 1954 American Aid Co-Co DEs, number 1614, in yellow livery in the ownership, I think, of the construction firm ‘Azvi’. I had seen earthworks in that area the last time I passed that way, a few months previously, but I was surprised to see a complete new alignment, all done bar the finishing touches. The ‘old’ line had been severed and blocked off with huge piles of old track lengths at kilometre post 469.9 at the Alicante end, and KP 462.8 at the Murcia end, between Beniaján and Murcia. At the Alquerías end, there is a new branch towards the Cartagena line, with an expensive looking overbridge over the redundant Alicante-Murcia line. This would seem a waste of money, unless ‘they’ intend to instal double track and a flyover junction. There is already double track along the new line into Murcia, with banalised signalling. This would appear to be the first tangible sign of a modernised railway for Murcia. The Murcians complain about the lack of attention paid to their poor-relation status compared to all the places getting super-trains and high-speed lines across the rest 25 Alcantarilla Villa, 10/08/08, 13.14 pass, Cartagena-Madrid Altaria, with 354-008 'Virgen de Monserrat' (Krauss-Maffei 1983).

Alcantarilla Villa, 10/08/08, 13.34 pass, Madrid-Cartagena Altaria, with 334-002. ( 2006) 26 of Spain. It seems that the Albacete to Murcia line is missed out of the plans, whilst a new branch of the high-speed line from Madrid to Alicante (well on the way, by the way) will have a spur to Elche, and a junction to the old line. This is to be considered the preferred way from Madrid to Murcia, even though it is nearly eighty kilometres further to travel. When the new trains do come, it is not clear what effect they will have on my local train service, on what will then be an overcrowded single track. We arrived at Murcia at 10.22, with plenty of time to take a coffee break in the cantina, now known as the ‘Station Bar’. I must say, the station bar at Murcia del Carmen is a most excellent example of its kind; modernised just enough, and still accessible from the platform and the street, and offering a delightful variety of good quality tapas and beverages at low-end prices, served up by cheerful and friendly staff. Being Sunday, there wasn’t much about, but what trains there were were busy enough. A class 592 3-car DMU from Lorca arrived, and one left for Alicante, then another one came in from Águilas and turned around in ten minutes, leaving at 11.45 with me on board, heading for the first stop down the line at Alcantarilla-Los Romanos. In the small marshalling yard just before the MZA Madrid line deviates to the north, the regular shunter was parked, in the shape of 1990 Meinfesa/General Motors Bo-Bo diesel electric 310.032, then a few hundred metres farther on we stopped at the plain single- platform halt that serves Alcantarilla, and I alighted. I walked from the village suburb of Los Romanos up into the town proper, looking for signs of the erstwhile Alcantarilla-Lorca main line, but all I could find was a small town park and a large building site, with no sign at all of the Alcantarilla Campoamor terminal station, nor any sign of the alignment of the west-to-north curve to that station and on to the MZA line. I had hoped that the east-to-north curve of the MZA through the town would show me the street running that I was seeking, but was disappointed to find wire fences and/or breeze-block walls, hemming in the line at the southern end of the curve, and wide open dusty weedy cleared spaces, apparently once a big yard, to the northern end, on the west side of the ex-MZA Alcantarilla Villa station. The noonday sun was something of a problem now, as there was very little shade on the dusty space left by the clearance of the railway sidings. I was, however, able to spend some time hiding from the sun inside the interesting Old Villa Station Restaurant, located in part of the original MZA station buildings. Their cold beer was very refreshing. Outside again, I went searching for suitable photographic locations for the expected ‘up’ and ‘down’ Madrid expresses – the only two train movements for some hours on a Sunday. I drew some odd looks, poking about an area with nothing whatsoever in it except blazing sunshine. Some dog-walkers and other passers-by actually diverted their trajectories to get a better look at me, but seemed satisfied to receive a ‘buenas’ greeting. I thought the Villa station was closed for railway purposes, but there were some brand-new ADIF signs to be seen, not very conspicuous, such as ‘way out’ and ‘to platform 1’ (there was only one) and ‘Alcantarilla’. I asked the waitresses in the restaurant if any trains stopped there, and they said they didn’t know but didn’t think so, giving me yet another odd look. Later, on checking the Renfe computerised excuse for a timetable, I discovered that on weekdays there is one up and one down morning ‘Altaria’ train which stop. The girls had probably never been present on a weekday morning to

27 Alcantarilla-Los Romanos, 10/08/08, 13.54 dep. Murcia-Aguilas cercanías, with 592-010 leading a 9-car rake.

Murcia Del Carmen, 10/08/08, 16.36 arr. Madrid-Cartagena Altaria, with 354-002 'Virgen de Aranzazu' (Krauss- Maffei 1983) 28 witness these grand trains call by. As the Altarias are all reserved-seat jobs, I wonder how, indeed if, anybody alights from or boards these two trains! And what happens to the integrity of the X-ray baggage checks that they attempt to make at Murcia? Anyway, after a long hot wait, thankfully mostly in the shade of a fig tree, during which Gill’s lovingly prepared ham and cheese sandwiches were devoured, the 13.06 Murcia to Madrid came by, at 13.14, indicating an on-time departure from Murcia. I had not found a very good location for my photograph, the sun being in completely the wrong place, but I got a fair shot of the train barrelling up through the station in fine style, with derelict point levers as a ‘foreground’ item. Much to my astonishment and pleasure, the locomotive on this train was not one of the new 334 class Vossloh diesel- electric jobs, but 354-008 ‘Virgen de Monserrat’, one of the last three Krauss-Maffei 4000 h.p. diesel-hydraulics of 1983 vintage. She sounded like a slightly quieter, less shrill ‘Western’. The magazine ‘Todays Railways Europe’ had reported over twelve months ago that these fine machines had been displaced by the new Vossloh diesel-electrics of class 334. After the passage of the ‘up’ train, the ‘down’ should soon be along, presumably crossing the ‘up’ at the closed station of Alguazas-Molina, nine kilometres to the north. I had still not decided on where to stand to photograph the ‘down’. I wanted to capture it passing the main level crossing in the town centre or the remains of the old MZA station buildings, In the event, the train caught me in the wasteland of dust and weeds between the two, coming swiftly and almost silently down the gradient. In my photograph, 334-002 and its train completely obscures the station building. The Madrid- Cartagena Altaria passed at 13.34, with one minute left to reach Murcia on time. It seems to me that must be the normal state of affairs, as the ‘up’ train was right on time, and crossing must take place at Alguazas, so far as I could see. Owing to the infrequent Sunday service, I would have to wait now almost two hours for a return cercanías to Murcia, so I strolled slowly in the fierce sun back to the Los Romanos halt. I decided, quite sensibly I thought, that the best way to while away the time would be to visit a pub, but began to worry whether there was one handy. There was, but of the mean and grubby ‘boozer’ variety usually called a cervecería, peopled by quite a lot of the local tattooed youth, both male and female. I ordered a pint, and sat down in front of a large fan, the nearest equivalent to air conditioning they had, and watched proceedings. The proprietor, who reminded me very much of Oscar (Walter Matthau) in ‘The Odd Couple’ was passing two-litre bottles of San Miguel out of the window at frequent intervals to the ‘youth club’ out on the terrace. The Olympic Games were on the pub television, and Spain was winning a basketball match, but nobody was watching except me. I asked one of the youths if this was what was known as a ‘botellón’ (loose translation – a more or less spontaneous drunken ‘rave’), but he laughed and said ‘no, this is just a little aperitivo before Sunday lunch’. It was gone three- o-clock, and nobody was sober, but neither was anybody aggressive or violent. Argumentative and noisy, but this was Spain after all. I walked back to the Spartan single-platform halt of Alcantarilla-Los Romanos and sat waiting alone. I reflected that Los Romanos might be derived from ‘the gypsies’, and the cervecería that I had visited did seem to contain quite a few ‘gypsy’ types – probably quite politically incorrect of me. The other diversion at the halt was the presence of a fig tree bursting with over-ripe figs on the opposite side of the track, 29 which was obviously a magnet for thousands of fruit-fly type bugs. These in their turn were a magnet for dozens of swallows, martins and swifts, diving and swooping again and again in a frenzy of aerial catching and feeding. I witnessed something that I had never seen before. The over-excited birds were actually colliding with each other in mid air, not frequently, but enough to be noticeable, and without apparent injury to each other. Before the pub visit, a heavily strengthened and crowded (Sunday afternoon seaside trippers?) Murcia to Águilas 9-car cercanías 592 came and went, being duly photographed. The bird-frenzy fig tree is visible to the right, but the birds have retired momentarily for the passage of the big red roaring train. At 15.28, my Lorca train back to Murcia collected me, and in six minutes deposited me there. Apart from a couple of cercanías movements with standard class 592 DMUs, it was another hour before the next significant movement, in the shape of the next Madrid-Cartagena ‘Altaria’, arriving at 16.34, in the charge of yet another Krauss-Maffei (great!) 354-006 ‘Virgen de Aranzazu’. I got a nice photograph of her, coming in to the station over the Floribanda Street level crossing. She was on time. Twelve minutes later, an up Cartagena-Madrid ‘Altaria’ arrived with the ‘normal’ class 334, 334-002 on the head end. In my photograph, the type 6 stock of the afternoon Murcia-Barcelona ‘Talgo’ can be seen, waiting to depart bay platform 11, with 334-004 in charge, once the Cartagena-Madrid clears the points. There’s nothing more to report, except the 16.55 departure cercanías to Alicante with 592-021M + 011R + 022M (correctly formed, not always the case), which took me ‘home’ to Callosa at 17.22. What a nice day, if hot and slow. Although I have trained myself to walk on the shady side wherever possible, I was also rather sunburned, I’m afraid. My apologies to all of you there in Britain for mentioning it!

Murcia Del Carmen, 10/08/08, 16.50 arr. Cartagena-Madrid Altaria, with 334-002 (Vossloh '06) (16.47 due dep. Barc'a Talgo in bay). 30 Aguilas Railway Museum By Graham Harrison

guilas is at the end of a branchline from Murcia town. The museum, which is run A by the Asociatión Amigos del Ferrocarril “El Labradorcico”, uses the old vaults under the station which were used originally for storing wine casks. The vaults have been beautifully restored and very tastefully lit and laid out. The postcards don’t do it justice! The museum has a large HO-scale model railway which unfortunately has mostly American and German stock. There is a very large display of small items such as uniforms, lamps, signals, badges etc. with a lot of scale models of Spanish railways which can be handled. The group itself used to run steam and diesel excursions but this hasn’t happened for a number of years now [though they are still listed on the association website - www.serconet.com/usr/jmmorales/museo.htm –ed]. There seemed to be a huge mining operation in the area in years gone by and a large photo display shows a huge staith jutting out to sea with a fleet of small steamers waiting to be loaded. One of the photos showed what seemed to be a couple of broad- gauge Kitson-Meyers in use but the picture was from a newspaper and the quality wasn’t good [confirmed on the website – ed]. I would like to know more about this operation if any members have any more information?

[According to the association website the local pre-RENFE company was the Ferrocarril de Lorca a Baza y a Aguilas (LBA) and was an offshoot of the Great Southern of Spain Railway Ltd – more info can be found at www.serconet.com/usr/jmmorales/lba.htm] – ed.

31 Latour de Carol -Envitig May 1984. This photograph by the late Stephen Beck is the Editor ’s favourite, and is his computer deskto p picture. A Renfe Class 436 (MTM, MACOSA or Schindler 1958-66) with what has become a Cercania service from Latour to Barcelona via Vic and Ribes. On the left can be seen t he rake that forms the SNCF 4871 overnight train from Paris Austerlitz. Now running with just 1st & 2nd class couchettes (Corail Lunea), in 1984 it had USI couchettes, a P -type 2nd Class a nd an MU 1st sleeper. The Renfe service is probably the 08.25 connecting service, the sleeper arriving at 08.00.