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Issue No. 22 Autumn 2011 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 (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 . 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 2011-MARCH 2012 UK £14.50 EUROPE £17.00 REST OF WORLD £18.00 Web Download £5.00 Payment CHEQUE (Payable to: Iberian Railway 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. 2 Title Page

The Society 2 The Chairman’s Page 4 The Editor’s Page 5 Stars In Their Eyes 6 Horario De Trenes 1985 14 Spanish Roamings 18 Porto Pictorial - Part 3 25 An Industrial Line In The Province Of Aragon 28

Warley Model Railway Show 2011 Hall 5 of the N.E.C, Birmingham Saturday 19th November 09.30 to 18.00 Sunday 20th November 09.30 to 17.00 IRS stand number is E04A

There are programmed to be 85 working layouts and the continental Selection includes 10 American, 2 Swiss, 1 Australian, 1 German, 1 East German, 2 French, 2 Swedish, 1 Italian (Paul Hannant), 1 Austrian and 1 Dutch. So plenty to enjoy!

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: Abando 1984. Renfe Class 433-560 EMU (SECN/Westinghouse 1944) between turns towards the end of its life. From a postcard. 3

HOLÀ !

irst a huge thank you to all those who have renewed; appreciated. Secondly, we will F be at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC on the 19th-20th November 2011. Please come along and make yourself known to us, we can promise you a warm welcome. Thirdly, many of you will have been to Iberia this year, despite the exchange rate. Please let Mike Guerra have some pictures with some text. I promise to send some from Mallorca for the next edition, make me keep my promise Michael! Speaking generally about the exchange rate, which from the UK point of view has deteriorated dramatically recently, at least it's not as bad as the Swiss rate. This has dropped to about SFr1.23 to £1 for tourists, a drop of about 50% in the past two years. Iberia still offers relatively good value in comparison. The recession in is having an effect on RENFE and in the news is very worrying with dire predictions of mass railway closures. Whether these actually happen is a matter for conjecture but the NG lines in the Douro now seem doomed. Missing these will be something I am very disappointed about. The other major cause for concern is the lack of impetus in connecting Portugal to the outside railway world. There must be demand for inter- capital travel and it's being ignored in favour of plane travel and/or road. I'm sure the Portuguese will come to regret this in the years to come. Enough from me, enjoy the rest of the magazine. - Adios,

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

IRS MEETING - 2012 With our limited funds finding a free venue is proving very difficult. Ideally a location should be in the SE, preferably to the West or North of London. Does anyone have access to a suitable location which is both close to a railway line and free. An office perhaps, a clubroom? If you do will you please get in touch as soon as possible. I could do this at home in Worcester but the reality is that this is impractical for the majority of members. I look forward to hearing from you. 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 . £25 inc P&P Out & About . £25 inc P&P Cabride - Portbou to Girona £20 inc P&P TALGO Cabride - Girona to Barcelona £20 inc P&P TALGO Cabride - Barcelona to £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.

4 have a secret fetish, well actually it’s not that secret. Ok, well here it is: I like reading I timetables. Not just any timetables, just those of international and long distance trains. If we were to have access to an adequate sufficiency, we would spend our days travelling on long distance trains, reading, eating food from restaurant cars or exotic platform vendors and think geographical, historical, cultural and engineering thoughts. Unfortunately, that pleasant sufficiency is still out of reach, so I content myself on darkening winter evenings reading timetables, making imaginary itineraries and looking through travel guides and maps. My favourite journeys were never less than 4 hours, and I would always try and include a night train or two (1st class sleeper of course!), as I love that delightful meditation that comes from looking out the window at night with the lights off before I drift off to sleep. In this issue we have Myles’ description of a 1980s’ Renfe timetable and Xavier’s article on the more recent incarnation of the Renfe night service Estrella. And here comes my request: should you have any spare Cooks’ Continental Timetables from 1883 to 2000, and you would like a good home for them, then look no further. I would be more than willing to offer something in exchange (though we are pretty broke at the moment - but who isn’t), and if you have one but can’t bear to give it up then perhaps you would allow me to borrow it for scanning. I don’t have a great collection and I am missing references to between the world wars and 1950s’ trains. With the introduction of high speed rail many interesting through services have been replaced with short, speedy trips between hubs (I suppose to match the airlines who they feel are the competition), leaving the seasoned meditative traveller insufficient time to get settled in. And as for Eurostar, 2 hrs is not really enough. While I am in the mood for begging (and predicated by the Chairman’s desire to offload his Today’s Railways Europe collection) if anyone wishes to offload any old European Railways, Rail Passion or any Iberian magazines or postcards that may be gathering dust then please contact me in the usual way. And as usual, if anyone has been on an interesting Iberian trip recently, and they haven’t written anything about it then please do! Michael Guerra

Petiet 030+030-T (Gouin 1863) Ferrocarril de Zaragoza a Pamplona y Alsasua. Incorporated into the Ferrocarriles Zaragoza a Pamplona y Barcelona in 1865 and into Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España in 1878 5 Stars in Their Eyes – The Story of Estrella By Xavier Guerra

omestic overnight services in Spain have been running since the end of the D nineteenth century, some even with rather rudimentary convertible stock. The large distances covered from the outer provinces and the low average speeds meant that a direct train from say Barcelona to in 1914 would take around 18.5hrs and from to Madrid nearly 24hrs! Fortunately the infrastructure and stock has improved significantly, but due to increased competition from the airlines, and in an age before AVE Renfe felt the need to consolidate the remaining overnight services into a new brand: Estrella. Estrella is a night train service operated by Renfe. Its name means “stars” in Spanish, meaning that you would sleep under them. Estrella night trains are the domestic night services of Spain, and have been around since 1982, as long as the Renfe Operador brand. Before 1900, the railways of Spain were growing apace. But the crying need for better long distance travel came. There were three problems facing Spain’s railways that slowed development. They were the terrain – mountains, dry land and many winding hills, the temperature – especially in the south the climate is very hot and dry, and technology – at the time only Britain and the US had the best rolling stock, this also restricted the ability to run faster trains. But that changed when Compania Internacional De Coches Camas (CIWL) came to Spain, with their new and improved stock, based on the Pullman Stock of Britain and the US.

Ex-CIWL type P at Madrid Fuencarral Depot in 1987. Photo R.Melendez

After the demise of CIWL in 1971, Renfe inherited the stock for use on their Spanish domestic trains. They were left in their CIWL Blue and Gold livery with all the CIWL markings. These worked with the domestic Renfe stock of the age, of 8000 series coaches. After classic CIWL stock, like type LX, type S, type Z, type YT and former Pullman Cars, became outdated, they were withdrawn, scrapped, or dumped and left to rot – the most famous site being Canfranc, the French/Spanish border town in the Pyrenees. But some were preserved by the Asociación Zaragozana De Amigos Del Ferrocarril Y Tranvías (AZAFT). 6 Estrella liveried Class 250 605 takes a break at Barcelona Can Tunis depot on 23rd February 2002. Photo Javier Peña

Renfe Class 269-307 in Estrella livery at Barcelona França 10 June 2005. Photo Salim Virji

7 Of course, more modern ex-CIWL cars survived. The coaches were de-branded of their CIWL logos and markings, and adopted Renfe logo and markings, but still retained their CIWL blue with gold stripe livery, before they were repainted into Renfe domestic blue and grey livery in the late 1980s. These included type-T2, type-YF and type-UH. These cars were reinstated onto their domestic night train services like in the CIWL heyday, to work with the new 9000 and 10000 series coaches, as well as aging 8000 series coaches. The services were to be known as Estrella, a marketing scheme introduced by Renfe to boost night time travel in competition with the airlines, at a time when major high speed networks were unheard of. Former WL type P cars never received a repaint, as they were immediately withdrawn after a serious collision in Valladolid. On March 3rd 1988, the Estrella ‘Costa Vasca’ collided with the ‘Cantabrico’ express in Valladolid station; it is believed that the P-type on the rear of the Estrella was split in half during the collision, which led to their immediate withdrawal. As a bonus, the Estrella scheme included some services with car transporters. Passengers could now take their cars with them. This created a major boost for Renfe; passengers could take their cars with them. Sometimes the services would incorporate a postal wagon in assistance with Correos. And to solve the locomotive availability problem, services would merge with long-distance daytime expresses, known as Diurno’s. Auto trains did exist before the Estrella launch, both as a separate service where cars were deposited in one city, transported to its destination to be picked up later by the owner, as well as long distance trains where the owner travelled in the same train. With the introduction of the Estrella branding some accompanied auto trains were incorporated into Estrella, however, throughout the Estrella period some trains dropped the car carriers, while some tried them for a period. Of course, auto trains can only operate from certain (usually terminal) stations and required extended loading periods which often required long platform occupations. The increase in the use of hire cars reduced the desire of some customers to take their cars on the long journey, so reducing the market for auto trains. And add-on to loco availability was the allocation of a handful of class 269 and class 250 for use on Estrella services from 1989. These were taken from their freight services, repainted in the Estrella Brown and Cream livery and placed on loco diagrams mostly involving Estrella services. These lasted until the end of 2002, when the coaching stock was incorporated into the Renfe Gran Lineas Pool. The locos then returned to their freight diagrams. When Talgo came out with a 16 coach Talgo designed for night-time use, know as Talgo , the end for Estrella was not far. Talgo Trenhotel, and the high speed expansion network, gradually replaced most of the Estrella services. Two survive to the time of writing (see below), but the days are numbered for these services. And Estrella had competition from another side of Spain; Renfe had a high speed line. When the AVE line from Madrid to Seville and Cordoba, services on that route – especially the Estrella Giralda, had coaches fitted with GC (Gran Comfort) type bogies for use on the high speed line at 160km/h. These worked with class 252 locos on the high speed section.

8 Ex-CIWL type T2 in Madrid Fuencarral Depot on 2nd January 2005. Photo Jorge García Cuevas.

-Renfe Estrella YF 4863 dumped at Fuencarral 21-04-2003. Photo Javier Peña

10000 series second class couchette car at Madrid Fuencarral Depot in 1988.. Photo R.Melendez 9 Services still running: Estrella Costa Brava: Madrid-Chamartín (2250) · Alcalá de Henares (2312)· Guadalajara (2327)· Sigüenza (0019)· Arcos de Jalón (0046)· Calatayud (0130)· Zaragoza- (0249)· Reus (0620) · (0633)· Sant Vicenç de Calders (0652)· Barcelona-Sants (0812)· Granollers Centre (0854)· Caldas de Malavella (0931)· Girona (0944)· Flaçà (1001)· Figueras (1020) · Llançà (1037)· Portbou (1046)· Cerbere (1055) Estrella Picasso: Bilbao-Abando (2125) · Miranda de Ebro · Burgos-Rosa de Lima · Valladolid Campo Grande · Medina del campo · Ávila · Manzanares (0535) · Valdepeñas · Linares Baeza (0650) · Córdoba Central (0824) · Puente Genil (0938) · Bobadilla (1013) · Málaga-María Zambrano (1115)

Services replaced or withdrawn:

Estrella Costa Vasca: Madrid (2335) – Bilbao (0937) / Hendaya (0950) (replaced by Alvia in mornings and afternoons)

Estrella Costa Verde: Madrid (2330) – Gijón (0800) / Santander (0840) (by Alvia in mornings and afternoons with one extra to )

Estrella del : Madrid (2020) – Algeciras (0830) (replaced by an Altaria and AVE service to Antequera)

Estrella Sol del Levante: Alicante (1935) – Bilbao (1142) (no direct replacement)

Estrella Naranco: Alicante - Gijón (replaced by Alvia) – timings not found

Estrella : Madrid (1810) – París (1027) (replaced by Trenhotel Francisco de )

Estrella Guadiana: Madrid (2335) - Badajoz (0815) (replaced by a regional 592 via Ciudad Real)

Estrella Ciudad Condal: Madrid (2230) - Barcelona (0749) (replaced by AVE)

Estrella Costa de la Luz : Madrid (2145) – Cádiz (0855) (replaced by Alvia and AVE via and Cordoba)

Estrella Costa Cálida: Madrid (2310) – Cartagena (0845) (replaced by Altaria)

Estrella Mar Menor : Barcelona – Cartagena (0850) (replaced by a daytime Talgo) – timings not found

Estrella Sierra Nevada : Madrid (2305) - Granada (0800) (replaced by Altaria and AVE)

10 Class 269 029 waits to leave Chamartin with the Estrella to Algeracias 13.11.1993. Photo Adrian Nicholls

269 407 stands at Santander with the Estrella stock for Malaga in 1998. Photo Aturovega Roldan

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Estrella Costa de Almería : Madrid (2230) – Almería (0815) (replaced by a daytime Talgo via Linares-Beza)

Estrella Alcazaba : Cádiz - Almería (no direct replacement service) – timings not found

Estrella Giralda : Madrid (2035) – Sevilla (0618) (replaced by an AVE)

Estrella Media Luna : Irún / Portbou - Algeciras (no direct replacement service as it was the longest train journey in the country) – timings not found

Estrella Sol de Europa : Santander - Málaga (no direct replacement service)

Estrella Costa del Sol : Madrid (2145) – Málaga (0750) (replaced by an AVE and a high speed Talgo)

Estrella Gibralfaro : Barcelona (2120) - Málaga (0733)/ Granada (0745) (replaced by Trenhotel Gibralfaro)

Estrella Guadalquivir : Barcelona - Cádiz (replaced by Trenhotel Antonio Machado)

Estrella Mediterráneo : Barcelona (2120) – Sevilla (0853) (replaced by an AVE)

Estrella Atlántico: Madrid (2205) – Ferrol (1048) (replaced by Trenhotel Atlántico)

Estrella Rías Altas: Madrid (2205) - La Coruña (1024) (replaced by Trenhotel Rías Gallegas)

Estrella Rías Bajas: Madrid (1950) – Vigo (1130) /Pontevedra (1040) (replaced by Trenhotel Rías Gallegas)

Estrella Pío Baroja and its relations: (replaced by Trenhotel Pio Barojas) Barcelona (2230) - Zamora (1055) (no direct replacement service) Barcelona (2230) – Bilbao (0755) / Hendaya (0810) (replaced by an Alvia and a Talgo) Barcelona (2230) - Gijón (1150) (replaced by the aforementioned Trenhotel) Barcelona (2230) - Salamanca (1029)(replaced by an AVE to Zaragoza and a 599 to Salamanca)

Estrella Galicia: Barcelona (1735) – Vigo (1556) /La Coruña (1540) (replaced by Trenhotel Galicia),

Sud Express: Lisboa (1510) - Irún (1010) – Hendaya (1140) (Was not an Estrella, but sometimes used Estrella stock – see Correo 20 for more details, replaced by Trenhotel Surexpreso in 2010)

12 Modelling an Estrella train is pretty easy, but the best variety is only available in HO or N scale. Obviously, Electrotren offer a lot for HO users. Currently in stock, they have some Type T2 coaches in Ex-CIWL, Renfe Gran Lineas and Renfe Operador livery. They also have some 8000 series coaches in Green or Estrella Brown & Cream. Electrotren also have a class 250 and 269 model in Estrella livery, as well as the usual locos and liveries. Roco offer HO coaches and locos too. They have 250’s and 269’s in Estrella livery. It is up to you which brand of loco you choose to use, but Electrotren models are regarded as having more detail. And for coaching stock, Roco has more variety. They have 8000, 9000 and 12000 in the three liveries: Estrella, Renfe Gran Lineas and Renfe Operador. And the same range of stock is also available in N scale as well. There is not yet an end to this story. As you can see above, two Estrella services still survive, and may survive a little longer than predicted. In a Europe wide economic recession, Talgo do not wish to invest in new trains for sleeper services, but direct its attention to providing high speed units. However, there has been an exception. As you can see above, Estrella Galicia was replaced by Trenhotel Galicia. The Talgo set used for the service is a Talgo 7 Altaria set converted into a Trenhotel. Could this be the new form of night train in Spain? But for now only two ‘Estrella’ services will live on, unlike other countries like Germany and Italy which have embraced loco hauled sleeper services.

H0 Electrotren 18005 RENFE AA-8049 1st Class Sleeper in Estrella livery

H0 Electrotren 18105 RENFE T2 in Grandes Lineas livery - also available in blue RENFE & Operadora liveries

Estrella Picasso passes Pizarra behind Class269 908 in 2008. Photo Etcs 03 13 Horario De Trenes 1985 By Myles Munsey

year or two ago at a model railway show (though I honestly can't remember where A and I'm not entirely sure why) I purchased a rather interesting book. This is the 'Horario de Trenes for June to September 1985 which makes it a quarter of a century old. I wouldn't say it is a collector's item exactly, but given that RENFE has not produced a national printed timetable for a number of years (perhaps our editor can enlighten us), it is nonetheless a document well worth preserving. It certainly gives a fascinating insight into a slower paced world as it was then. Despite RENFE's best efforts, trains then were pretty pedestrian and certainly infrequent, making day trips from the capital to places such as Cordoba or Seville, which are now routine, virtually impractical. The timetable's front cover shows a pair of Class 250 locomotives heading in opposite directions and edited to look like the overnight Estrella Livery. The upper locomotive is shown hauling a train of coaches in matching livery although only one first class carriage and a similar looking second class version are visible. Artistic licence definitely comes into play here as both locomotives and each carriage are equipped with four axles!

Turning inside the book now we find a pictogram page followed by one of two reversible maps. The two reversible maps show:

Map 1 - obverse. Mapa General. Shows lines and table numbers for all long distance services across Spain. This is a composite map showing cross-country routes, Madrid based routes and surburban network table numbers except Madrid,

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Map 1- reverse. (Relaciones transversales) is a composite map showing lines and table numbers for Cross Country trains not originating and terminating at Madrid.

Map 2 - obverse. Relaciones radiales. This shows all lines and table numbers for long distance services that do originate in Madrid.

Map 2 - reverse. Mapa de Relaciones Internacionales. This shows all the table numbers for International trains emanating from Spain and Portugal to as far east as Varsovia (Warsaw), Estambul (Istanbul) and Atenas ().

The main body of the book is divided into Five sections. Section 1 Tips on how to use the timetable, useful information. Section 2 International trains including Trans-Europe Express Section 3 RENFE lines Section 4 Minor lines. This includes timetables for all the narrow gauge lines including Bilbao to Leon and Ferrol (FEVE), Alicante to Denia, Palma to Inca and Soller on Mallorca as well as the FGC lines (Ferrocarril de la Generalidad de Cataluna) and FFVV (Ferrocarriles Vascos SA).

Section 5 Shipping lines and Long-distance buses.

Looking at the book in more detail, of particular interest to me is the International Section, consisting of 20 tables. As was common in those days the International section featured tables of services not travelling remotely near the country for which the timetable is issued. By this I mean that the tables include services in countries far removed from the . Table 16 is notable as it shows a fantastic array of trains emanating from to Zagreb, Athens and Istanbul. There isn't space here to describe every table but I find it interesting and extremely nostalgic to list all the Spanish and Portuguese International Expresses.

ALGECIRAS - CEUTA EXPRESO Paris to Algeciras ARIS - COTE VERMEILLE Paris to Barcelona ATLANTICO EXPRESO Madrid (Principe Pio) to Ponferrada BARCELONA TALGO Paris to Barcelona CATALAN TALGO Geneva to Barcelona CANTABRIA EXPRESO Madrid to Santander CIUDAD CONDAL Madrid to Barcelona COSTA VERDE EXPRESO Madrid to Gijon COSTA BRAVA Barcelona to Cerbere COSTA VASCA Madrid to Burgos COSTA DE LA LUZ EXPRESO Madrid to Huelva COSTA CALIDA Madrid to Cartagena 15 Horario de Trenes 1985: The colourful Mapa General shows all the main routes radiating from Madrid (also note number of now - lifted lines)

16 EXPRESO SIERRA NEVADA Madrid to Granada/Almeria (split at Linares) EXTRAMADURA EXPRESO Madrid to Badajoz HISPANIA EXPRESO Barcelona to Base/Geneve IBERIA EXPRESO Irun to Madrid LA PALOMA AZUL Paris to Irun/Hendaya LISBOA EXPRESO Madrid to Lisboa LUSTITANIA EXPRESO Madrid to Lisboa MIRAGAIA Lisboa to Oporto PUERTA DEL SOL Madrid to Paris SUR EXPRESO Paris to Lisboa EXPRESO Paris to Valencia/Alacant and Murcia TRAMONTANA Nimes to Barcelona PARIS MADRID TALGO Paris to Madrid SOL DE LEVANTE Zaragoza to Hendaya RIAS ALTAS EXPRESO Madrid to Santiago de Compostela and La Coruna RIO MINO Madrid to Vigo RIAS BAJAS Madrid to Vigo TORRE DEL ORO Sevilla/Malaga to Barcelona SOL DE LEVANTE Alicante to Irun/Bilbao GIRALDA EXPRESS Madrid to Sevilla

You will observe two things. First of all the Spanish term for an express train is Expreso (with one S), not to confused with double ‘s’ which is a sort of coffee. Secondly some of the trains are named with EXPRESO as a prefix, on most occasions it is a suffix. Why that should be I have no idea. Maybe the editor can proffer an explanation? I have selected a part of table R8 for photographic reproduction. This is a small uncomplicated table which features just two trains. They are the CATALAN TALGO (Barcelona to Geneva) and the BARCELONA TALGO from Barcelona to Paris.

17 Spanish Roamings By Graham Walker

e decided on a holiday in Spain. The main attraction for my wife was the historic W towns and cities, as well as the prehistoric burial dolmens clustered around Valencia de Alcantara on the Portuguese border. For me, any hope of photographing railway scenes was set aside once the route had been chosen - and a look at Cook’s European Railway Timetable showed a poor service of just two early morning passenger trains a day in the area we were to stay longest. Even so, between Madrid and Guadalupe we crossed the Madrid -Talavera de la Reina route, and happened to pull into the station car park at Torrejos just as a RENFE Media Distancia 3 car dmu Class 598 was leaving for Madrid. Our route continued to Guadalupe, winding through the Montes de Toldeo. Near El Campillo de la Jara, we drove under a railway bridge which was not marked on our map. We had to stop for a closer look. It appeared to be a railway line which had been converted into a Green Road, and now named the Via Verde de la Jara. (See photo 1). It sparked the memory of a review I had read recently on a book about the line from Calera y Chozas to Santa Quiteria. Construction of the line from Talavera de la Reina to Villanueva de la Serena had started in 1924 but was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. Despite starting work again after the War, it was finally abandoned in 1964. I gather rails were laid between Logrosan and Villanueva de la Serena, but I don’t know if any trains ran between these places. This cycle path follows the track bed for 52 kms. (It was nice to see the book for sale in the window of a Guadalupe book shop). The next railway interest was Logrosan, where a freshly painted water column had been erected in the middle of a roundabout, but unfortunately that was all that remained, as the railway formation had been converted into another cycle track. Arriving for the first time at Valencia de Alcantara, the road crossed over the Caceres-Valencia de Alcantara railway line and we naturally followed the signs to the station. It was a huge building with 3 platform faces and associated goods yard. (See photos 2 & 3). It had been an important frontier station, but the timetable now showed only 2 trains a day. The Lusitania Talgo Hotel Train to Lisbon calling at 03:07 and the Madrid train at 03:55. To add to the sad story, a notice in the ticket office told any prospective passengers to purchase their tickets on the train. In the yard at Valencia de Alcantara stood a graffitied Infrastructure loco No. 321-059-8 and some ballast wagons. An ADIF sign seemed to indicate infrastructure improvements to the line, though I doubt the traffic justified the expenditure. The route would be good for a steam rail tour, especially as the line from Caceres to the Portuguese border was in immaculate condition and quite scenic. Despite popping into Valencia de Alcantara station as we passed during the week, no other traffic was seen and even the Infrastructure loco and wagons left. (The loco was later seen in Caceres Station). As we were so close to Portugal, we crossed the frontier to visit the hilltop towns of Marvao and Castello de Vide. A helpful lady in the Marvao Tourist Office gave us a map of nearby burial dolmens and hunting these gave us reason to go down lanes we would normally pass by. Eventually these roads led to Marvao-Beira Station, another 18 Photo 1: Via Verde de la Jara viaduct near El Campillo de la Jara Station 02.06.2011

Photo 2: Valencia de Alcantara Station. 04/06/2011 19 Photo 3: View looking towards Caceres showing goods yard at Valencia de Alcantara. 04/06/2011

Photo 4: Monfrague Station building. 13.06.2011

20 massive station, with beautiful wall tiles depicting places that you could have visited in the past - but no trains stopped there now. Castello de Vide Station was also abandoned, the wall tiles here showed the picturesque hill town. An indication of its former glory was a plaque on the station wall showing that 3rd prize had been awarded to the staff for the station’s floral display in 1948. Later that day at Portalegre, we spotted a preserved steam roller outside the local Highways Office. I photographed it - much to the amusement of the office staff looking out of the window. It had a Henschel & Sohn Works plate indicating that it had been built in 1926, with a Works number 1896. After an interesting week in Valencia de Alcantara, it was time to move on and take the scenic route to Monfrague National Park. This took us via Caceres where we visited the historic part of the city and the not so historic railway station. A bland station with a thin timetable of 16 trains a day and only a 3 car dmu Class 592 in the yard and the graffitied loco from V.de A. We followed the route of the Caceres to Talavera railway line, stopping to photograph the old Casar de Caceres Station which was fenced off from the road. It was near here that we first saw the construction work for the Madrid / Caceres / Badajoz / Portugal high speed line. Moving on to Rio Tajo Station for a very late lunch, a nearby team was taking core samples of the rocks on the new rail route. Rio Tajo Station was built or modernised in the 1970s, but sat abandoned in the heat. The timetable displayed on the Booking Office door ignored the existence of the station and had expired in December 2010 anyway. According to this 2010 timetable, however, the Caceres to Madrid train was due to pass through and eventually a class 592, 3-car dmu duly did just that - seeing us the driver looked puzzled. Other stations we stopped at that day were Canaveral, which had a stone built, 3-tier animal loading dock, and Mirabel which too had been modernised and was well kept. After a fantastic day in Monfrague National Park, watching wildlife, especially vultures and water snakes, we visited La Bazagona Station - again a 1970s building. While I photographed the station, my wife photographed a colourful bee-eater. Leaving the area, we stopped at Monfrague Station where the Madrid Plasencia line leaves the Caceres line (See photos 4 & 5). This again was quite a big station with several infrastructure wagons in the yard. Near the station was a small building with the sign Asociacion Amigos de Palazuelo Empalme (See photo 6) which I guessed housed a model railway layout built by the amigos, but it was locked. We drove through the magnificent Sierra de Gredos Mountains, to arrive at the walled city of Avila. Here I knew there was a chance of seeing some trains. On our second day there, we decided to take the train to Salamanca and so a trip to the station was required. We arrived at about 18:30, when a diesel loco No. 333-357 was in the station yard, and in the bay platform were a double-decked suburban emu and a Media Distancia 3 car dmu class 599. On the station destination board, trains to and from Vitoria were formed of 5 car emus. I had hoped that they might be loco-hauled, but no such luck. A Salamanca / Madrid train entering the station was a class 599 dmu. Having discovered that there was a train to Salamanca at a reasonable time the following morning, we turned to leave the station. Picking our way across the ADIF

21 Photo 5: Junction of Plasencia and Caceres lines at Monfrague. 13/06/2011

Photo 6: Asociacion Amigos de Palazuelo Empalme near Monfrague Station. 13/06/2011

22 Photo 7: Avila. Class 253-026-9 stops for a crew change on a northbound container train. 15/06/2011

Photo 9: El Escorial Station with northbound container train hauled by Class 253-049-1.16/06/2011

23 paving works on the station platform, the station staff shouted and waved at everyone to stand back. Thundering through the station, non-stop, was a heavily laden container train. Scrambling to get my camera out of my bag and dashing down the platform to get a shot, No. 251-021-2 sped north. My shot wasn’t very good - being in the shade of the station canopy and clouded with dust from the paving work. We caught the 10.09 train to Salamanca - again a Media Distancia 3 car dmu, and the line twisted and turned through open country to the city. Train announcements were given in English and on the video screens, adverts for Media Distancia trains were shown. At Salamanca there were five Class 333s in the yard. The station looked new and incorporated a supermarket and cinema complex. The departure board showed very little traffic for such a big structure. After a splendid day in the city, we returned to Avila passing a class 333 diesel No. 333.339 on a grain train at Babilafuente. There were extensive sidings and grain silos near the station. Back at Avila, No. 253-02-9 was on a northbound container train and had stopped in the platform to change crews (See photo 7) and another 253 electric No. 253-057-4 was working southbound on a train of coiled steel sheet. On our final day we stopped at El Escorial to visit the Monastery. This took several hours, but was followed by a visit to the station which had been modernised and much extended with 5 platform faces. Here the signal box was out of use but remained in situ (See photo 8). Several suburban emus were working the local trains as well as 253-049-1 on a northbound container train (See photo 9) and a Media Distancia 3 car dmu class 599 on a Madrid to Salamanca train. So our roam around a little-visited part of Spain rewarded us with some interesting sights and, despite my pessimism beforehand, there was quite a lot of railway interest.

Photo 8: El Escorial signal box. 16/06/2011

24 Porto Pictorial 1972 – Part 3 By Graham Harrison

01/06/1972 narrow gauge railbus ME3 on Pocinho shed

01/06/1972 294, E201 & 211 at Pocinho 25 02/06/1972 E164 receiving a general overhaul in Campanha

02/06/1972 E114 crossing into sidings at Senhora da Hora

26 02/06/1972 E143 crossing the river at Vila da Conde.

03/06/1972 2-4-6T 079 on the Ponte da Maria Pia bridge heading into Porto

27 An Industrial Line - In The Province Of Aragon By Rarfe Chambers

n the summer of 1981, Gill and I together with our daughter Emily took a package I deal holiday in Salou, very near to Tarragona, on the Costa Dorada. Emily was seven years old, and therefore qualified for a free holiday at the Hotel Dolphin, which seemed like a good idea for hard up parents like us. It was a big package–tour type of hotel, quite reasonable really, although a little too English for our taste. Of course, travel was by plane from Luton to Reus, so the railway content of our trip was not so good. Salou was the terminus of the Reus and Salou Railway, which closed in 1976. There was, and still is, quite a good relic of the old metre gauge railway just outside the Renfe station, on the site of the old terminus of the old line. The line was famous for its little Falcon Engineering Works (Loughborough) 0-4-0T’s from 1886, which worked the line until closure, although by then most passenger working was by Billard/SMMP railcars, delivered in 1958. The Falcon Works soon became the Brush company, still with us, just about. The relic at Salou is the no. 3, together with an original 4-wheel carriage. The name “PRIM” had been restored to the locomotive after an absence of many years. My daughter Emily thought it was a lovely little train, and would have liked to take it home – as would I. On the 19th May 1981, my brother took a day trip from Barcelona, and he and I went in our hire car to visit the Andorra to Escatrón Railway. Gill and Emily elected to stay on the beach. Andorra was about 120 km. due west of Salou, deep into countryside Aragon. The Andorra to Escatrón line was a coal carrying line, only built in 1953, to connect the lignite mines around Andorra with a big power station at Escatrón, about 50 km, to the north, in the valley of the Ebro. There was quite a fuss made at the time of opening this line, as it was seen as an example of the “success” of the Franco government. The owners were the Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA (Endesa), and moved the coal for the Empresa Nacional Calvo Sotelo (Encaso). On the way to the head-quarters of the line at Andorra, miles away from anywhere on the N420 road we were stopped by a Guardia Civil patrol. I was a bit worried about this, as it was still the old Franco Dictatorship, but my brother seemed not to be affected. Although named the Guardia Civil, they were very much a military force. There was no other traffic on the road. I was driving, so I gave my passport and the hire car documents to the chap at my window, and Richard gave his ID card, but he had to produce his passport as well. Just as well he had brought it with him. All this time, the second Guardia bloke had his Thompson sub-machine gun trained on us, and indeed another bloke behind an adjacent tree was similarly occupied. Well, you don’t do anything foolish in those circumstances, do you. “What were we doing on this road to nowhere in particular.” Richard did all the talking, explaining that he worked in Barcelona and I was on a family holiday in Salou. He was able to produce a letter from the Railway Boss at Andorra which said we would be welcome to visit on the that day, although we must obey all the usual rules of good behaviour, and we could not be provided with a guide for our visit. We waited in the rather hot car for about twenty minutes whilst they considered this evidence in total silence, then they gave us back our documents and wished us a nice day. 28 4-8-4T 'Escatrón' Jung 1468/53 and train.

ex-Renfe 141F2124 + 141F2416. Euskalduna 1958 & 1960.

29 The Reus and Salou PRIM and carriage.

ex-Renfe series 9151-4 4-wheel railcar by Renault. 30 I wanted to know what the matter was, but Richard did not ask them, probably wisely. Our best guess was that they were looking for ETA bombers, who were quite busy about that time, but why they thought we could ever be such people seems beyond comprehension. The locomotive stock of this coal-carrying line was not very large, but it was interesting. The original locomotives were obtained new in 1953, two very fine 4-8-4T’s by Jung & Co. and one of the same from Maquinista Terreste Y Maquinista which was notable for being the last steam locomotive built by that great firm, in 1958. A shunting engine was provided by Baldwin No. 1, a 2-6-0 from 1920, from the Tudela Sugar Works, apparently new to that company. Later, some ex Renfe locomotives were added to the fleet; the most notable of which was 231-2006, ex Andaluces Railway front line express power by Babcock & Wilcox from 1930. Quite an unsuitable machine, which seems to have been acquired by the boss because he liked it so much. I have seen this described as on lease, but I believe it did belong to the Coal Company. It now resides in the museum at Délicias, Madrid. It was not suitable for photography during our trip, but my picture on page 28 of Correo 17 shows its sister, 231-2003. There were three examples of the standard Renfe Prairies as well. Much more suitable machines, which seemed to work turn about with the big tank locomotives. Two were from Euskalduna, dated 1958 and 1960, and one of the original North British ones from 1952. Other odd items were a railcar ex MZA and Renfe, of the series 9151-54, of 1958, and a small Krupp diesel tractor of 155cv, from 1981. This had four very small wheels and jackshaft drive, but I have not found anything about its origin anywhere. I suspect there were one or two other oddments about as well. In 1972, work was begun on a huge new power station at Andorra, which was opened in 1975. It was found that the low quality lignite which had been all right in the Escatrón power station of the fifties was not suitable for the new power plant, and they began to use South African coal imported through Tarragona, pulled by 333 class diesels. A new triangle of lines was built at Andorra to serve this new traffic flow, and the original line lost much of its usefulness. The peak years of production were around 1970, when they would make up to 12 trains per day of 4000 to 6000 tons each. The last steam working was on the 3rd. August 1984, with a German Jung 4-8-4T doing the business of hauling the last train. What coal was moved from then on was moved by road. An interesting industrial railway that did not last many years, by railway history standards, and well worth our day visit. The remaining piece of railway today is simply a long siding on Renfe’s line beween Zaragoza and Tarragona, near to Caspe.

141F2402 'North British' 1952. Baldwin 2-6-0 No.1 31 25.08.2011 Fuente San Luis depot, Valencia. An end of an era: a rake of six Renfe Class 250s (Krauss -Maffai, CAF, MTM 1982-85) await disposal. Photo Geoff Eley