Sines—My Hometown Trains 6 the Lost Tribe of Trubia 17 the Chairman’S Summer Holiday 22 Startrain N Gauge Renfe 319 26 Nuria Cremallera 29 Reviews 32
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Issue No. 6 Autumn 2007 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 Philips 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 2006-MARCH 2007 UK £12.50 EUROPE £15.00 REST OF WORLD £16.00 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 5 Sines—My Hometown Trains 6 The Lost Tribe of Trubia 17 The Chairman’s Summer Holiday 22 Startrain N Gauge Renfe 319 26 Nuria Cremallera 29 Reviews 32 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: At near 8pm the PTG train arrives at Sines port behind 1565 25-9-2005 Paulo Ferreira 3 OLA! hat happened to summer? Our trip to Andalucia was not blessed with the W “scorchio scorchio” we had been promised and on our last day it rained buckets. We did have a very good time though, thanks for asking. I believe Michael may use some of the very few railway related pictures I was able to take in this edition. Please remember to send in your contributions, particularly those to do with current events. I know that I keep banging on about increasing our membership but this is vital if we are to succeed in the long run. The sudden cancellation of the GRS show at Sutton Coldfield in September has not helped. We will have a presence at the Warley National Model Railway Show in December, it lasts two days and we would be very pleased if some of you were able to offer some assistance on the stand to give us regulars a break and a chance to look around, please get in touch if you feel able to help. This could be a good chance to achieve the magic over fifty membership objective that I set ourselves during the first year. We are close, but close is not enough, having over 50 members will make such a difference to our finances and abilities to do more to spread the word about. Please help if you can. Enjoy the magazine, I know I shall. David Stevenson, Chairman – Iberian Railways Society Tel: 01905 358440 Email: [email protected] 4 Jerez station taken from the platform and looking towards the overall roof. 22.05.07 embers may have recently noticed an announcement about the setting up of M Railteam. A new association of European national railways that promise to make high-speed rail travel across Europe a hassle–free experience. They promise to better integrate the high-speed timetables, making connections more secure for the traveller, along with through ticketing. They are competing with the airlines, playing on the tedious security checks, baggage restrictions, poor airline punctuality, poor environmental credentials and the non-proximity of airports to destinations. The current focus is on the central European high-speed network only, not the classic lines; and for the IRS member it is noticeable that RENFE is not a member. Perhaps this will come once the Perpignan—Barcelona LGV is complete. Until then, take the Trenhotel! I recently took a daytrip to Frankfurt by train to collect a fragile Japanese longbow (yumi). I took the first Eurostar to Bruxelles, then ICE to Frankfurt. Route is via Köln and the scenic Eiffel mountains route (very slow). On the return I had to change at Köln from ICE3 to Thalys, with only a 10 minute connection. The ICE3 was 10 minutes late arriving in the evening rush hour, waiting on the Rhine bridge for the platform to clear. But the Thalys was held and I managed to scramble down to the underpass and get on the absolutely packed PBKA. A tangible effect of of new international relations. There are capacity issues on the Thalys route. With the Thalys taking over from the old under- powered 4-voltage SNCF Class 40100 / SNCB Class 18 TEE service, people are taking the train instead of the plane. One wonders what effect a fast service from the French Riviera to Barcelona will have once that route is finished. Michael Guerra 5 Sines – My Hometown Trains By Paulo Ferreira s is the case with so many small villages and towns in Portugal, apart from the old A reconstructed castle and a couple of churches, there really is no great architectural splendour to enjoy at Sines. But this genuine simplicity is also why these small villages exert a fair amount of interest. Of course, arguably some of the finest beaches (not overcrowded as in the Algarve…) and fresh fish and sea-food in the country add to the interest for visitors and the quality of life of the lucky locals. And it has the added bonus of being a busy railway terminus. 1570 leaves the Repsol branch at Sines with an empty cement stone train 24-3-2005 Railways reached the small fisherman’s seaside town of Sines only in 1936. The 50 km branch off Ermidas do Sado in the Linha do Sul (Southern Line) lived a lazy and quiet life until passenger services closed in 1990. Passenger freight ended for lack of patronage. The line was run as a branch, meaning travellers had to change trains at Ermidas do Sado junction. Sines station is well located in the centre of the town, but Santiago do Cacém station (the smaller and only other significant stop in the branch) is somewhat far from the town it served and thus was not very convenient. The line diverts almost all the way towards the interior of the country, in Eastern direction, when most of the people really want to go North, heading for Setúbal – the district capital – or Lisbon. By then the road network was already far more convenient and frequent direct 6 buses linked Sines with Setúbal and Lisboa in shorter journey times. Closure of passenger services was preceded by bustitution in later years. When passenger trains finally ended there really was not much sorrow. 1460 leaves Sines port with the PTG train at 9.30am 26-9-2005 Since the ending of passenger operations Sines station has been closed. For a while it served as the bus company terminal. Recently it has been cleaned and repainted and is now amidst a pleasant garden as part of a new high quality residential development. It is of the elegant typical Caminhos de Ferro do Estado (State Railways) architectural style, with stone columns supporting the platform canopy. Its walls sport the typical Portuguese figurative ceramic tiles panels, displaying scenes from local history. But it is still closed with no usage. On the other hand the goods shed is currently being refurbished into a cervejaria. For those not familiar with the Portuguese language, it means soon I will be able to drink beer and eat sea-food or grilled meat there! Freight service is a totally different story. When passenger services ceased Sines had already changed its main sustenance source from fishing to heavy industry.