Spain - 1995

Spain - July-August 1995

Castillo de Coca - 16th Century Castle: what most people associate with Spain

What I was more interested in when in Spain

My then girlfriend's family originally came from Spain so we decided that we should take a trip to Spain on one of my work breaks in early 1995.  We had everything planned and tickets purchased when Canada and Spain got into a spat about Turbot - the Turbot War.  

Spain changed their rules on tourist visas with Canadians requiring a tourist visa to get into the country.  Suddenly I was trying to figure out how to get an entry Visa. Normally this would not be an issue, but while all the changes happened I was working in Argentina.  Much more difficult to source a Canadian tourist Visa from there.  

We ended up deciding that if I was not able to get into Spain we would just take a holiday in England as our flights connected through Heathrow.  At the end of all of this Spain and Canada settled their differences and the Visa requirement was removed before our trip started.  Crisis averted. 

We were based in Madrid for the most part but visited Leon, Segovia, Malaga, and Portugal (covered in a different post <here>). My girlfriend's extended family toured us everywhere, and it was great to have local guides, even if my Spanish at the time was less than perfect.  

Roman aqueduct in Segovia - amazing to see in person 

First Talgo trainset at Delicias - another amazing thing to see.  The locomotive was built by ACF

Overview of the Delicias Museum.  This was taken on a 2003 trip

Krauss-Maffei 340 class diesel-hydraulic. A face only a mother could love

The first Alco DL500 built.  Now THAT is a lovely face!

Spain has a well developed railway network which is very traveller friendly.  I managed to squeeze in some railfanning which also included visiting the Delicias railway museum in Madrid.  Much of my railfanning on this trip was from the train. At the time it was illegal to take photos in the train stations and I got chased off on more than one occasion.  I just played dumb tourist.  I managed to not get arrested.

1964-65 built Krauss-Maffei 352 class diesel hydraulic locomotive on a Talgo bound for Granada and Almeria.  I always thought these looked like a caterpillar.

1964-65 built Krauss-Maffei 352 class diesel hydraulic locomotive on a Talgo bound for Lisbon.  I always thought these looked like a caterpillar.

As long as the station master doesn't see you take the photo it's okay, right?

Late 1980's build 448 class electrics used in intercity service.

Madrid Metro subway from one of the few spots where there was enough light to get a decent photo

Renfe Cercanías is the commuter rail service around the Madrid area.  You can get pretty much anywhere using this system.

DMU at Viaverde (I think - it is completely different now)

Class 333 is basically a Spanish SD-40.  It sounds exactly the same as the North American version

Class 333 on a container freight passing through Villaverde.  A freight yard in the background has a lot of container traffic

The main shops in Madrid always have a lot of interesting units waiting for repairs.  These are Alco class 321 units.  Many of these ended up in Portugal or Argentina.

Renfe Class 308 GE UM10B used for switching.  This is a marginal shot but one of the only ones I saw in the green and yellow paint scheme

The later silver and red paint scheme used on switchers.  This is the GE UM10B.  Unfortunately these seemed to be hard to photograph.

Renfe class 311 switcher.  I can't recall where this was taken but was in the Madrid region

This English Electric Class 277 heavy electric was at Atocha station on its way to the Delicias Museum 

Renfe 352 class on a southbound passenger train at Villaverde

Renfe has the "AVE - Alta Velocidad Española" or "Spanish High Speed" is the high speed rail network based on the French TGV.  It is an extensive system that cuts travel time between different parts of the country significantly.  An interesting thing about the AVE is that it uses standard gauge (4' 8.5") track instead of the Renfe track gauge (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) or Iberian gauge.   

Some of the trains that operate on the AVE system actually start their trip on Iberian gauge rails.  We took one of these trains from Madrid to Malaga.  Part way through the trip the train goes through a gauge change station where the train passes through a building where the wheelsets are re-gauged.  It is quite seamless and is done with the train in continuous motion.  There is a good synopsis <here> on how the system works.  The only thing you feel are some bumps and the cars lift slightly during the process.  

I can't seem to find my slides of the AVE trains, but when I do I'll add them to this post.  In future posts I'll cover our later trips to Spain.  Did I mention my girlfriend and I got married?

Class 333 somewhere between Madrid and Malaga

Class 319 with EMD engine and trucks.