European Railroad Discussion > Bilbao Area Rail

Spent a weekend visiting family in Bilbao, and managed to grab a few train shots here and there.  Unfortunately did not get to ride anything except the Metro between Getxo and central Bilbao.  First few shots are on the Metro, which was converted to Metro/rapid transit operations from suburban rail in the mid-1990s, all within the pre-existing metre-gauge constraints. 
1.  Tail end of EB Metro train at Neguri Station.
2.  WB Metro train at Neguri Station.
3.  EB Metro train at Neguri Station.
 

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4.  RENFE EMU at Abando Station.
5.   RENFE EMUs stored outside Abando Station.
6.  FEVE EMU at Concordia Station (metre gauge)
 

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7.  Euskotram on streets of Bilbao.  Not everyone will like that overall advertising livery.
8.   Euskotram on streets of Bilbao. 
9.  Puente Vizcaya Transporter Bridge in action.  One of the wackiest ideas for a bridge you have ever seen.

 

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10.  Puente Vizcaya Transporter Bridge in action.
11.  FEVE Euskotren near Zumaia.
12.  Feve Euskotren in Zarautz.

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13.  And let's not forget the pinxtos - one of the main reasons to go to the Basque region of Spain.  All social activity revolves around walking bar-to-bar and having a pinxto and a small glass of beer or wine.  Quite a way to spend a day!

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Cool stuff - that is only the 2nd transporter bridge I've heard of. The other being in Liverpool and no longer around.

I think there is one still in existence in Middlesborough, UK.  Check out this website:

http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/transporterbridge

jonjonjonjon Wrote:
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> Cool stuff - that is only the 2nd transporter
> bridge I've heard of. The other being in Liverpool
> and no longer around.

There used to be two of them in Buenos Aires, Argentina, over the Riachuelo, which separates the city proper from the district of Avellaneda. I remember my grandfather taking me to ride them in the late 1940's, when I was about 10 years old. I believe they closed sometime in the 1950's, following the opening of the Avellaneda high-level bridge, but the superstructures remained in place for many years. They were still there when I left Argentina for good in December 1964.

Roger Lewis (airbrakegeezer)

Newport in South Wales also has a transporter bridge

Thank you for interesting pictures!

I wonder, what brand is the Metro of Bilbao? It seems to have features of several builders, which of course is quite common when many manufacturers use the same components.

The rolling stock is from CAF (Spanish manufacturer) from the mid-1990s.  Portions of the Metro were converted from a prior FEVE metre-gauge suburban rail line, that had previously operated with older equipment.  Between the late-1980s and the mid-1990s they reconstructed the line to higher Metro standards, and put the portion into the center of Bilbao into a new tunnel.    There's a Wikipedia page on Bilbao Metro if you are interested. 

dwatry Wrote:
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> I think there is one still in existence in
> Middlesborough, UK.  Check out this website:
>
> http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/transporterbridge

It is actually in Stockton on Tees just put Tees transporter bridge in the google machine and tons of pics and info and yes it is still in use.

3rdboxcar

 

Not to quibble too much, but it is actually owned and operated by the Middlesbrough Council and connects the main part of the city of Middlesbrough to the northside of the Tees River at Port Clarence, which is a small village of the Stockton Borough.  The main center of the city of Stockton-on-Tees is about 4 miles upriver, not connected by the Transporter.  If you follow the original link I posted it takes you to the Middlesbrough Council's website about the bridge. 

The Rendsburg High Bridge in northern Germany also serves as a transporter bridge. Trains run up top (with quite impressive approaches to gain elevation) while the transporter function is underneath: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendsburg_High_Bridge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/15 06:02 by pennengineer.

I had no idea there were so many.  Cool idea, though ultimately a little low on capacity.

Now to bring it back to rail content - was there ever a transporter bridge that carried rail vehicles on the transporter section?    Seems unlikely from the perspective of weight, etc.

Two Transporter bridges were built in the US, one in Duluth, MN, and the other in Chicago as part of the Century of Progress exhibition (Chicago World's Fair). The Duluth bridge(1905 - 1929) was replaced by a Lift Bridge, while the Chicago bridge only lasted for the duration of the Fair.

Link to the Duluth Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Lift_Bridge

And to the Chicago Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Ride