European Railroad Discussion > Along the Douro River in Portugal: Day Two

On the following day we took the train back eastward to the popular tourist town of Pinhão. This might be the busiest station on the Douro Valley line.

1. As viewed from a boat on the Douro River, one of the attractive bridges on the rail line a little east of Pinhão.

2. There are a few of these distinctive water tanks still standing along the line.

3. The station at Pinhão is one of the more elaborately tiled stations in a country known for its ceramic tiles on buildings.

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4. While waiting for our westbound train back to Regua, this eastbound train passed through Pinhão.

5. Back in Regua I photographed a particularly clean (idle) DMU set.

6. Later that afternoon I set up just east of Regua for the arrival of the mid-afternoon westbound train.

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7. This is one of my favorite shots, taken on the east end of Regua at almost the same location as the previous shot (#6) but looking in the other direction with an eastbound train. Note the signal on the right that has two lights on the top, a single light, and one of the signals that can display a letter or a number. I do not know how this line is dispatched but there are almost no signals east of this one.

8. I missed this unit the previous day hiding behind the railway buildings in Regua. The Internet says that this is an ex-Comboios de Portugal (CP) MLW Bombardier MX620! Somafel is the entity doing all the infrastructure work along this line. I saw three other Somafel locomotives that I could not photograph including a 1400-class English Electric in Pocinho and an RSD-style Alco in Ermida, west of Regua.

9. This meter-gauge 0-4-0T is on display in Regua. German built in 1922. You can see some of the Somafel track maintenance equipment in the background.

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10. Another clean CP DMU set parked on Track 4 in Regua. The white building is in use by railway crews and infrastructure workers.

11. A late afternoon DMU arrival with what is left of the meter-gauge 2-4-6-0T steam locomotive seen on the right.

12. Because at this time of day there is a DMU set on Track 1, this early evening eastbound comes in on Track 3. Somehow even the steam-era infrastructure looks well-maintained.

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These are very nice photos;  I especially enjoyed the E1, which was acquired second hand from the Leixóes Port Authority in 1943, and certainly does not look like the typical CP ng steam locos.

Best regards, SZ