European Railroad Discussion > Valladolid to San Sebastián: Spanish Finale

On the second-to-last day of the tour we traveled from Valladolid to San Sebastián (Donostia for those that are Basque), evidently partly on standard gauge, partly on broad gauge, on an S120 Alvia service that can change gauge on the fly (when passing slowly through a shed). I did not realize at the time how much standard gauge track there is now in Spain or I would have paid more attention.

1. Okay, still learning. Even though I thought all the duck-billed Talgos were Ave service, I now understand that some are Alvia service such as this one. Photographed northbound through the station while waiting for our train.

2. Our S120 Alvia EMU arriving at Valladolid.

3. There is a large freight yard at Miranda de Ebro and I grabbed a few shots while passing through. Have I mentioned how bad the graffiti situation is? A loaded autorack train is parked in the yard behind a barely recognizable renfe Mercancias TRAXX (Bombardier) electric. The freight cars are pristine. To the right looks like a possible ballast train with another TRAXX unit.

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4. Another view of the autorack train. The racks are labeled 'PECOVASA.' I did see one new renfe Mercancias locomotive in the yard, graffiti-free and in a very attractive purple/grey/white scheme.

5. A renfe Mercancias 319.4-class diesel of obvious EMD heritage, built by Macosa under license. I believe these are now relegated to maintenance trains. I do like the green renfe Mercancias tank cars.

6. A final grab shot of some kind of local/regional train at Zumárraga which is a relatively small town, roughly between Bilbao and San Sebastián.

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I would like to tell you how much I have enjoyed your photos and descriptions of your journey through Spain and Portugal, especially as they traced in part a similar journey I made in 1973.  So much has changed on the railway scene -- the biggest surprise was the absence of through service through Guarda to Spain;  we took the Porto CIWL sleeper of the Sud Express to San Sebastian.  But the local or regional traveller has much benefited by the increased speed, frequency, and comfort of current services, and of course the beauty of Portugal and especially Porto, one of the world's great small cities, is unchanged.

I had delayed in writing this because I thought you might have a post on the San Sebastian meter gauge services -- perhaps that can be a future trip !

A few photos from that trip, which I may have previously posted, attached.  I'll have to dig out some more.....

With best regards,
SZ

 

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Steinzeit2 Wrote:
> I had delayed in writing this because I thought
> you might have a post on the San Sebastian meter
> gauge services -- perhaps that can be a future
> trip !

I appreciate your comments. There was a gentleman from England on the tour that had visited the Douro Valley line in particular in 1979 to witness the waning days of steam there (mostly meter gauge). I had investigated the meter gauge line out of San Sebastián prior to the trip and determined that much of it was now more modern metro/subway-like and a YouTube video of a trip emphasized how uncomfortable the seats were so I took a day off from trains and train riding. Another Brit on the tour did ride it the short distance east to the end of the line at Irún and back.