As this is the third anniversary of this Douro line thread here's an account of my first journey up the line in June 1968.
Starting off from Regua behind inside-cylinder 4-6-0 281 on the 7.05 mixed train to Pocinho, this train supplied the valley with just about everything they needed, including water which they drew from the tank wagon next to the loco.
Women,never men, carried it back to their homes on containers balanced on their heads.
The first picture shows the train shunting at Tua, the guard told us about a cafe near to the station where we could go for a coffee and he said the driver would give a loud blast on the whistle five minutes before departure. On the right of the first photo is a traveling post office on the ng line.
The 2nd photo shows loco 285 in position as bank loco for the climb up from Freixo de Numao upto Pocinho. Note the (red) disc between the buffers indicating this is the back end of the train.Some enthusiasts are
talking to the crew who are saying that they work long hours for little pay.
From Pocinho I traveled to Barca d'Alva on the Bud lightweight railcar, visible on the next photo,which would from the following week, run through to Salamanca. On this occasion it was still steam hauled by RENFE 0-6-0 230-2568 to Fuentes de San Esteban where I changed for Salamanca.
I've also included the 1968 Douro line timetable so you can compare it with today's timetable.
As this is the third anniversary of this Douro line thread here's an account of my first journey up the line in June 1968.
Starting off from Regua behind inside-cylinder 4-6-0 281 on the 7.05 mixed train to Pocinho, this train supplied the valley with just about everything they needed, including water which they drew from the tank wagon next to the loco.
Women,never men, carried it back to their homes on containers balanced on their heads.
The first picture shows the train shunting at Tua, the guard told us about a cafe near to the station where we could go for a coffee and he said the driver would give a loud blast on the whistle five minutes before departure. On the right of the first photo is a traveling post office on the ng line.
The 2nd photo shows loco 285 in position as bank loco for the climb up from Freixo de Numao upto Pocinho. Note the (red) disc between the buffers indicating this is the back end of the train.Some enthusiasts are
talking to the crew who are saying that they work long hours for little pay.
From Pocinho I traveled to Barca d'Alva on the Bud lightweight railcar, visible on the next photo,which would from the following week, run through to Salamanca. On this occasion it was still steam hauled by RENFE 0-6-0 230-2568 to Fuentes de San Esteban where I changed for Salamanca.
I've also included the 1968 Douro line timetable so you can compare it with today's timetable.
The RENFE loco was 030-2568 being an 0-6-0.