Lunch in Sweden

(Above pics Malmo 7.1.2018 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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We had a long weekend in Copenhagen at the start of January, and whilst we were there found out we were only 40 minutes from Sweden. So on the Sunday we decided to pop across the water and have lunch in Malmo, as you do!

Until recently this would have involved a ferry crossing, but from 1 July 2000 it's been possible to do the whole trip by rail. This involves crossing the Øresund Bridge, which links Copenhagen to Malmo. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager. The bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe.

(Pic by By Nick-D - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45290883)

Malmo is a nice compact city and we found somewhere very nice to eat. VERY expensive though, but that's Scandinavia for you!

After the meal we wandered round Malmo in temperatures well below freezing. I knew there was a heritage tramway somewhere in the city but it wouldn't be running and we headed in a different direction anyway. I did stumble across the remains of lines (below). One could have been the old line to the harbour where trains were driven onto the ferry to get to Copenhagen, but I'm not sure. If it was then I did travel on this in the late 80s, when I travelled down from Helsinki back to the UK overland (carrying a bloody great oil painting!)

Recently partly lifted route into the docks.

Street running freight line, almost certainly disused.

Whatever people say about rail enthusiasts, we do end up in some odd places!

Through Great Yarmouth Streets

Yarmouth Quay 29.1.1985

Yarmouth Quay Coal in, 1960s with D11104

Yarmouth Quay South Quay 1955 Copyright Jack Harrison

Yarmouth Quay Steam Tram on the Quay

(All pics sourced via the Internet)

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Back in about 1968 we went on a family holiday to Great Yarmouth. This was seriously unusual territory for us, almost abroad! I was just starting to develop an interest in railways then and the caravan park being right next to Vauxhall station was a real bonus! Lots of unusual trains and locomotives, I even saw a steam worked breakdown crane there.

Towards Lowestoft there was the mysterious  South Town station which at first sight looked disused but actually wasn't. I really regret now that I didn't travel on this line to Lowestoft as it closed the following year, but at 12 years old I didn't have a great deal of freedom!

A real surprise was not only the street running lines in town but the fact I even got to see a locomotive running along one of them. This was a remnant of the dock lines, which once connected Vauxhall and the other Great Yarmouth station, Yarmouth Beach, to the docks in town.

This extensive system grew from the Yarmouth Union Railway which aimed to link Yarmouth's three termini, which were completely isolated from each other. The YUR was incorporated on August 26 1880 to link the termini. The line originally was short, just over a mile long, starting at a junction just outside of Yarmouth Beach station, across Caister Road, then due south through the town on a route that followed the backs of houses in Alderson Road. From here it became street running by the White Swan Inn and then made a junction with the GER tramway route from Vauxhall station just east of the Bure river bridge. From here the line continued to the principal quays alongside the river Yare.

The quay lines were worked by steam tram engines, these being shedded in the engine shed at Vauxhall when not being used. These worked for many decades along streets and quays, bringing coal and salt in and fish out. The steam locos gave way to diesels from the 1950s.

All of the lines were abandoned by the 1970s (so I only just caught them in action) and most were lifted by 1985, though some short stretches still remain along the south quays.

Sources. http://www.berneyarms.co.uk/html/yarmouth/rail/quay/quay.htm

Broad - and narrow - gauge at Salou

Salou

3 above - Salou station 27.6.2016 (all copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Last week we made a quick trip on the broad gauge RENFE line from Tarragona to Salou, from where we were going to catch the bus back to La Pineda where we were staying.

There was a real surprise by the station - what appeared to be a metre gauge track set in a playground, ending ina  small wagon turntable. At the other end there was a playground locomotive. I've never seen this set up before. Even more of a surprise around the corner was a steam loco and carriage, obviously connected to the track we'd just seen.

Further research (when I got back) revealed that there had been a metre gauge line running from Salou to Reus, about 9km. Amazingly this line remained open until 1975 - the amazing thing was that it was no lnger running as Salou is a wonderful seaside resort and the line connected to the town of Reus -mwhat a fantastic tourist attraction it would have been! Spain of course was a very different country back in 1975, rather backwards, a fascist dicatorship and EU membership a very distant dream. More info on this line here. You can of course still travel from Reus to Salou by train, but on the broad gauge and by a longer route.

(All above 27.6.2016 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Postcard of Salou metre gauge station.

Early days in Reus with steam trams and street running!

Broad - and narrow - gauge at Salou

Salou

3 above - Salou station 27.6.2016 (all copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Last week we made a quick trip on the broad gauge RENFE line from Tarragona to Salou, from where we were going to catch the bus back to La Pineda where we were staying.

There was a real surprise by the station - what appeared to be a metre gauge track set in a playground, ending ina  small wagon turntable. At the other end there was a playground locomotive. I've never seen this set up before. Even more of a surprise around the corner was a steam loco and carriage, obviously connected to the track we'd just seen.

Further research (when I got back) revealed that there had been a metre gauge line running from Salou to Reus, about 9km. Amazingly this line remained open until 1975 - the amazing thing was that it was no lnger running as Salou is a wonderful seaside resort and the line connected to the town of Reus -mwhat a fantastic tourist attraction it would have been! Spain of course was a very different country back in 1975, rather backwards, a fascist dicatorship and EU membership a very distant dream. More info on this line here. You can of course still travel from Reus to Salou by train, but on the broad gauge and by a longer route.

(All above 27.6.2016 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Postcard of Salou metre gauge station.

Early days in Reus with steam trams and street running!

Tarragona, Spain 27.6.2016

Tarragona

Above 5 - a street running dock line at Tarragona

Tarragona station 27.6.2016 (all pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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We were in Catalonia last week and popped along to Tarragona on the bus for a look around. Quite by chance we stumbled on the station, via a plinthed steam loco and a fascinating dock line that interesected a roundabout!

We discovered that our bus ticket was valid on the trains so we hung around for the next train to Salou. I wasn't expecting a lot at the station, but it seemed almost as busy as Bristol Temple Meads with the added attraction of plenty of freight trains, all on Spain's broad gauge of 5 foot 6 inches.

I saw the longest passenger train I've ever seen which was two high speed units coupled together - I didn't count the number of coaches but it was over twenty!

The train journey was fast and clean and at Salou there were further surprises, which I'll look at in my next article!

Plinthed steam loco at Tarragona 27.6.2016 (copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)