european byways

Majorcan gems

2008-10-15T23:33:00.000+01:00

Exit from Palma is via a little street running then onto reservation.

The stock is all original from the early 20th century - with wood much in evidence.

Rainy Soller station - the tramway is to the right.

The tram near Soller station.

A real gem on Majorca is the Palma-Soller railway, which we visited last Thursday.

It's a three foot gauge line that starts from a charming station right in the heart of Palma, then using a little street running and reservation passes through some rather shabby bits of town before heading into the mountains through orange, lemon and olive groves and then reaches the mountain town of Soller. From Soller there is a 4km tramway down to the port, which we didn't have time to visit, but I did get a few shots of the tram running down the narrow streets.

Although the whole set-up is charming and original, it is a very busy line with over a million visitors every year!

Originally posted on Panther Bites!

shropshire and montgomeryshire joint railway

2007-07-04T16:24:00.000+01:00

(photos taken 22.10.1986)

Even as late as the 1980s there were still a few non-preservation byways in the UK. This was a small surviving stub of the former Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Joint Railway, probably the second or third most ramshackle of the Colonel Stephens lines, which has a fascinating history including five closures!

I think this bit was still used for occasional freight trains to the old Abbey Foregate Station in Shrewsbury. It closed soon afterwards. The bottom picture shows the very end of the line, in happier times it continued almost to Wales.

1958 - an English branch line

2007-05-20T15:24:00.000+01:00

A lovely atmospheric film of the Saxmundham to Aldeburgh railway in 1958, including street shots.

a lost southern line

2007-05-15T19:51:00.000+01:00

There are few really rural lines left in Britain, this was Watergate Halt on the old Torrington to Halwill line, which retained a freight service into the 1980s. This shot was taken in 1980. The line had closed to passengers as late as 1965, it was also one of the last standard gauge lines to open in Britain. The line is now unfortunately lifted throughout, although the northern section of the route from Bideford to Barnstaple is likely to reopen in the not too distant future.

swanage pier tramway

2007-05-11T20:16:00.000+01:00

An unusual sight in Swanage is the remains of the old Swanage Pier Tramway, closed for many decades. The rail on a good portion of the route survives, set into the blocks along the sea front. These views were taken on May 9, 2007.

It wouldn't take a great deal of work to restore this route for short trips along the sea front - perhaps even in a horse tram! Horses were used to pull the trains of stone which were the reason for the line's existence. It was never very successful as an extension through Swanage was blocked.

groudle glen

2007-05-05T18:21:00.000+01:00

This little visited line is on the Isle of Man and is a real delight. Trains start from a small station set in the woods and end up on the cliff edge close to an abandoned zoo.

more hungarian narrow gauge

2007-05-02T23:05:00.000+01:00

More intriguing Hungarian narrow gauge. These appear to have been taken on the Kismaros to Kiralyrét line.

Hungarian narrow gauge

2007-05-02T23:00:00.000+01:00

Found this on Youtube. I went to Hungary a couple of years ago and hardly saw a railway, let alone a narrow gauge one. This is likely to drag me back there some day!

still in rainy Austria ...

2007-04-12T20:59:00.000+01:00

As a bit of a remedy to the Thorlerbahn video, this is a video of the Mixnitz-St Erhard line, which is still with us!

Thorlerbahn - a recently closed Austrain NG line

2007-04-12T20:48:00.000+01:00

Unusually this Austrian narrow gauge line closed as recently as 1999, and has now been lifted. From the video it looks like it took a typically scenic route. Excuse the translation - the original website is in French. You may find the original easier to understand!

Holyhead Breakwater Railway

2007-04-12T19:58:00.000+01:00

The Holyhead Breakwater Railway was unique in that it was an industrial line owned and operated by British Rail - and was totally separate from the rest of the network.

There is now a society which aims to restore part of this line.

waldviertelbahn

2007-04-12T17:56:00.000+01:00

A Youtube offering showing the recreation of the famous double departure on this narrow gauge network in north eastern Austria.

secret line in Cornwall, UK

2007-04-07T15:38:00.000+01:00

The Padstow Cliff Railway is a private line used to transport lifeboatmen down the cliff to the lifeboat station at Mother Ivey's Bay. At just 32 metres long it must be one of the shortest - and steepest - lines in the country!

Polish narrow gauge

2007-04-05T20:13:00.000+01:00

This is a video of a 2005 trip along the Bieszczadzka Kolej Leśna line.

a rural german tramway

2007-04-05T19:55:00.000+01:00

I've not visited this line yet but I certainly plan to! It runs from Bad Schandau in the former East Germany along rural roads through the Kirnitzschtal in Saxon Switzerland.