This is really a continuation with a conversation on a previous post, but as we were going off topic I thought it would make sense to start a new one.

Torrales was helpfully and capably explaining the Iberian guage compared to the standard guage, and how Talgos and AVEs coped with two guages.

In the reply he mentioned the Denia - Alicante railway, which is a unique small guage and one I´m familiar with. My question is are there any other strange railways in Spain. In particular are there any private ones still operating preserved steam engines ?

The only one I know using steam is the Tren de la Fresa (Strawberry Train). It is a touristic train operated by Renfe that does the route Madrid-Aranjuez-Madrid in Spring weekends (some years they extended the operation period to Autumn weekends, too). You can reach their English Website at Tren de la Fresa Website (put the cursor on the Tren de la Fresa link at the left to see the schedules also).

Most of the small gauge trains in Spain are operated by FEVE ( FEVE\'s Website , only in Spanish I'm afraid). They operate metric gauge trains, practically the whole of these railways are in the Northernmost part of Spain (Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia). They have a luxurious and expensive service called Transcantabrico (English Website here )

Thanks very much Torrales, the Strawberry Train looks a good day out, especially as I´ve never seen the sights at Aranjuez despite passing by it frequently.

The small guage trains are certainly not quick are they ? Must be extremely scenic mind you through that countryside, I´ve seen bits of the one round Llanes and Ribadesella and always fancied a trip one day.

Did you know the UK had a railway guage problem once. To cut a long story short the majority of the UK railway network was developed by four independant companies, three of which used standard guage (which I always thought of as 4 foot 8.5 inches ), but the fourth, GWR, used a really wide 7 foot guage, before eventually giving it up for standard. Now the only issue there is why the trains are so bad

Cheers

Torrales writes: Just thought I would let you know (although you probably already know) that this year, FEVE (Ferrocaril Español de Via Estrecha) began selling 30-day Hop-on, Hop-off passes for their entire route (i.e., Bilbao - O'Ferrol. I would really love to do that - maybe next year.

The TransCantabrico is an 'Orient Express-type' Train with luxurious dining and sleeping accomodations - It just does a limited number of (2-week?) 'runs' each Summer from Bilbao to O'Ferrol with Bus connection from the O'Ferrol Terminus to Santiago de Compostela.

I have just ridden FEVE between Santander and Limpias to see the Cristo de Limpias; but there are so many places along that line that i would like to visit ...