Trams in Majorca

Made a trip to see the ancient trams that run from Port Soller to Soller while on holiday last week. An interesting line. There is also an equally ancient electric worked railway running 17 miles from Soller to Palma which I had intended to visit on the last day but the west of the island had some bad thunderstorms all day so that will have to wait. My wife likes two weeks where it's warm with no railways, well this is a tramway!

 

Never leave anything important to the last day of the holiday!

There are other railways on the island as wel, some of the old lines have been modernised & regauged

 

I did see the other lines two narrow branches now all modernised so no interest really. As for leaving things to the last day you are right but then this was supposed to be a non railway holiday.

 

The train to Soller is really lovely too, and I'd recommend you give it a go the next time you're in Majorca. We picked it up in Bunyola, as we were staying in Pollenca, but you can ride the whole route from Palma if you were staying there.

There's a pretty amazing tunnel on the route… felt like something from Alton Towers in one of the more open carriages, as it's on quite a slope.

Sitting in one of the squares in Soller, in the sun with a beer, as the trams bumbled through was a lovely way to while away an hour or so.

Simon

 

I was at the other end of the Island in Alcudia, quite an interesting switchback road through the mountains to get to Soller. Ditto the beer but in my case in Port Soller. I will go back

 

We got off the train at a crossing place up in the hills & I got copped pointing out the cross-head screws used to fix the matchboarding on the carriage sides.
It's a wonderful line to experience & the tram ride down to the port at Soller is fantastic. People in the shops on the route need to look very carefully before stepping out, the trams pass that closely to some of them.

Bob.

 

Went on the full trip from Palma to Soller and then the tram to the harbour in about 1976.
Still meaning to go back.

 

The first tram of the day can take a little longer at the harbour end due to inconsiderate motorists, but otherwise, the journey remains as charming as ever it was.

I rather enjoyed the art gallery inside Soller station as well.

 

It looks as though it is running on railway rather than tram track, if that makes sense......................

 

With the number of trailers some of them pull it is almost like a railway. I believe it is also an odd gauge, 914mm

 

Mallorca was completely 914mm (i.e.3ft gauge) until the remaining rump from Palma to Inca was converted to metre gauge in the early 1980s. The mainline between Inca and Manacor, plus the branch to Sa Pobla were reinstated (metre gauge, of course) a few years later. There's been (a lot of) talk about reopening Manacor-Arta, but in view of the muddled reports on 'novel' solutions (shared tram and cycleway being one), I suspect no imminent action!

The old Santany branch (which left the mainline immediately outside Palma) would have been in an ideal position to serve the airport, had they not closed it in March 1965 to extended the bl**dy thing right over it! The UK has no monopoly on incompetent transport planning.

At least the massive old station at Palma was given a new lease of life as a very pleasant park when the new subterranean Palma Intermodal opened. Soller Railway services still run from their original station.

There is an active group of rail buffs on the island, however their web presence is in Spanish only. They've done a superb job of restoring the sole surviving FCM bogie carriage to Pullmanesque standards. For anyone interested, their url can be found on John Glover's (English language) site on Mallorcan lines:
http://majorcarailways.com/johnglover.htm

If you never heard of the old 3ft gauge FCM, here's a taste of what you missed. The loco is one of six heavy rebuilds of 1880's Nasmyth Wilson machines undertaken by the line's own workshop around 1911 (a touch of the Swindon accounting methods maybe?). The flared chinmey is the giveaway.... they originally had stovepipes. The last two were active until 1960.

 

Thank you for the information, I didn't know the history of the island's lines at all so that is all very interesting. I did see one of the modern trains leaving Sa Pobla and I was surprised how well patronised it was. I assume it was British engineers who built the lines, hence 3ft gauge.

 

Spot on. Locos were supplied by Nasmyth Wilson until WWI. The original trio of 4-4-0t locos of 1874 were withdrawn between 1945 and 1955. A pair of similarly styled 0-6-0t freight/shunting locos of 1876 (Nos.4&5) made it to 1960. An charming little 0-4-0t (unnamed, but known by staff as La Inglesita) was supplied in 1877 to work through the streets of Palma to the harbour (this line later was replaced by the tunnel seen in the photo in my earlier post) carried No.6 and lasted until 1955 (though probably disused for quite a few years). Records also show an NW 2-2-0t numbered 7. The name 'La Puebla' is recorded for this loco, though I'm not convinced... why name a tiny shunter after a town at the other end of the island? It seems more likely to me that this was the machine originally supplied to Palma Harbour in 1877. It's recorded withdrawl date is 1911 and it's number was taken by an O&K 0-4-0wt supplied in 1921 which always ran anonymously and from 1944, unnumbered until withdrawl in 1960.

Succeeding batches of 4-4-0t were larger, and it was these which were rebuilt to the final form in the photo. Totals: 3 small and 9 large 4-4-0t. Two of the large variety were recorded as built new at Palma, though I suspect 'assembled' might be a more accurate description.

From 1881, much heavier NW 4-6-0t locos were delivered, similar in concept to earlier machines, but the very unevenly spaced wheelbase rendered them rather ungainly to my mind. The total number of 4-6-0t was eight. Again, the last examples went in 1960. All the 4-4-0t, 0-6-0t and 4-6-0t locos carried names. All were towns and villages on the island (except Palma built 4-4-0t "Alfonso XIII", which eventually conformed to type when renamed "Salinas" after the fall of the Spanish Monarchy).

With original passenger rolling stock by Brown Marshall, looking like the big brothers of the first Talyllyn carriages, but with longtitudinal outside handrails, fitted below the compartment windows and 'colonial' style double skinned roofs, so the pre-WWI FCM had a distinctly British aspect.

Towards the end of WWI, four 2-6-0t were supplied by the Spanish firm La Maquinista. These were joined during WWII by four similar, but slightly different locos, originally built by the same firm for the FC de Soller (one of which never ran for the FCM), which had lain out of use at Soller following electrification of that line in 1929. The four original La Maquinista machines bore names on the same theme as the NW, but ex-Soller locos were never named.

The only steam locos to survive the 1960 cull were from the Krupp 2-6-0t (Nos.30-35), a typically German design of 1926, and six 2-6-2t (Nos.50-55) by Babcock & Wilcox (their Spanish division) built in 1930. These later machines, which were never named, lasted until the end of steam operations in 1964.

The history of the 4-4-0s is convoluted, with renumberings and rebuilds making things 'interesting' for the railway historian. To my mind, the Palma built examples with their flared copper capped chimneys were the best looking of the 4-4-0s. The NW locos carried a mid green livery (definitely unlined on Nos 4&5 in their last years at least), The Spanish and German built locos appear to have been black. What a surprise! Nos.36-49 were never allocated.

No original Mallorcan steam loco survives, though at least one metre gauge ex-CP (Portugal) mallett is on the island, as yet unrestored.

The small cafe at the former entrance to Palma station has some very nice framed photos of the old FCM displayed on the walls.

And today's useless fact: Press reports of the opening of the FC de Soller in April 1912 were somewhat eclipsed by coverage of the sinking of the 'Titanic'.

 

Thanks again, you are clearly an expert on a very unusual subject. I did' get to Palma this time but I will on my next visit

 

You're very kind, but credit for the bulk of historic detail properly belongs to Mr Giles Barnabe, whose book "Rails Through Majorca" (Plateway Press 2003 ISBN 1 871980 51 8) is the definitive work on the FC de Soller, the former FCM (the present day SFM metre gauge operation) and all else besides.

If you're visiting Palma, might I recommend a restaurant located at the furthest reach of the defunct Palma Tramway in the village of Genova. That was my excuse anyway! (A couple of ex-Palma trams survive in service at Puerto de Soller). Ask your cabbie for "Meson Ca'n Pedro", whose selection of Fred Flintsone sized steaks, fish and seasonal game is a menu I fully intend to gradually eat my way through, or die trying! The view from the rooftop dining area across the valley is spectacular and it's a world away from the grotty lout-infested tourist traps in the resorts around Palma.

 

Thanks not sure when I'm going back but I'll make a note of that. I won't need a cab I always hire a car from the airport wherever I go . I was well away from the grotty bit staying in Alcudia.