Vale Do Douro Broad and Narrow

Northern Portugal was a real draw for enthusiasts, with great scenery plus a good variety of broad - 5'6'' - and narrow - metre - gauge steam usually immaculately maintained, particularly before the political upheavals of the mid-1970s. Mixed trains, having both freight and passenger traffic, were quite common, so speeds were low!

METRE GAUGE

In the heart of wine country, metre gauge 2-6-0T E113 crosses the viaduct at Jerusalem do Romeu on 2 September 1972 with the 14.15 Tua - Braganca mixed train, nearly all vans, just the one passenger carriage. Note the shine on the loco, fairly typical at the time.

Another draw were metre gauge Mallet locos. Here is 2-4-6-0T E201 curving round en route on the Linha do Sabor to Pocinho with the 07.00 mixed from Duas Igrejas Miranda - six wagons, one van, two carriages, on 3 September 1972.

There were also 0-4-4-0 Mallets still in service.

BROAD GAUGE

The broad gauge was steamy too, and this is a view of the 08.11 Porto - Moncao passenger with Henschel built 4-6-0 293, looking spick and span. Despite being single line, the route had international traffic; at Valenca was the crossing to Vigo in Spain and RENFE railcars could be seen on the section.

Photo above was taken on 8 September 1972, as was this one, depicting 2-8-4T 0188, also a Henschel, with the 11.55 Moncao - Viana do Castelo mixed. At the latter, the train, still with 0188, became the 17.40 to Porto.