Welcome to Jeffrey's Trackside Diner for September, 2019 in Spain

[gmpullman]

 

WELCOME!

Jeffrey's Trackside Diner is located in Madrid Spain for September, 2019

---

 

 

This is the place for you to go to relax and talk off topic about most anything - as long as you stay within the forum rules, which means certain hot button topics are excluded. Please refer to Steven Otte´s post on Forum Policies. 

 

Everybody is welcome to participate in the Diner ! 

 

 The staff - that´s Zoe, Chloe, Flo, Janie, and Brunhilda -  is very friendly and will serve up plenty of virtual food with a smile. Just don´t forget to leave a generous tip!

---

 

 

 The RIP Track

 

 

 

At the beginning of each month, it is the time to pay our respect to friends no longer with us.

 

 Barry Arnold aka BlownoutCylinder
Jerry Cox aka Cox47
Wolfgang Dudler aka Westport Terminal
Bob Hartle aka cmrproducts
Ed Murphy
Bill North
Stein Rypern, Jr. aka Steinjr
Andy Sperandeo
Jeffrey "Running Bear" Wimberley
Alan B
Tom Mills
James W. Rohde aka CapeJim
Michael L. Myles aka Inch

 

Gone, but never forgotten!

We pause to also remember the beloved pets and companion animals that have made our lives just a bit more enjoyable.

---

 

So, let's get familiar with our new surroundings and follow along on the map.

Map_of_the_portuguese_and_spanish_railways by Edmund, on Flickr

Our fellow Diner patron BNSF UP and others modeler has graciously offered to provide some interesting rail and travel tidbits while we visit our Spanish and Portuguese friends.

 

Bienvenido a la cena

Regards, Ed

[SeeYou190]

Excellent... our second month in Europe.

.

I hear the rain in our host country falls mainly on the flat lands. I have never been there, so I do not know if that is actually true.

.

I will learn a lot this month. My knowledge of Spain is minimal at best.

.

Here's to a great month in the diner!

.

-Kevin

.

[gmpullman]

 

Since our resident crooner, Steven, has been following other pursuits these days I'll provide a substitute — to sing about September, of course 

 

 

Enjoy the soothing, mellow tones...

Regards, Ed

[hon30critter]

Thanks for opening the Diner Ed!

I have never been to Spain personally, but we have several friends who have spent time in the country and they enjoyed it thoroughly.

Dave

[Tinplate Toddler]

Buenos Dias, Companeros!

Thank you, Ed, for moving the Diner to its September 2019 location in sunny Spain. I hope we are not right in the middle of the Estremadura, a "plain in Spain without rain" and the hootest place of all of Europe.

Spain has been something like the summer bath tub for the Germans. The beaches of the Coasta del Sol and the Costa Brava used to be flooded with my countrymen, the brave of them having driven there with a family of five cramped into a Volkswagen bug. Flying there was too expensive in the good old days. I thing the millions of turistas alemanas have now been replaced by Brits fleeing from the usual wet summers in their country.

42 years ago, I went on a train trip to Spain. It was some adventure! While travelling through Germany and France was very comfortable and fast, it was like going back a hundred years when we reached the Spanish border. The broad gauge "express" train was cramped like an Indian commuter train and its speed did not exceed 40mph. The 220 mile trip took over 8 hours - with nothing left to eat or drink and no service on the train, it was an ordeal! But the worst had yet to come! The train from Madrid San Martin station to Valencia was an ordinary train, stopping at every tree on the alley! It took over 12 hours to cover the 200 miles, still nothing to eat and nothing to drink! Shortly after we had left San Martin station, a group of paisanos came into my compartment, shut the window and started to smoke their 2 Peseta cigars. Next thing I remember was that one of them was leaning over me and filling wine into me! After about a bottle I felt much better and even began talking in Spanish without knowing the language!

The following video shows some impressions of trains in Spain in the 1960s. Under the regime of Generalissimo Franco, it was strictly forbidden to film or take pictures of trains, so films from that period are rare.

And now, for something completely different, a taste od Spanish music!

Enjoy!

[Harrison]

Hi all,

I wish I where in Spain(alot more trains!) but tomorrow, I am riding the Adirondack for my birthday. I'll post photos and video here.

But right now my dad is calling "Rapido!" for us to get ready for church. (He learned Spanish in school, and still uses it to talk to us.)

[Erie1951]

Happy Birthday, Harrison, and have a good ride tomorrow. Well, I've never been to Spain, but I've been to Oklahoma. 

[up831]

Hi Everybody,

Well I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music......

Brunhilda, coffee with lots of cream, please.

Spain is an interesting choice.  Hopefully, we’ll all learn a bunch about Spanish railroads.  I don’t know much about Spain, but I do know Flamenco was born and still flourishes in Andalusia.

For Flamenco, I highly recommend Paco de Lucia, Flamenco guitarist extraordinaire.

Do Spanish railroads use standard gauge track? (4’ 8 1/2”)

Are they all electric, or do they have diesels, steam?

Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK and safe.

[Tinplate Toddler]

up831

Do Spanish railroads use standard gauge track? (4’ 8 1/2”)

Spain has a mix of gauges. The "standard" gauge in Spain in fact is a broad gauge of 1,668mm, whereas the real standard gauge of 1,435mm was introduced as late as 1985, when the state-owned railway RENFE (Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Espanoles) started to introduces highsped trains. In northern Spain, there is a quite extensive network of 1,000m narrow gauge lines in and out of Bilbao.

[York1]

 

Buenos dias a todos.

That, along with "adios", is the only Spanish I know.

 

 

I saw a program about this amazing station, Canfranc station, in the Pyrenees of northern Spain.  It has been abandoned for years, but is being redone and reopened by the nearby town as a tourist attraction.

The program said it was called "The Titanic of the Mountains" when it opened, but because of different guages meeting there, had issues from the beginning.  It opened in 1928, was closed and reopened several times until 1970, when it was closed for good.

 

Ten un buen domingo.  If Google is correct, that means Have a good Sunday.  Of course, it might be I just called everyone a blue I-beam, and I wouldn't have the slightest idea.

[BNSF UP and others modeler]

We start our tour with a traditional, albiet tasty Spanish breakfast:

Churros!

Today's item of interest is this train:

This is an AVE class 103 high speed train, AVE being the country's national high speed rail system, run by RENFE. It runs on standard guage (some high speed trains do not) and is manufactured by none other than Siemens, which I found interesting. According to what I have read, these suckers can run up to 220 mph. It also boasts a whopping 404 passenger capacity.

As a side note, it looks very similar to some British high speed trains, but not so much other European highspeed trains or the stuff the Japanese have. Interesting.

Enjoy!

[Tinplate Toddler]

BNSF UP and others modeler

As a side note, it looks very similar to some British high speed trains, but not so much other European highspeed trains or the stuff the Japanese have. Interesting.

The AVE class 103 trains are identical to the ICE 3 trains made by Siemens for Deutsche Bahn.

 I think it has a typical German look to it, which is quite different from the French TGV "face" or the Japanese "duck bill" face of the latest Shinkansen generation. The design even bears a faint resemblance to the 100+ mph Diesel railcars of the 1930s, which were known as the "Flying Hamburgers" . I know that name has a different meaning to you guys

[Railroadfan1]

SeeYou190

Excellent... our second month in Europe.

.

I hear the rain in our host country falls mainly on the flat lands. I have never been there, so I do not know if that is actually true.

.

I will learn a lot this month. My knowledge of Spain is minimal at best.

.

Here's to a great month in the diner!

.

-Kevin

.

 

So....the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain...?

[BroadwayLion]

The rain in North Dakota stays mainly in Minnesota!

[BroadwayLion]

 

Eh... Those are the brake handle and the reversing key for the older type subway cars. Each motorman has his own numbered set of tools. You cant move a train without putting it in either forward or reverse, and you cannot move the train without releasing the brake, and for that you need a brake handle.

 

I also have the "cutting key" but that is not shown above, a motorman seldom has to cut (uncouple) a train, but you need a key to open the coupler. Tha is an electro mechanical operation. Air lines and the electrical portions all connect or disconnect automattically.

 

ROAR

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening,

Spain eh, well not a country on my 'hope to visit list' but different. 

We have a Spanish restaurant in town that is very good. I was surprised to learn that Spanish food isn't at all like Mexican and isn't very spicy hot at all. 

Hopefully my internet connection will hold as we have been having a lot of trouble with our phone line the past 2 days. The earliest a tech can get out here is Tuesday a.m. due the the holiday. The last couple of hours there hasn't been any problem so who knows. The trouble started during a long rain we had here. 

Nothing new. We have been doing a fair bit of bird watching. There is an Osprey nest nearby on a big light standard at the university. We saw 4 in flight and 2 more were still in the nest. They were fairly large so I expect they will be taking flight very soon. Certainly are wonderful in flight. We are near a river and they have been seen taking fish back to the nest. 

Not much else new here. Sure glad we don't get hurricanes. 

CN Charlie

[Track fiddler]

Thanks for opening up the Diner for a brand new month Ed.

I must admit I don't even know where Spain is, let alone ever been there.  I never was very good at geography though.  I may need to get myself another one of those Globes again.

Should be interesting.  As I always say, Let-er-roll.

 

TF

[hon30critter]

CNCharlie

We have been doing a fair bit of bird watching. There is an Osprey nest nearby on a big light standard at the university. We saw 4 in flight and 2 more were still in the nest. They were fairly large so I expect they will be taking flight very soon. Certainly are wonderful in flight. We are near a river and they have been seen taking fish back to the nest. 

We haven't seen the Ospreys that nest just north of us for a couple of weeks. The nesting platform is right beside the highway, and we travel that route frequently, so I think they have 'flown the coup'.

Friends of ours had a trailer and boat in a trailer park just north of Lindsay, ON. There was a nesting pole right in the middle of the park close to the docks. The Ospreys didn't give a hoot about constantly having people and noisey kids around all day long. It was spectacular to watch them take off from the nest. They would swoop fairly low to the ground before applying power to gain altitude. It looked like they were coming right at you! Neat!!

Dave

[Track fiddler]

Well anyway, I had a great day today.  I went out to my buddy Erv's, kind of early for a Sunday this morning.

I blacked out the ass end of my 69 Mustang.  I have been wanting to do this for over thirty years since I restored it when I started at 23 years old.

I got-her-done.

 

I do admit I'm a procrastinator.  Over 30 years though...... are you kidding me?   I would say I have a bit of a problem but I'm glad I got-her-done

 

TF

 

 

Now I just have to do something about the bent bumper I put back on when I restored it.

[hon30critter]

Track fiddler

I blacked out the ass end of my 69 Mustang.

Nice job! It adds a lot of character (read: attitude!).

It's never too late to do what you want!

I suspect that your Mustang has had a wee bit of a nudge from behind. Gotta get that bumper straightened!!! No pressure though eh!

Cheers!!

Dave

 

[hon30critter]

gmpullman

Enjoy the soothing, mellow tones...

Soothing indeed!

We saw Neil Diamond live in Flint, Michigan many years ago. I can't remember the exact venue but we were sitting on a grass slope in an amphitheater with the stage below us. The show was great indeed, but what made it more interesting was that there were thunder storms all around us. So, in addition to the laser lights being used in the show, we had regular flashes of lightning in the distance to enhance the effect. The storms never came our way. In fact, we had stars above us all night! Quite the show!!

Dave

[Track fiddler]

It was before I owned it Dave.  The guy that sold it to me said it was hit in a parking lot.  I knew the bumper was caved in the center.  

Joyride driving time is almost over.  I think I'll tackle that one in the spring along with my priority....... POWER STEERING.  I got to tell you I'm so sick of using all the power in my arms and pulling mussels driving the thing

 

TF

 

And thanks for the nice job compliment.  Ya put a smile on my face

[hon30critter]

Track fiddler

I think I'll tackle that one in the spring along with my priority....... POWER STEERING.  I got to tell you I'm so sick of using all the power in my arms and pulling mussels driving the thing

Hey, at our age we need all the exercise we can get!

I know the feeling. When I had my '68 MGC the power brake boosters were shot so I bypassed them (yes, there were two of them! Typical British engineering!!) Well, talk about a stiff pedal!!! I was a strong guy back then and it was all I could do to get the beast stopped. I wouldn't let Dianne drive it because I just knew that she would run into something. I had the 'C' all set up to put a more modern booster in, but then I ran out of money and had to sell it (WE ran into this thing called 'kids'). At least you still have your ride.

Dave

[Track fiddler]

Well all I can do is try to keep you from not feeling too bad about that. 

After I restored my 69 I had a wonderful daughter and then another daughter.

After that the 69 sat in the garage for almost 25 years.  I dug the seized up thing out 22 years later.

The Mach had a long road of recovery ahead and plenty of $ Jing Jing.  I must have got my priorities back or backwards somewhere along the way.

I don't know maybe I'm one of the lucky ones.  I should thank my lucky stars.  I'm glad I still have my childhood car.  I almost sold it twice.  I'm glad now that I didn't.

 

TF

 

Not so sure I'm accurate on my numbers but I drove her hard and put her away wet when I was young.

[SeeYou190]

Dorian is still heading West, coming straight for me.

.

The weathermen all say it will turn North soon. I am having doubts now. It is getting less than two days away. This is the proper time to prepare for impact.

.

In 1992 Andrew did this exact thing. Everyone said it would turn, but it decided to continue West and plow through my neighborhood. The eye of Andrew went right over the duplex I was renting at the time.

.

I might be putting up the storm shutters and driving out of town tomorrow.

.

-Kevin

.

[Track fiddler]

Kevin you do have that favorite family member or friend that lives a little bit Inland to travel to,  right?

 

TF

[Tinplate Toddler]

Track fiddler

I must admit I don't even know where Spain is

You can´t be serious, can you?

I am over 1,000 miles north of Spain - I marked Hamburg in the map.

[Track fiddler]

Tinplate Toddler

 

 

Track fiddler

I must admit I don't even know where Spain is

 

 

You can´t be serious, can you?

 

 

 

Oh  but I am serious.  I live in a little world with my Judy and I'm happy with that.  I'm sure I can look up Spain on the internet but I'd rather buy a globe.  I haven't had one lately. 

I will go to Canada fishing in the spring that is where I know and feel comfortable.  After that Lake Kabetogama, Leech Lake or Red Lake.   Spain not so much.

 

Just like I don't use an umbrella when it's raining.

 

TF

 

No offense,  that's the world I live in.  I like to keep it simple.

 

[Tinplate Toddler]

TF - as a European, our world bigger only in terms of number of countries. I a day´s travel I can drive from Germany to The Netherlands, and on to Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republik and back to Germany. I even may add Liechtenstein to that list. For that trip, I need a basic knowledge of German, Dutch, French and Czech and have to deal with 3 different currencies. Before the Euro, it would have been 7 different currencies.  Life is a little more complicated over here.

[Track fiddler]

That's cool,  I would like to visit sometime if I could.  Sounds interesting.  For now I enjoy my simple life in my simple ways. 

Who knows,  if I live long enough, I'm going to have to try that out sometime.

 

TF