The Branch Line That Refused to Die (and Why Geoff Was Right About It)
We hadn’t planned to get off. That was the idea. A simple run out. One of those tidy Spanish days where everything connects, runs on[…]
The Things I Look At in a Station (That Most People Walk Straight Past)
I can usually tell how long I am going to be in a station within about ten seconds of walking into it. Not by the[…]
Spain, the UK, and the Rest of Europe: A Railwayman’s Unfair Comparison
I did not move to Spain intending to become a railway comparative analyst. I moved here because Sue liked the light, the oranges tasted like[…]
“In Crewe, a ticket was a ticket. Here, it’s a small administrative exam.”
I only wanted to book a straightforward trip. Two people. One destination. No heroics. Within five minutes I had three tabs open, Sue looking over[…]
Night Freight
I hadn’t been near a freight yard in years. The passenger stations get all the glamour these days. Polished floors, ticket machines that speak five[…]
Lleida Day: Fast Line, Slow Branch, and Geoff’s Quiet Power
Sue said we should treat it like a date, so I wore the decent shirt and left the railway cap at home. Barcelona to Lleida[…]
Lights That Last
In Crewe we never put “lamp cleaner” in the job description, but half the time that’s what you were. Driver comes in muttering that his[…]
Restoring a Class 47, and Hearing From Geoff (Who’s Gone Off the Rails Entirely)
Some men dream of vineyards. Others build goat pens in rural Spain and call it “freedom.” Me? I restore locomotives. This time it’s a Hornby[…]
Barcelona Sants Station: Functional, Ugly, and Brilliant
I wasn’t even planning to write about it, to be honest. But the thing about railway stations — proper ones — is they tend to[…]
Train Stations with Character: Spain’s Most Beautiful Stations
Not Just Places You Catch Trains You can learn a lot about a country by standing in its train stations. Not the ticket counters or[…]