Only months later locos and coaches were in works and the lines resurgence was set to begin. Better still, the 2600 ‘Broken Nose’ electrics which had been withdrawn in 2012, just when I was starting to explore Europe had also returned, working services on the Minho line. There would certainly be plenty of entertainment chasing these locos in northern Portugal.
More pressing perhaps though was the quest to track down the last of the orange CP liveried freight locos, something I had become more aware of since my last visit. A number of 1900, 1930 and 1960’s (as well as plenty more 1400’s) had transferred to Medway when CP sold its freight arm in 2016, slowly they have been withdrawn or in the case of the 1900’s which will be retained, re-painted into the corporate scheme. At the time of our visit we believed there were just three 1960’s and two 1900’s remaining in Orange. It sounded like the search for a needle in a haystack – but the quest was on to find them, with a car, a bit of information, and, as it would turn out, a fair bit of patience!
Saturday 18th September:
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| 1424 prepares to take charge of IR869 the 14:20 from Porto São Bento to Pocinho. On the ajacent platform 2610 waits to form IR853 14:05 to Valenca. 18/09/2021. |
A very early start for my 09:20 flight from Stanstead – the first train of the morning for me at 04:54! All went well, and as I suspected I made an earlier Stanstead Express than the journey planner allowed, even having to take buses across London at that time it was not going to take over an hour!
Check in was uneventful and very efficient and I found myself a good hour spare airside at Stanstead. Covid documents were checked at the gate and my Ryanair flight managed a right time departure.
A short while later an early arrival into Porto was also achieved, though my position at the front of the aircraft was soon diminished as we were on the cheap stands and decanted into buses. Fortunately I was still near the front of the queue to be stamped into Europe (I never thought we’d go back to that!). Those behind me looked to be in for a lengthy wait, but fortunately I was through efficiently and onto the tram into the city, this was good news as I had been worrying how tight it would actually be to land at 11:40 and make the 13:20 train from São Bento. The answer- with the tram I was on, comfortable. Had I missed it and been 30 minutes behind, tight!
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| Passing trains at Ermida allows a shot of 1457 working IR868 the 13:08 from Pocinho. 18/09/2021. |
2605 greeted me on the blocks at São Bento, a class that were all withdrawn from traffic on my previous visit in 2018! I had hoped to take a quick ride to Camphanã on IR853 the 13:05 to Valença, which would be powered by 2616, but in the end I spent too long at the end of the platform waiting for the cloud to clear on my shot of IR869 which was headed by blue 1424 on a nice uniform set of Schindlers (stock brought in ECS by 2626).
Missing the 2600 wasn’t a huge disappointment as I wanted a run through the tunnel out of Sãu Bento with a diesel- I just didn’t want it with this one, the only 1400 of the three I had ridden behind previously that was currently in the area!
The run was good fun never the less and before long I was back along the banks of the Douro enjoying the English Electric Music.
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| 1461 passes the station of Ferrao with IR21812 the 15:12 from Pocinho. 18/09/2021. |
All too soon at Régua, my fast car driver, Rob, was waiting, having arrived in Portugal the previous night. Since the car hire company wouldn’t accept my photocopied licence in my absence Rob had unwittingly signed up to do all the driving this time- Cheers Rob!
Right behind IR869 at the weekends is the Douro steam special which runs between Régua and Tua. We positioned ourselves just outside of the town to shoot the train crossing the steel lattice viaduct- unfortunately the sun had other ideas- though I should be grateful that this was virtually the only shot of the trip which fell victim to any sort of weather!
There were opportunities to chase the steam at least as far as Pinhão where the railway and river part company with the road. A few nice shots were achieved both of CP 0186 and the 1400’s running trains close to it.
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| CP0186 at Covelinhas on the steam service from Tua to Regua. |
The timetable was now delayed and the light failing so it was decided to go for a run on the 17:40 Pocinho – São Bento from Régua. I hadn’t of course checked the diagrams and wasn’t best pleased to see 1424 at the helm. I had been bowled out once more by this little blue diesel. What was worse, with the timetable having gone to pot our short out and back move to Rede was looking precarious, and when we caught sight of the unit which should have taken us back to Régua and the car it was accelerating way before our wheels had stopped turning.
Of course the Bar at Aregos where we ultimately continued to was shut and it was a decent wait until the next regional train. Dinner would have no choice but to wait.
Fortunately the receptionist at our hotel in Porto Antigo (over the river from Mosterio) was obliging and happy to offer us food at 22:00. The roads were certainly not the fastest, and after completing a 20 minute circuit to end up back where we started the food was more than welcome and very good too.
Sunday 19th September:
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| E5035 ‘Sara’ on the viaduct at Ribadouro working the Godim Cement. 19/09/2021. |
Version 1 of ‘Covid Breakfast’ was presented this morning where each guest was given their own tongs to operate the buffet- this unsurprisingly worked very well, and 15 minutes before breakfast was due to start our plates were loaded. The early start was necessary so as not to miss the first 1400, IR186 the 07:20 from Porto Camphanã- With the weather perfect it would have been rude to flag it.
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| 1461 on the viaduct near Lagoa on IR865. 19/09/2021. |
1408, was photographed on the viaduct at Lagoa in the morning light. Next it was to Ribadouro for the main event, the Godim cement, for which we had high hopes that a 1960 might appear, one being in the Porto area and potentially in position. Having almost discounted the viaduct shot as having too much shadow, the decision was reversed after a quick rekkie. The cement followed R21811 with 1438 and the multicoloured Schindlers. With tensions mounting on what could have been the shot of the trip, it was ultimately Medway’s Euro 4000 E5035 ‘Sara’ which rounded the corner. It was certainly a nice shot, but it wasn’t the orange we were after!
With limited alternative options it was back to the viaduct at Lagoa for IR865 convinced that the shadows would be better, and that there must be a better angle available. I am still convinced there must, but I wasn’t going to find it wearing shorts- the light was at least better for 1461’s appearance.
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| 'English' 1408 bursts out of the tunnel at Godim with IR866. |
Aside from the fact that the Godim freight was not orange we still needed to find somewhere to photograph the return, and picked Barqueiros. The loco still wasn’t orange but it was a nice shot. It was now time to turn our attention to the first northbound, the return of 1408, the English assembled loco which I was very keen to see properly. The target was the tunnel at Godim but there was a slight problem on the roads… having made good progress a long tailback was encountered, no, it wasn’t a queue for a petrol station, it was a political float complete with stage and music heading down the road towards Rede at approximately 10kph! At this rate we would never make the train- we were going to be bowled by a political float!! Thankfully, victory was snatched after an overtaking move at Rede, but more pivotally by the train being around 20 minutes late!
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| 1438 on the viaduct outside Regua working IR868 the 13:08 from Pocinho. 19/09/2021. |
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| 0186 taking on oil fuel at Regua. 19/09/2021. |
Lunch in Régua was followed by a wander around the yard to catch the steam and 1436 before getting into position for IR868 the next northbound with 1438 on the viaduct outside Régua where the sun was against us the day before. The final southbound, 1424 on the matching Shindlers again with IR869 was captured near Rede before heading north to Aregos to wait the next train and sample the fine station bar in the former goods shed. A nice bottle of Douro wine later and a timetable reading disaster (not on my part for a change) resulted in missing our final 1400 shot for which the sun would have been too low on the causeway anyway.
It was now time to head to the Minho and our base for the next night at Barcelos. If we made good time I was hoping to catch IR830 for a quick move with the 2600, the only opportunity I would now have on this trip.
We did just made it in time, however the train was well late. 2605 produced and I forgot my FIP so after a small panic at the grip the train was taken to Nine for a unit back. Re-united with my paperwork which was in the car door, Barcelos seemed to be a nice town, but with fairly limited food options- a lovely steak was found after a bit of a covid certificate faff.
Monday 20th September:
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| 2627 with the returning 'Arco' test run on the viaduct at Durres. 20/09/2021. |
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| IR850 has 2626 in charge as it approaches Nine. 20/09/2021. |
It was an early start again in order to make the first daylight loco south. Today’s instalment of ‘Covid Breakfast’ was by far the worst- a usual looking buffet- which was served by a waiter. Unfortunately the waiter also refreshed the food and disappeared to get hot drinks, resulting in a nice queue. Add in a column in the middle of the whole area so you couldn’t see half of the food offering and the whole thing became a bit silly!
We had an idea of a location near Nine, missing a freight on the way there and 2626 was only a little late to appear with IR 850 the 07:21 from Valença.
We were aware of an extra test run today with some of the refurbished ex-Spanish ‘Arco’ coaches, but there weren’t many options to photograph the northbound working, and with it being so close to crossing the next southbound train, IR 852 we decided to concentrate on this. The sun was just far enough round at Tamel but the train did not appear. Knowing we couldn’t have missed it (and with nothing else going on) we waited for the best part of 3 hours as the light got better. Still no train (though three heading the wrong way!). Eventually we gave up (and later found out that we had seen it, but as a unit vice), and hedged our bets on the next Northbound, IR853 the 13:05 from Porto São Bento. This was seen at Barrosellas behind 2611, the only green stickered example we would see. After picking up some lunch we headed to the viaduct at Durreas which we had seen earlier from the car.
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| 2611 at Barroselas with IR853. 20/09/2021. |
This would provide several angles for the last three daylight trains- the returning ‘Arco’ test with 2627, IR 854 with 2605 and finally IR 855 the return of our unit vice earlier which had thankfully now been swapped for 2623 to make a fine final shot for the day which was enjoyed with a Super Bok from the bar below.
It was now time to hit the motorway and drive south to Entroncamento for our night’s lodgings. We had left the Minho in good time hoping to finally get a reasonably early night and a meal on arrival.
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| IR855 crosses the viaduct at Durres with 2623 in charge. |
This all changed when we veered off the motorway at Vila Nova de Gaia to check if there was anything interesting lurking at the Medway stabling point since the light was good. This would prove a costly decision from a dinnertime perspective! Having finally negotiated the one way system we found a space to park and heard a noise which Rob quickly concluded could only be one thing- a 1960.
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1964 (unfortunately complete with graffiti on the end we didn't
need it) at Vila Nova de Gaia backing onto its next train. 20/09/2021. |
Heads turned and it was immediately into action. Something orange was shunting through the station and we needed to see it! 1964 was duly photographed shunting onto a ballast train, we had our sunny (graffiti end) shots. One orange down. Four to go. Of course it would have been rude not to bother the steam loco carcases while we were in the yard, and thus the sun set on what had turned out to be another excellent day in northern Portugal.
The drive had suffered from our delay, but the success of finding 1964 well made up for the late arrival at Entroncamento. After an issue reading our covid passes on check in we were told that there were no restaurants still open. This may have been the case, but a very nice burger establishment would suffice, the EE shunters audible from the railway footbridge. Also spotted from the footbridge was 1903 stabled in the yard. What was the chance that this might drop onto the freight to Badajoz in the morning?
Tuesday 21st September:
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| 1962 is finally working and ready to depart from Lourical for the paper mills. 21/09/2021 |
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| 1903 shunting at Entroncamento. 21/09/2021 |
Todays covid breakfast should have been simple- we had ordered it all the night before. Of course this meant nothing and it was a free-for-all normal buffet with the exception of our eggs which arrived separately!
Over the footbridge to check what was going on in the yard and right on que 1903 fired up. Everything was fitting into place for the Badajoz train until 1903 then headed light engine through the station and onto depot. It would have been silly not to attempt the planned shot anyway just in case, though as was probably expected it was another Euro 4000, E5034 ‘Adriana’ that would greet us.
Back to the station there was plenty of time to loiter and watch the action.
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| Euro 4000, E5034 ‘Adriana’ on the outskirts of Barquinha with the freight for Badajoz (Spain). 21/09/2021 |
It was clear that trains were not arriving from Lisbon (the Badajoz unit had not departed) and it was soon discovered that a power issue had blocked the northbound line. Never the less shunting continued with the 1400’s based in the yard, 1435 and 1437.
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| 1437 on the Entroncamento Railway Museum Turntable. 21/09/2021 |
An extra unusual move was provided in the shunting of Medway’s Vectron 4704 into the railway museum ready for unveiling of its new livery later in the week.
Content with plenty more 1400 pics there was time to have a look around the museum, pleasingly capturing the other active ‘English’ loco, 1404, over the fence as well as being stalked yet again by 1424- this time in miniature form!
Before the afternoon activities there was just a short window of opportunity to spend some time by the mainline, ending up at Pialvo where we just missed a 5600 hauled Southbound IC. The highlight of our short time here was a southbound engineers train hauled by 5628 and conveying 1450. This was the train which had worked the previous night to Tua on the Douro route with Medway’s 1446, that loco clearly having also been swapped with 1450 for the return at Vila Nova de Gaia.
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| 5628 leads 1450 near Pialvo with a southbound engineers train. 21/09/2021. |
Having failed to see one hauling a train so far, the next, and now only likely bet of seeing a 1960 in proper action was at Louriçal. This station connects the main railway to a branch serving two massive paper works. While the branch appears to be wired in its entirety, for reasons I do not know the branch tends to be worked by a diesel, and we believed a 1960 is usually outbased there for these duties. Sure enough much excitement ensued when there was a glimpse of orange in the yard on our arrival. 1692 was present. The sun was shining- we were going to get our train!
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| 1962 stabled at Lourical. 21/09/2021. |
Little did we know! Also at Louriçal was a Captrain Euro 4000. Was this going to work the branch instead? Surely not for Medway? And would there even be a train at all- the loco was switched off and the live tracker suggested the Medway service to the mills was cancelled?
It was a waiting game. Staff showed up, stopped next to 1962 and then wandered on to the Euro 4000. This worked light engine to the paper mill returning with a set of empty wagons. Having scoped out the limited photo options it was rapidly becoming clear that with no Medway arrival until around 17:30 we might not get the chance to use then. The station ground staff were useful and suggested that 1962 would work to the mills ‘around 8’. I hoped that this might actually translate to ’around 18:00’ since that would fit with the expected 17:30 arrival of the Medway train.
The Medway train arrived behind 5625, which hopefully stopped next to 1962 and dropped a driver off. They even walked over to the loco and stopped before the arrival kept going. Listening for the start-up, we were obviously disappointed when the driver was then seen continuing towards the station building. Maybe the action was going to wait ‘until 8’ after all. It would be dark by this time, but having already waited 3 hours we weren’t about to leave now.
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| Captrain 336.003 departs Lourical with empties. 21/09/2021 |
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| 1962 with the wood train at Lourical. 21/09/2021. |
Sure enough at 20:21 1962 was switched on and finally the action begun! Thankfully we had brought our tripods and a few pleasing night shots were taken. Maybe not what we had come for but we had our 1962 on a train. Two down. Three to go.
Tonight’s accommodation was in Setúbal and we hadn’t had dinner. Once again it was going to be a late one! The food options on the motorway were closed, unless we wanted a sandwich. Arrival in Setúbal was going to be after the restaurants had shut, including the take-aways if Google was to be believed. We found one pizza establishment- which was less closed that the others, but on arrival had also stopped serving. Dodgy Kebab it was. Of course we drove it to the hotel only to find Mc Donald’s next door which was open. I say next door. Next door to the hotel we tried to check in to first, which turned out not to be our hotel at all!
Exhausted, some gen was received for the next day. A 1960 on the Douro cement, 1903 to Badajoz. All the trains we had wanted earlier in the week, and there had still been no sign of an orange 1900 working at all. Was there an option to get into position for either?
Wednesday 22nd September:
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| 1905 heads towards Ourique with the loaded ore train from Mines Neves-Corvo. 22/09/2021. |
Having eventually conclude overnight that there really wasn’t an option to get into place for todays interesting trains it was back to plan A – we knew a 1900 was allocated to the usual turn from Praias Soda to Mines Neves-Corvo, the train we were in this part of the country for in the first place. 1907 had been on this all week, a black loco, and we did not like these black locos! Or course before heading off there was breakfast to get out of the way. Todays covid security provided by hand sanitizer and disposable gloves.
The train to the mines runs down empty, and then returns in two parts, combining in a loop approximately half way along the branch from the station at Ourique (which isn’t actually very near to the town of Ourique). While there are plenty of options to shoot the southbound train, the returning portions are rather more difficult. We had one shot at the southbound which turned out to be close to Ourique and spotted from the motorway. We were in position and heard the loco power up. Certainly a 1900, but as it came into view- it was Orange! Three down! This had probably made the trip- 1907 had been swapped for 1905.
After watching the activities on the branch we made our way back to Ourique station where the train was made up and sitting waiting for departure which is booked for 13:11. Also present were another pair of photographers who informed us that contrary to our understanding 1905 was now the only of the class still operating for Medway in Orange, and we were lucky to have seen it. So that’s not three out of five, but three out of four. Not a bad result really. At 13:12, having seen no other trains the signal turned green, and 1905 did not disappoint on departure.
A celebratory beer was due, though of course the bar next to the station had just closed! A very local village was found nearby for a Super Bok before what was actually a very tasty service station lunch.
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| 1905 Departs Ourique bound for Praias-Soda. 22/09/2021. |
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| Alfa-Pendula 4009 at Pinhal Novo. 22/09/2021. |
Back to Setúbal after a successful morning and after very easily obtaining our pre-departure Covid tests from the first chemist we tried, there was only one thing to turn to now, the Takargo MLW 1550’s. Four had been purchased from CP in 2019 with three overhauled for local work in this area. The first was achieved simply enough. 1563 was photographed shunting a car train into the terminal at Setúbal. Our live data showed that pretty much all the MLW turns so far had run significantly late, so after setting up at a lineside location it wasn’t a huge surprise when neither of the two booked trains showed up in the lovely evening light. Neither was it a surprise to see a 5600 pass on an IC while we parked the car. There wouldn’t be another!
We were done for the day, and finally, on our last night it was time for a meal at a civilized hour!
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| Takargo MLW 1563 pushes back its load of cars into the port at Setubal. 22/09/2021. |
Thursday 23rd September:
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| Takargo MLW 1565 appears from the tunnel from Praco do Quebedo. 22/09/2021. |
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| 1431 shunts in the port of Setubal. 22/09/2021. |
For the first time in the trip the morning dawned cloudy and we already knew the breakfast arrangements. Since there was little point driving for the MLW in poorer light than yesterday we opted for a more local spot as the train emerges from tunnel from Praco do Quebedo into the docks.
There wasn’t a lot more going on so the morning was spent getting the car a well needed wash and watching 1431 shunting a steel train within the docks with the sun now once again shining. After this departed there was just time for a final beer before re-creating the mornings shot of the lunchtime MLW, now lit nicely by the sun. What a great way to finish the trip.
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| A Route 28 tram at the terminus of Prazeres. 22/09/2021 |
It was now time to start thinking about getting home. For me this was the train to Barriero before boarding the boat over the Tagus into Lisbon. Attempts to photograph a freight train into the terminal at Alcantra-Mer failed when it failed to show up, and aside from that an afternoon of trams and stocking up on wine ensued. After a final ice cream it was time to head for the Metro and face the flight home, which even with the extra covid faff was straightforward and pleasant with only one argument between passengers on board.
Conclusions:
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| 1905 works the empties towards Mines Neves-Corvo. 21/09/2021. |
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| 1964 at Vila Nova de Gaia. 20/21/2021. |
All in all an excellent trip. A few bits could definitely have gone better, but such is the nature of these exploits. The aim was to track down the Orange locos with Medway, and that was certainly achieved, as it turned out there were only four, and we saw three of them. Yes, we could have done better with the 1960’s actually working trains, but for me 1905 more than made up for it. I had first seen the Alsthom Co-Co diesels on my first trip to France, back in 2012- all silenced and re-engined as CC72100’s of course. I had tried to track them down with minor success again in Morocco just a little bit too late, so Portugal would complete the set- and no silencers this time! Away from the big freight engines it was great to be back on the Douro, and I am sure there is scope for several more trips here on what must currently be one of the best diesel loco operations in Europe.
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| 1438 at Ribadouro working IR21811.19/09/2021 |
Some good shots were achieved on the Minho also and it is certainly wonderful to see the 2600’s receiving some love with electrical gear on the roof so clean you could probably eat off it!
The weather was excellent throughout once again, and with more 2600’s set to return as well as the Spanish ex-Arco coaches (along with bottles of beer priced at 1 euro) Portugal will have plenty to offer for some time to come, even if this did turn out to be the last chance for big Orange engines.
Thanks to Rob for driving and putting together the master plan for the trip. Also to all those who have posted reports and information and particularly to Nelso Silva and Andrew Donnelly for the invaluable information while we were in Portugal.
