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| Shot of the trip- 1413 crosses the second viaduct at Pala with two Schindler coaches in tow while working the 10:05 Marco de Canaveses - Régua in the final days of the Douro blockade - 28/03/2019 |
Introduction:
Inspiration for this trip started way back in late 2018 when the gen was posted to the europeanrail group (thank you to all that found the info and passed it on) that the Douro valley was to be blockaded for three months with CP1400's working trains between Marco de Canaveses and Pocinho. I've wanted to sample the 'Portuguese 20's' for a while and some guaranteed work on this scenic line was clearly going to be the best chance I would have- now the challenge was to find some time amongst the busy Christmas period! At the beginning of February things were looking bleak- the block had just one month yet and I had a pre-booked trip to Switzerland and an aspiration to go skiing. Eventually skiing won and my time for the Douro disappeared, I had consigned the 1400's to the pile of things I had simply not got around to doing. And then the block was extended by a month. Action time! At short notice it wasn't going to be a big group trip, but a weekend right at the end of March was identified and flights booked just the week before once the leave had all been approved. The Douro was on!
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| In central Porto the double-decked Lois I bridge spans the Douro river, Modern trams cross the high level. |
Wednesday 27th March:
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| The heritage tram operation in Porto - very much run for tourists! 27/03/2019 |
I keep saying that I must stop going on these trips straight from night shifts... so I finished my nights and made my way up to London to meet Rob and then down to Gatwick for the 09:40 Easyjet flight to Porto. There was a bit of a hold up at the baggage carousel but it didn't matter as we had several hours to kill before we could make it onto the Douro valley with the limited timetable. The transfer to Porto from the airport is a simple (but not too frequent) tram taking around 30 minutes. Shortly after midday we were by the quayside eating lunch in the beautiful warm weather. It may have been perfect had a pesky seagull not decided to make off with my brioche! A few photos of the heritage tram operation were taken before walking back up the hill to the impressive Porto São Bento station for the 15:10 service to Caide. The bus operation at Caide was slick and we took the non-stop service to Marco de Canaveses arriving to a view of CP orange 1415 waiting to work the 17:05 to Régua. That was in some 45 minutes time so we put our bags on the train and stopped off at the bar across from the station for a Super Bok beer which was unbelievably just €1 a bottle!
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| 1415 at Régua ready to work the 18:53 to Marco. 27/03/2019 |
1415 left on time and headed down the hill, I have to be honest, it really wasn't very loud- but the scenery was good and we scouted some locations for the following morning, and also observed some gradients which would definitely be better in the other direction!
We passed 1455 at Aregos after a short delay and continued to Régua where we checked into the Hotel Imperio while leaving 1415 and 1413 to do what appeared to be an unnecessary amount of shunting in the station.
Back for the 18:53 to Marco we were expecting 1413 according to the diagrams I had worked out, which would leave 1415 for the overnight Pochino and to be in position for our photo in the morning (excellent!)- but it didn't work out that way with 1415 working back to Marco.
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Bedding down for the night- with their duties finished 1415 and 1455 complete
their shunting duties before stabling at Régua for their morning duties. 28/03/19 |
We met several other enthusiasts on the train, all bailing at Mirão for the last train back to Régua with 1455, which was sounding a lot better. As expected the loco was swapped at Régua for 1413 to continue to Pochino. Across to the local Charcuterie for dinner which was very good and very cheap before returning to the station for some night shots of the demic narrow gauge steam locos and 1415 with the final arrival since we didn't now know where we would see it since the diagrams had gone to pot and our strong suspicion was that it would sit spare at Régua most of the following day!
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| Relics at Régua- The narrow gauge line here, like all of those along the Douro is now closed. The Corgo line ceased running after 103 years in 2009 and has since been lifted. An abandoned 9700 DMU vehicle and several Mallet locos still occupy the yard at Régua awaiting their eventual fate. Douro Valley trains use the broad gauge track in the foreground. 28/03/2019. |
Thursday 28th March:
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| 1415 arrives into Juncal station working the 13:05 from Marco de Canaveses. €2 bottles of wine were available just across from the station! 28/03/2019 |
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| The daytime standby loco 1455 basks in the sun at Régua. |
After a good breakfast it was across to the station for the 08:38 departure for Marco. We knew this would be 1413 which went down to Pochino last night, but what we weren't so sure of was which loco would be out on the other diagram. Fortunately the presence of 1413 at the station gave us the right answer, it was orange 1415. Not a bad turn out all things considered and 1413 working the train would leave us with all three locos in the book for haulage without having to try too hard (though it would mean 1415 was unlikely to do the overnight Pochino and not therefore be in position for Friday mornings planned photo). The main objective today was to get a few scenic shots, the first on the viaduct at Pala which would involve the return of our train. 1413 was duly photographed here and a celebratory ice cream was well deserved!
For the long midday recess we chose to head to Juncal as the area looked more attractive than Marco (plus the bar at Marco was no longer required!). This proved a good move and we were joined by Andy Flowers which helped to pass away the time with ease, plus the bar near the station sold us bottles of wine for €2!!!. We were also able to get the info from Andy of a place to stay in Pochino for the night (enabling us to cover the full branch tomorrow and avoiding our currently planned super early taxi move!). Before too long we had booked into Taverna da Julliana (booked through the Original Douro Hotel) for the night. When planning the trip we had intended to stay in Pochino but had failed to find any accommodation.
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| 1413 is seen in the valley landscape between Caldas de Moledo and Rede. 28/03/2019 |
Returning after our wine break on 1415 down to Rede for our next photos (and more wine). Google maps directed us to the Quinto de S.Tiago winery where I was hoping there might be some wine tasting on offer- but we arrived to find just a burnt out building. Fearing the worst I was poking around in the yard of the building behind when two women appeared and Rob indicated to them 'Wine!?'. Next thing two bottles and two glasses were presented and we were sitting by a pool in the shade looking over the Douro valley with a board of ham and cheese! Result! Funnily enough after photographing 1413 on the 14:53 Régua - Marco we returned for another bottle!
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1415 arrives into Rede working the 08:05 from Marco de Canaveses- our
trains would pass here with 1413 already in the platform. 28/03/2019. |
Taking 1413 back to Régua it was then time to check out of our hotel and get some emergency food supplies before taking 1415 on the 'usual' move up to Mirão, this time taking the return all the way through to Pochino. Tonight this involved a complete stock change as well as the loco at Régua, and I'll admit with darkness now fallen and still recovering from my night shifts I slept for a fair bit of the run. We didn't attempt photos at Pochino, electing sensibly to seek out our accommodation. We needn't have tried too hard as the proprietors with a paper note reading 'JAMEF' tracked us down in their car near to the station. We were shown to our rooms and asked if we were hungry. Of course we were, but the restaurant was closed. No worry though, we were shown in anyway and food was produced, an excellent steak and I'm fairly sure that the port was compulsory. I'm sure our host was going to have one whether we did or not. Either way it was all delicious!
Friday 29th March:
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| The further reaches of the Douro valley are undoubtedly the most scenic. With a mirror-like reflection in the river the rolling hills and vineyards are seen in the early morning light from the train down the valley. 29/03/2019 |
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| 1455 waits to leave Pocinho with the 07:07 to Marco de Canaveses. 29/03/19 |
After all that wine my head didn't hurt as much as I had feared! We got up early enough to explore the bridge and station at Pochino (oh how wonderful would it have been to see this area before all the narrow gauge finished!?) before boarding 1455 which would take us up the line. We met one of the ‘no open windows’ guards, though to be fair to him it was pretty chilly on the train. We also soon learned that there was no problem to stand with the door open in the vestibule.
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| 1415 approaches Rede with the 10:38 departure from Régua 29/03/2019 |
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| Passing trains at Rede. 29/03/2019 |
The photo plan today was to try a shot on the causeway at Aregos, which would be the return of our train with 1455, but I really wanted a shot of the orange one! Passing Régua the standby loco was 1413 which meant that orange 1415 had done the early diagram. I bailed out at Caldas de Moledo for a quickly hatched plan to photograph it prior to passing the train at Rede, leaving Rob to do the sensible thing and go for the shot we had planned alone. Fortunately bailing paid off and I managed to find a good view to catch 1415 on the 08:05 Marco - Régua. This then left me a good couple of hours to explore the area and walk up to Rede to photograph both trains arriving there with their next services. 1415 was traction again for the 10:38 Régua - Marco de Canaveses and our final ride behind a 'Portuguese 20'. After finding our way around camera crews at Marco who were filming a piece on the blockade we got onto the express bus again to Caide. The bus was quick enough that there was a long wait at Caide for a connecting train to Porto- certainly time for a final Super Bok with Andy.
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| A SOREFRAME built class 2240 EMU waits its next duty. |
We spent a short while at Porto Campanhã hoping to photograph a loco hauled intercity and maybe some freight, but it wasn't to be- the Lisbon train producing a Pendolino. Back to the city it was then for a final wander round before making our way to the airport again on the 'slug' tram for the 18:00 to Stanstead with Ryanair.
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| Spot the train! A class 3400 EMU navigates the cliffs above the Douro river as it makes its final approach to Porto São Bento station. Further down the cliff is the trackbed which remains from the former narrow gauge railway into Porto. The concrete bridge in the background carries the main Porto - Lisbon railway. The clouds above were the first we had seen in the entirety of our visit! 29/03/2019 |
Conclusions:
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| A quick re-plan of my itinerary produced a very pleasing shot of 1415 departing from Caldas de Moledo with the 08:05 Marco de Canaveses - Régua. The CP liveried loco definitely being my favourite photographically. The characteristics of this wine growing region are very apparent with wineries hugging both sides of the Douro valley. 29/03/2019. |
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My fainal sighting of 1415 at Marco de Canaveses. Will we
meet again one day? Quite likely not. 29/03/2019 |
All in all an excellent trip- and thank you to all those who have provided gen during the block (and also of course to CP for allowing it to overrun long enough for us to get out there!!!). The weather was perfect ('emergency shorts' were in use!) and the sun just that little bit higher at the end of March to allow most of the shots we wanted to achieve. After some disappointing thrash the first day the 1400's proved to be great entertainment, especially when combined with the stunning scenery of the Douro and the opening windows and doors of the Schindler stock. We learned on our return to Porto that after the blockade was due to finish on the Sunday the coaches had already been sold to an alternative operator, with rumours that the 1400's would be stored, the tourist train on the Douro Valley are due to run with A/C Spanish DMU's this year. Maybe this really was the last swansong of the 1400's? I'm glad I was there to enjoy it.
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Not the hoped-for loco, Pendolino 4007 pauses at Porto Campanhã with a
Lisbon bound service. 29/03/2019 |
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