Spanish Majesty

The railways of Spain, built to a gauge of 5 ft. 6 in., had the most generous loading gauge of any country in Europe outside the U.S.S.R.; Spanish locomotives could be built to a height of 14 ft. 7 in. and width of 10ft 10in and, although the railways never fully recovered from the disastrous effects of the Civil War, Spanish engines were among the finest in Europe, with mechanical stokers, feed water heaters and chemical water treatment all embodied in the larger types.

Under the 1949 modernization scheme, the Spanish National Railways planned to confine steam locomotive construction to five types, which with one exception were all to standard post-nationalization designs.

For passenger work two types were built, a 4-8-2 based on an earlier Northern Railway design and a massive oil-burning 4-8-4, one of which is seen here leaving Valkulolul with the Iberia Express.

Ten of these fine machines were put into service in 1955 to haul the heaviest passenger trains between the limits of electrification on the main line from Madrid on the French frontier at Irun.

Built by M.T.M. in Bilbao, these 4-8-4s had two 25 in. x 28 in cylinders, 6 ft. 3 in. wheels and a tractive effort of 47,000 Ib. Poppet valves were fitted, with double Mast pipes and chimneys, and combined with the use of oil fuel no difficulty was experienced in maintaining a verv high power output over the long gradients in northern Spain.