Portughese Steam Trains

This is Portuguese Railways number 284, a 4-6-0 oil burner built by Henschel in the early part of the twentieth century and still going at this time, a grand old machine which looked very much like the British Great Eastern Railway B12 class. Here it is running along the remote and rugged eastern Duro valley of Portugal working the 09.20 from Porto to Barca de Alva on the Spanish border, seen here near Ferradosa. Note the two big lamps on

This is one of my favourite pictures I took in Portugal. Although I have a colour photo as well this one in black and white is perfect for the scene, the light was just right, taken in the early evening with long shadows the train is almost silhouetted against the river after the hot day time glare had gone, perfect! Here is Henschel oil burning 4-6-0 number 282 heading for Regua working the afternoon postal train from Barca de Alva

Never mind the train look at the spectacular scenery, we are back at Ferradosa in the wild parts of the Duero valley in Portugal. Look closely at the tunnel this had been hewn out of solid rock. The two cracks either side of the large slab above the tunnel could have been cased when explosives had been used in its construction. It looks like it’s about to slide off! The location and position for this photograph was a master piece