For anyone chancing on the end of this thread in future, the video of this narrow gauge adventure is now available here. #TheNarrowWay
I rode Europe's longest narrow-gauge railway: THREE DAYS across Spain
youtu.be/GTTJa3bjbns
New video! Back in June I made the longest narrow-gauge rail journey possible in Europe. 3 days, a little over 600km, 269 stations from the French border to the north-west tip of Spain. Incredible scenery, fascinating history, weird trains… #TheNarrowWay
youtu.be/GTTJa3bjbns
Remarkably, the station also has a third gauge of tracks, one of only a handful of such places (Hendaye where I started #TheNarrowWay is another) - this is the metre-gauge, third-rail electrified and stupidly scenic Le Train Jaune which winds east through the mountains to Villefranche. #Schengen200
Where to find the Travelling Turtle Adventures
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Thanks so much for coming along and for your company. I do hope you’ve enjoyed this trip through the wooded hills of Euskadi, the river valleys of Cantabria, the Picos of Asturias and the rias of Galicia. Look out for the video sometime soon. Saúde! (As they say in Galicia). #TheNarrowWay /fin
So Ferrol feels at once at the heart of Spanish history, and a bit of an out-of-the-way city hidden behind Galicia’s hills. It’s certainly not been the fastest way to get here from the French border, via Euskotren and the Railways Formerly Known As FEVE, but it has been a great trip. #TheNarrowWay
Strange, really, that this relatively small town produced both Franco and Pablo Iglesias Posse, founder of PSOE, the currently ruling (just about) Socialist Workers Party, and central to the Second Republic that Franco overthrew. Weird coincidences history throws up. #TheNarrowWay
Ferrol does present a challenge: how to photograph the birthplace of its most infamous son, Francisco Franco, without the suspcious owner of the clothes shop next door thinking you are some sort of fanboi. (Non-Spanish internet weirdos haven’t discovered Franco yet really, have they?) #TheNarrowWay
But while there is a risk that the almost unbroken grid pattern of the streets could become oppressive, it is really lightened by the sheer expanse of classic Spanish bay windows with their huge expanses of glass. In the sun, the place sparkles. #TheNarrowWay
There’s no doubt it is a military town. Somewhere offshore is the occasional boom of the Navy undertaking firing exercises, and the square in front of the town hall, the Praza de Armas, strongly resembles a drill square. #TheNarrowWay
Ferrol is an intriguing place. A huge naval base in its easily defensible, hard to blockade ria, it’s a town where you get used to seeing signs saying ‘Property of the Armada’ around the place. The naval base does, however, make city centre waterfront access very limited. #TheNarrowWay
I’m off to find my hotel, and then we’ll round up this trip properly. #TheNarrowWay
So with just 8mins of delay in the end, we pull into the little dual-gauge terminus at Ferrol, the great natural harbour at the top left of Spain, and the end of Europe’s longest narrow gauge journey. Three days, of which 21h10min actually travelling, 12 trains, 1 tram, 269 stations. #TheNarrowWay
It does feel a little odd, as we stagger through the final moments of this great trek across northern Spain, to still have people joining us at halts in the real Ferrol suburbs, whose journeys will take just a few minutes. Interlopers 😊. #TheNarrowWay
Since we’ve become a suburban train, the stations have frankly got sillier. We’ve served a good number of strategically-vital clearings in the wood. We lost time waiting for a train at a loop, and driver and guard are gaining minutes back by running an informal request stop system. #TheNarrowWay
We make the final steep climb of the journey, looping up through the eucalyptus and scots pine forests to Cerdidi, at over 250m, on the high plateau. #TheNarrowWay
To be fair, I am concerned that I might be engaging in industrialised fare evasion by always selecting 0 when the RENFE app asks how many ‘mascotas’ I want to add to my booking. Now I think that means ‘pets’, but maybe they have got wise to Mrs Turtle. #TheNarrowWay
I mean look at it, gritty isn’t even the word. He’s just having a pleasant chat with the conductor. Maybe I should cause some trouble for everyone’s amusement. #TheNarrowWay
At Ortigueira we become part of Ferrol’s rather limited Cercanias suburban network (it is one line, mainly run with single car diesels). You can tell this is the suburbs, because a security guard in high viz and with a huge baton has got on. He must have a hard job in these badlands. #TheNarrowWay
Reminds me of crossing the Barmouth Bridge. If there were trees grousing out of the side of the Barmouth Bridge. #TheNarrowWay
Flagging down my final train for the last 90 minutes and 25 stops of the journey. BTW: never believe the ADIF live departures website for this line (it is ok for others). Until 5 minutes ago, it was saying the 16:35 was delayed until 17:22. It turned up at 16:36. #TheNarrowWay
From the ADIF (Spain’s Network Rail) live departures page: ‘Stations are more than just a place to get on or off a train. They not only provide services to travellers and users, but many are emblematic in their locations.’ #TheNarrowWay
Feels like the sort of station where it is ok to lay your sodden shirt out to dry on the kindly provided bank of wild herbs, so long as you put it on before the mid afternoon train from Ribadeo turns up. #TheNarrowWay
Accidentally came back the unshaded route, and this sign was a delight to see. Though I also realised at this point I’d left my 0% beer in the Oviedo hotel minibar. Has anyone ever successfully charged a hotel for stuff they’ve added to a minibar, rather than the usual vice versa? #TheNarrowWay
You must know you have made it as a bench when other benches and bench-adjacent objects have signs on them telling people how to get to you. #TheNarrowWay
And, of course, ‘easy’ public transport access. #TheNarrowWay
…jagged rocks that could smash your galleon to pieces in an Atlantic westerly… #TheNarrowWay
It does have most things you could need: wildflowers and butterflies… #TheNarrowWay
Mrs Turtle is a bench aficionado and gives it 9.9/10 (decimal points lost for difficult access to the beach.) #TheNarrowWay
According to Google Maps and Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com/places/el-me...), this is the best bench in the world. According to graffiti on the back, it’s ‘The best bank of the world’. According to TripAdvisor, it is a hellscape of Instagrammers (I’ve not seen a soul for 20min). #TheNarrowWay
