ALCos & semaphores
25 years ago the Alco RSC fleet of the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses was still out and about.
While most German railfans went to the north of Portugal visiting the narrow gauge lines and the Douro valley I went south, crossing the Tejo River from Lisbon and was in a diesel paradise.
The RSC2 and 3 clearly were on borrowed time and by now not much is left from the rest of the colorful roster, that held English Electrics and license productions of French designs. Plus the hand-me-down DL535S acquired from the Spanish RENFE.
I spent only a week in April 1996 but trying to get the most out of it. Sleeping in low-budget pensaos and saving the money for the gas station.
The junction station of Pinhal Novo was quite the hotspot. RSC3 1524 had delivered a string of empty bilevel autoracks to the Ford/Volkswagen plant at Penalva and returns light to Barreiro for servicing.
The auto plant was built on the new mainline leaving the frame to the right. This line now leads directly to Lisbon.
And yes, Pinhal Novo had semaphores, a lot of semaphores.
April 24, 1996
ALCos & semaphores
25 years ago the Alco RSC fleet of the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses was still out and about.
While most German railfans went to the north of Portugal visiting the narrow gauge lines and the Douro valley I went south, crossing the Tejo River from Lisbon and was in a diesel paradise.
The RSC2 and 3 clearly were on borrowed time and by now not much is left from the rest of the colorful roster, that held English Electrics and license productions of French designs. Plus the hand-me-down DL535S acquired from the Spanish RENFE.
I spent only a week in April 1996 but trying to get the most out of it. Sleeping in low-budget pensaos and saving the money for the gas station.
The junction station of Pinhal Novo was quite the hotspot. RSC3 1524 had delivered a string of empty bilevel autoracks to the Ford/Volkswagen plant at Penalva and returns light to Barreiro for servicing.
The auto plant was built on the new mainline leaving the frame to the right. This line now leads directly to Lisbon.
And yes, Pinhal Novo had semaphores, a lot of semaphores.
April 24, 1996