Vall de Núria Rack Railway

Cremallera de Núria
Legend direction to Barcelona-Sants Ribes-enllaç direction to Puigcerdà Ribes-Vila Rialb Queralbs Núria

The Vall de Núria Rack Railway (Catalan: Cremallera de Núria, IPA: [kɾəməˈʎeɾə ðə ˈnuɾiə]) is a mountain railway line in the Pyrenees mountains in the north of the Catalonia region of Spain. The line connects Ribes de Freser with Queralbs and Vall de Núria in Ripollès, Girona. As Queralbs is the highest point in the valley reachable by road, the rack railway is – besides the old footpath / mule track – the only way to reach the shrine and ski resort at Núria.

The line opened on March 22, 1931, and has been electrically operated from the start. It became part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) on January 2, 1984 and remains in their ownership. The line connects to the main R3 line at Ribes de Freser, but the stations have separate access.

The line is 12.5 km (7.8 mi) long and has a rail gauge of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in). The first 5.5 km (3.4 mi) of the line is operated by conventional rail adhesion. The remainder of the line is operated as a rack railway, using the Abt system and with a maximum gradient of 15%. In total the line overcomes a height difference of 1,062 m (3,484 ft). The line is electrified with an overhead supply at 1500 V DC.

Three generations of rolling stock still exist on the line. The original stock consisted of passenger cars hauled by four six wheeled electric locomotives, built by SLM and BBC in 1930–31, numbered E1-E4. These were supplemented by four two-car electric trains, built by SLM and BBC in 1985, and numbered A5-A8. The final generation is represented by two low-floor electric motor coaches of type Stadler GTW, built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland in 2003, and numbered A10-A11. The line also owns a diesel rack locomotive, D9, used on works trains and to push the snow plough.

Cars A10 and A11 are identical to the rolling stock of the Montserrat Rack Railway. The Montserrat line is also owned by the FGC and there is some sharing of stock between the two lines, with locomotive E4 transferred to that line for use on work trains.

Rolling stock

Rolling stock of the Montserrat Rack Railway are listed, if they are or were also used in Vall Núria

Picture link	Number, name	type (UIC)	Year built	History	Additional info
	E1 Virgen de Nuria E2 Obispo Guitarat E3 José Rogent * E4 Ramon Albó	Cb g2	1930	SLM 3368/BBC 2969 SLM 3369/BBC 2970 SLM 3370/BBC 2971 SLM 3371/BBC 2972	E1 in working condition E2/E3 Monument *ex Elias Rogent E4 2003 to Montserrat
	A5 Puigmal[1] A6 Torreneules A7 Taga A8 Balandrau	(Aa1)(Aa1)+(Aa1)(Aa1) g4	1986 1986 1986 1995	MTM/SLM/BBC
	D9	Bbo de	1995	Stadler 237/SLM/ABB	Also used on the Montserrat line D9
	L09	2 dhs	1995	Stadler 238/MAN/Zaugg	Rotary snow plough L09+D9
	DM6	Bbo de	2004	Stadler	built für Montserrat line, transferred to Vall Núria in 2006 DM6
	A10 Noufonts A11 Bastiments	2'Bbo 2' g2d	2003	Stadler 825–826	Cogwheel-GTW, same as AM1–AM5 (Montserrat)
	11, 12, 21, 22, 23	B	1930	Abffw 11–12 Bffw 21–23	12 = Cinema carriage 22 = Monument with E2
	51	As	1930	Aaffw 51	Saloon
	01, 28	Haik	1930	Affw 1**, Bffw 28	Box car
	02, 03, PM02	R	1930	Affw 2, Bffw 25, 24	Flat car (PM02 = Montserrat)
	27, 29	X	1930	Bffw 27, 29**	Service vehicle (27 = Montserrat) 29
	70.951 K53–K54	Gk	1930	K52–K54	Small box cars 70.951 ex K 52 = Tank car
	M44, 062	Kklm	1930	M44,M??	062 = Montserrat
	P22–P26	Kkp	1964, 62	MGB/FO Uce 4861,62,67, MGB/FO Gb-v 4433', MGB/BVZ K 2641 (1962, 1989 ex X 2906)	Flat cars P24 with cement mixer P25–P26 with thermic container
	P27−P28	B	1949	MGB/FO B 4244–45 ex SBB A 182–183 (SWS)	Bought in 2008, still with original livery, 4244 with auxiliary cab
	364.01	2 g1	1930	SLM 3469/BBC 3680	Rotary snow plough
	KCw 29	Fd			Service vehicle for track ballast
	T5	X			Catenary car, without cogwheel

**) Original roster, built by Vereinigte Westdeutsche Waggonfabrik A.G., is said to have been formed of Affw 2, ABffw 11–15, Bffw 21–28 and Aaffw 51. However, box car 01 was rebuilt from Affw 1 and there was a Bffw 29; at the same time ABffw 13–15 and Bffw 26 were off the roster.

References

1. ↑ http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=452670

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cremallera Vall de Núria.

• Vall de Núria Rack Railway website

Coordinates: 42°24′N 02°09′E / 42.400°N 2.150°E / 42.400; 2.150