Early Newsletters

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Links to earlier Newsletters - click on a link to go to the relevant page - please note that to conserve space on the server images on earlier newsletters may be reduced in size but you can e-mail me (remove MAJORCA from the address before sending - I'm getting far too much spam, a lot of which is intolerably offensive) for a full size version if required

Mike Kaben's Report - October 1999

A long and superb report from Mike Kaben, copiously illustrated with terrific photos of the railways of Majorca as he found them in October 1999. These include pictures of new stations/buildings at Palma (amazing changes), Inca and Sóller and there are even some taken in Palma's underground carparks, showing where they were intersected by the old tunnel connecting the FCM station with the Palma waterfront and docks !!

Newsletter - Autumn 2008

A report with pictures of my short journey on the restored Metro. I must confess I wasn't hugely impressed. Given the amount of traffic which is likely I think the whole thing is overdone, the stations are gigantic and double-tracking isn't necessary for such an infrequent service. However, what it does it does well.

Newsletter - February 2007

Winter in Majorca, lots of (small) photos of maintenance work at Sóller and reconstruction work on the seafront of Puerto de Sóller and some of the apparently abandoned "Crocodile".

Bulletins - Autumn 2006

I just realised it was nearly six months since my last newsletter. Nothing major has happened on the railways of Majorca during that time. The new Metro is still under construction, TIB trains now run from an underground station at Jacint Verdaguer in Palma. There has been local anger at the disturbance to the area and the amount of dust in the tunnel and the row over the demolition of the Gaspar Benassar bridge continues, with the authorities now saying they'll rebuild it. This is a compilation of some of the emails I have sent out to my regular contacts so you can see what you're missing !!

June 2006 Newsletter

Construction of the Metro continues with pictures taken at Palma and Son Sardina. News and pictures of changes in the operation of the Sóller Tramway occasioned by the pedestrianisation works being carried out at Puerto de Sóller

April 2006 Newsletter

The continuing story in pictures of the demolition/construction work involved in the burying of the TIB lines and construction of the new subterranean passenger interchange station in Palma. The Sóller Railway suffers a breakdown - Majorca Daily Bulletin report and pictures.

December 2005 Newsletter

Pictures of the demolition of the historic bridge, designed by celebrated Mallorcan architect Gaspar Benassar, plus old and new structures at Palma, Enllac/Empalme, Arta and the Arenal viaduct. News and pictures of the "crocodile" found abandoned by the roadside. Port tunnel to be used again ?

November 2005 Newsletter

Virtually the same as the September newsletter but with information on the demolition of THAT bridge.

September 2005 Newsletter

The station area at Palma is ripped apart yet again - news and pictures. A head-on collision on the Sóller Railway. News of a very good new DVD on the Sóller Railway.

April 2005 Newsletter

Snow on Majorca - picture of Palma station with a light dusting of snow. Pictures of the new TIB (SFM) rolling stock arriving. News of a new DVD on the Majorcan Railways.

January 2005 Newsletter

Not an awful lot to report but LOTS more "new" old photos. An old tramcar vanishes.

Autumn 2004 Newsletter

The newsletter appears again after a 2 years absence due to problems with changing over to broadband. Manacor line had opened again then closed due to a landslide. I meet the new Director of the Sóller Railway.

Autumn 2002 Newsletter

More on the crash at Sa Pobla, a fatality at Lloseta and the problems of the Sóller Railway. News and photos, thanks to Carlos Ortigosa Rausch, of the SFM (soon to be re-named TIB) extension from Inca to Manacor.

May 2002 Newsletter

A long report on the sad state of the Sóller Railway, seemingly suffering from claims of mismanagement and lack of customers following September 11th 2001.

Spring 2002 Newsletter

The crash at Sa Pobla and a couple of new websites on Majorca and its trains.

January 2002 Newsletter

A rather brief newsletter as nothing much was happening but there is a plan of the Palma station of the Sóller Railway showing the position of an inter-train collision and pictures from AAFB (thanks Toni) of the work being carried out to enable the use of longer trains to accomodate increasing passenger numbers without altering the frequency of the service - shame on you FS !!! Also a brief report on the re-introduction of Sóller tramcar no.3 after extensive refurbishment.

Autumn 2001 Newsletter

More on the elimination of all traces, at the Station end, of the old railway tunnel (see the previous paragraph) connecting the Station and Palma harbour. A report of a minor collision at the Palma Station of the Sóller Railway and several reports distilled from the Majorca Daily Bulletin concerning all manner of imaginative schemes for tunneling all over Majorca for various reasons, many to do with the railways but all at enormous expense !!

August 2001 Newsletter

My own experiences during my brief visit to Majorca with photos of the work being carried out at Palma and the present state of the Puerto de Sóller ex-naval dockyard area.

June/July 2001 Newsletter

More historic pictures of the railways at Palma, this time from John Godfrey, Edith Knight and Toni Sanchis and including a plan drawing of the FCM station as it would have been during the transition from steam to diesel-hauled operation. Some more recent views from Alan Rolfe and, again, Toni Sanchis.

May 2001 Newsletter

Some extremely interesting and historical photos from David Clark and Nick "Old Poblero" Robey. News of The Associació d'Amics del Ferrocarril de Balears (http://www.aafb.com), of the Crocodile locomotive being transferred from a museum on mainland Spain to the Sóller Railway and a new video of the same Sóller Railway.

April 2001 Newsletter

More lovely pictures from Peter Walter of canton Graubunden in Switzerland, this time of the Santa Maria to Felanitx line which has not, so far, had the slightest hint of re-opening !! A new book on the Majorcan Railways, "Mallorca mit dem Zug entdecken" from Geranova (ISBN 3-7654-7180-1).

March 2001 Newsletter

José Morell's model of a Sóller tramcar, lovely pictures of the Sóller tramway from Peter Walter of canton Graubunden in Switzerland and news of a video on the same subject from Dr Ken Walker of Australia.

February 2001 Newsletter

A report, with photos from Toni Sanchis on the "125 anys del tren a Mallorca" exhibition at Palma plus photos from Neil Bennett and Dave Manders. A special offer on "The Iron Road to Sóller" book from author Peter Clayton.

January 2001 Newsletter

A brief but momentous report from the Majorca Daily Bulletin on the re-opening of the Palma - Inca - Sa Pobla line, a super photo of Empalme from Peter Martin, a videoclip of steam trains at Palma in the winter of 1955/1956 and an opportunity to obtain a full copy of the John Huntley video.

November 2000 Newsletter

More photos from Edith and Rodney Knight showing the state of the SFM station and surroundings at Palma, some more very good photographs and comments on the same subject from Jonathan Beaumont and several cuttings from the Majorca Daily Bulletin.

September 2000 Newsletter

Ancient & Modern themed with old black&white; photos from yesteryear, the latest pictures of the new station at Sa Pobla from Gordon Hanson, a report from Gerhard Schumann (the translation of which makes fascinating reading) and my rant about Kodak's CD offerings.

August 2000 Newsletter

Links to no less than four separate reports on the railways of Majorca, the oldest dating back to 1936 !! There's an awful lot of information here to catch up on. There are also two very old black and white archive photos of the FCM, one of which (Palma station area) is contrasted with photos of the same area in later years.

July 2000 Newsletter

A quiet month with a couple of pictures of the Sóller Railway (thanks, Richard Green), a report on the proposed airport link and a couple of my own pictures (off-subject) from my recent visit to railways in southern France.

June 2000 Newsletter

Pictures of the Sóller railway from Javier Fraile, some old postcards of the trams of Majorca from Edith and Rodney Knight and (somewhat off-subject) a couple of photos of Grenoble from my recent visit.

May 2000 Newsletter

A long and detailed report on the history of the railways of Majorca, taken from a German-language Palma newspaper, Palma Kurier, plus some very good pictures of the Sóller railway and tramway from Chris Meaker.

April 2000 Newsletter

L.G. Marshall's book "Recuerdo del Vapor en La Vía Estrecha Española"(Spanish Narrow Gauge Steam Remembered), a message from Carlos Ortigosa Rausch with some fantastic black and white scans of Palma in the heyday of the railways and a message from Dwight Long about his experiences of Majorca's railways in April 1999.

March 2000 Newsletter

Pictures of the Sóller Railway and Tramway from Andreas Pfau of Leipzig, an extract from the Majorca Daily Bulletin about the railways of Majorca , two photos of trains at Palma sent by Derek Spencer and a photo of one of Majorca's old Nasmyth Wilson steam locomotives "Algaida".

February 2000 Newsletter

Same as March, except for Andreas Pfau's pictures.

November 1999 Newsletter

Introduction to Mike Kaben's report (see above).

October 1999 Newsletter

An old-time postcard from Bob Meaker of Mallorca Highway, showing the FCM station at Palma, complete with steam locomotive and train plus some photos from John Glover of new trackbed and new, stored trackwork at Sa Pobla.

The following links lead back to the other pages within this site

Links to other Majorcan sites
Links to other Railway Sites
Links to other interesting Mallorcan Web Pages
Majorcan Railways Front Page
Majorcan Railways Picture Gallery Front Page
Sóller Railway Pictures Front Page
Sóller Tramway Pictures Front Page
Ferrocarril de Mallorca Pictures
Developments on the FCM 1999
The FCM Tunnel Pages
My page on the Ferrocarril Bédar-Garrucha in the Spanish province of Almería
Books on Majorcan Railways
The Current Newsletter

If you can supply anything in the way of photos, information or links which could enhance this site, please send them to Barry Emmott, (remove the first MAJORCA from the address before sending - I'm getting far too much spam, a lot of which is intolerably offensive) or (for German language e-mails) Michael Kaben by clicking on the underlined name. Please send photos to both of us (use the c.c. facility on your e-mailer) as I compile the newsletter but Mike is our wizard when it comes to image manipulation !! All worthwhile contributions will be most gratefully and enthusiastically received (see recent newsletters) and will be acknowledged wherever possible, especially if they can be used.