SESSION VI.

General.
José Luis Hernández Marco (Coordinator).

Juan Carlos Ponce
The Railroad as a Subject for Fiction in the Work of Benito Pérez Galdós
Don Benito Pérez Galdós unleashed an entire narrative universe, built from materials drawn from the reality that surrounded him: social classes, historical and political context, technical advances, etc. Clearly, the Canarian writer devoted himself to something as simple, yet at the same time as complex and risky, as “copying from reality.” By now, there is no doubt that Galdós’s work contributed decisively to the construction of the modern novel as we know it today.
Among the realities that inspired Galdós was the railroad, which represented a genuine technological advance for Spanish society in the second half of the 19th century. Thus, train stations and train journeys appear in many of his works, albeit with different roles and functions that we will attempt to unravel.
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Guillermo Bas Ordóñez (Regional Government of Castile and León)
MZA 168. Analysis of the oldest preserved steam locomotive in Spain
The MZA 168 locomotive, built in 1854 for the Barcelona–Martorell railway and currently preserved at the Railway Museum of Catalonia, is the oldest of its kind still in existence in Spain. Although the initiation of its BIC designation process was approved in 2021, the truth is that it is a poorly documented and little-known artifact.
In this study, drawing on original sources and documentation, we will review its history, characteristics, and modifications undergone throughout its service life, leading up to its preservation—an achievement in itself, as it marked the first instance of a steam locomotive being preserved for its historical value in our country. Its trajectory as a museum object—longer even than its operational life—is another chapter that culminates a journey of nearly 170 years and allows us to explore aspects such as the criteria for restoring rolling stock or the ups and downs experienced along the difficult path of Spanish railway preservation.
The objective of this research is to highlight the uniqueness of this piece, going beyond the brief information usually provided about it, in order to arrive at a scientific understanding of what is, in reality, an excellent example of 19th-century engineering, the values of which are of international significance.
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Taís Schiavon (CIDEHUS, Portugal)
Industrial Heritage as a Discipline for Understanding Landscape: A Case Study of the Construction of Industrial Landscapes in the Western Part of the State of São Paulo as a Guardian of Mobility Heritage in Brazil
The constant dissemination of technical and economic ideals linked to the formation of railway and highway corridors shapes the narrative of modernity’s effects across diverse contexts, revealing both historical strategies for dominating markets and territories and their current manifestations.
These transportation corridors thus reveal the ambitions inherent in their implementation and reconfiguration, reflecting the economic structuring and disruptions faced by the global economy and their impacts on the urban context, comparing strategies amidst the revitalization or degradation of territories, transformed into symbols of cultural heritage historically consolidated within developed and underdeveloped industrial environments—vestiges that shape the narrative of Mobility Heritage.
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Ana Cardoso Matos (CIDEHUS-University of Évora, Portugal), Armando Quintas (CIDEHUS-University of Évora, Portugal), Fernanda de Lima Lourencetti (CIDEHUS-University of Évora, Portugal)
Museography Outside the Museum: The Vouga Line Exhibitions (Portugal) as a Means of Promoting Railway Heritage
This proposal aims to illustrate the importance of initiatives to promote and disseminate railway heritage through the planning and installation of collections in various public buildings, within the context of the history of the Vouga Line, which ran through the municipalities of Santa Maria in northern Portugal in 2022.
In addition to marking the 114th anniversary of the inauguration of the first railway section, the Vouga Line was included in Portugal’s national investment plan for the rehabilitation and modernization of its entire length between the cities of Espinho and Aveiro. In this context, the Association of Municipalities of Terras de Santa Maria—which includes the municipalities of Arouca, Espinho, Oliveira de Azeméis, Santa Maria de Feira, Vale de Cambra, and Sant Joan de Madeira—decided to launch the project “A la Volta del Vall de les Voltas—integrated intermunicipal program for cultural revitalization.”
Thus, the opportunity arose to carry out a series of cultural initiatives that highlighted the history and legacy of the Vouga railway line. Among the planned activities was the traveling exhibition “O Vouguinha and the Iconic Vouga Valley Line,” which presented the history and future outlook of the Vouga Line in chronological sequence. The exhibition’s programmatic structure aimed to highlight the existence of this infrastructure over the years and its modernization.
Based on the iconographic material and objects selected from the National Railway Museum, it was necessary to construct a narrative and adapt it to each of the public spaces made available. Therefore, through the presentation of the application of technical and practical aspects of museography, this project aims to promote the historical appreciation and modernization processes of railway heritage outside of museums.
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Rafael Barquín (UNED)
The Army’s Influence on the Design of the Spanish Railway Network
One of the recurring themes in the contemporary history of Spain is that the military played a decisive role in the design of the railway network. The actual substance of this issue spans the spectrum from urban legend to a disappointing reality—yet, in the end, a reality nonetheless. This paper will focus on the four main themes that address this supposed or actual influence: the Iberian track gauge, the radial design of the network, access routes to France, and supply and defense lines in the face of a hypothetical invasion.
The paper has two objectives. First, to bring to light what we have actually known for some time: that this supposed influence was irrelevant (the first two cases) or of little importance (the last two). In this section, we will examine whether the military’s demands, when they existed, made sense or not from a strategic standpoint. Given that since 1823 Spain has not suffered any invasion nor come close to suffering one, it can be safely asserted that there were never any real grounds for complying with the military’s demands. However, however remote this possibility may have been, it could always arise, and, moreover, by the mid-20th century, this possibility had become somewhat more likely. On the other hand, since certain requirements and projects favored by the military establishment did eventually take shape, one must consider what the resulting economic consequences were. In at least one case, the Santander-Mediterrani project, they appear to have been rather unfortunate.
Secondly, this paper attempts to reconstruct the origins of the myth of the “great” military influence on the design of the network. Of course, the military, like other political and socio-professional groups, expressed their opinion on the railway and played a certain role in its conception and development. But given that what was significant was not their influence, but rather their lack of influence, the obvious question is: how did we come to believe something so different from reality?
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Víctor Sanchís Maldonado (King Juan Carlos I University)
All Roads Lead to Madrid: An Analysis of the Radial Nature of the Spanish Railway Network in the 19th Century
The radial layout of the Spanish railway network constitutes one of the “major debates” present in much of the literature on the history of railways in our country. The social and economic advantages of building radial and tree-like lines centered on the capital of the kingdom, Madrid, have been extensively discussed in countless essays since the 1970s.
First, we will briefly recap the traditional historiographical arguments regarding radiality. We will contrast, on the one hand, studies that argue the network’s radial structure was erroneous or irrational (or even both) with those that insist on the inevitability of such a design. Next, we will study some significant cases of radiality that can be compared to the Spanish model due to their geographical proximity or economic similarity.
We will therefore review the railway designs of the major European countries, the United States, and Argentina, seeking possible similarities and differences with the Spanish model.
Finally, we will focus on the “effective” radiality in construction. We will shed light on the process of implementing (or failing to implement) the recommendations made by the various expert commissions formed in response to the growing awareness of the need to establish a network design governing the construction of the main lines. To this end, we will briefly review the leading role played by the State, as well as that of the companies, which did not enjoy the full initiative that liberal principles postulated. We will also attempt to assess that the Spanish network is radial and study the impact of such a design on the tertiary sector.
This presentation will summarize the various principles that guided the network’s design by analyzing the guidelines that governed its construction, the country’s geographical and topographical characteristics, as well as the circumstances that explain the operating conditions of many of its lines. We will review here the fundamental reason that determined the construction of a radial design, namely: the minimization of construction costs at the expense of operating costs, which also made the more sinuous lines socially and economically desirable.
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Federico Pablo-Martí (University of Alcalá), Eduard Alvarez-Palau (Open University of Catalonia), Mateu Morillas (University of Lleida), Jordi Martí-Henneberg (University of Lleida)
The Consolidation of Spain’s Main Transportation Corridors Since the Founding of RENFE
The objective of this study is to conduct a combined analysis of the flows transported by land-based infrastructure in Spain. The expansion of the main network of roads and highways initiated a modal shift from rail to cars and trucks, altering the main transportation corridors.
Using official passenger and freight transport data, we propose creating a new GIS-based database that allows for comparing the routes that have benefited and those that have been adversely affected over time. This data will allow for the study of the evolution of connected localities, as well as the relationship between network design and transport flows. In particular, the study will analyze whether corridors where competition between rail and road was promoted emerged stronger compared to those that had only one of the two modes of transport. In other words, the aim is to assess the extent to which economic policies regarding transport had a practical impact.
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Guillermo Esteban-Oliver (University of Lleida)
Stations, stops, and the evolution of municipal access to the railway network in Spain, 1848–1941
The objective of this text is to develop a new variable for access to the 19th-century Spanish railway network. To this end, we reconstruct, using Geographic Information Systems, the network of railway stations and stops that existed in Spain during the period between 1848 and 1941. Subsequently, using the distance from municipal centers to the stations, we develop the variable: Municipal Access to the Railway Network, which we divide into access to standard-gauge and narrow-gauge railways. Finally, we present a brief description of the database; after analyzing it, we will be able to better understand how and when the network of stations and access to the railway expanded in Spain.
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