REPORT
AN INTERESTING WALK ACROSS THE MINER RAILWAY HISTORY
SARA SANTAMARIA ARRIBAS
The Ponferrada Museum has two histories intimately connected: the miner railway Ponferrada-Villablino history and the Miner Steel Industry Ponferrada history (MSP), two things that condicioned people's life of the zone the most part of the century XX.
In the garage there were some engines with different designs and dates.
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Last month of may opened its doors to the public the Ponferrada Railway Museum, there was the result of the some regional and local institutions effort to show an important element on the economic and industrial development in the region, and they have pointed up two important things on the Leon miner's history: the Miner Steel Industry Ponferrada (MSP) and the miner railway Ponferrada-Villablino. It's a walk across the enterprise's history and its people who worked and bore by her, also a travel on those old engines which dragged along the rails passangers and material waggons time ago. Engines, waggons, platforms and all kind of pieces that were in the old station and in the garage and it shows a glorious and waved past.
In the garage there were some engines with different designs and dates, tired because the hard work see how the time passes slowly, and it offers a general view of their history; also a selection of different kinds of waggons: merchandise, passangers,...
At the station there were since a lot of photographs with an important historical value to the most complete information for understanding the history of one of the most important miner zone of the country.
The Museum opened its doors last month of May.
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The history started the 24th of july of1918, when the Spanish Courts approved a bill which permited the construction of a railway line that had to join the miner deeps of Villablino and Ponferrada to make easy the transport of this black mineral. In a few ten months were finished the works with the efford of 4,200 minings, men and women, number that was reduced on october of the same year because of epidemic of flu that whipped the region, to 1,800. The railway crossed 62 kilometres across soft hills and slopes which permited convenient site for the rails. It was the last service that used a vapour engine in Spain, engines which were quiet on the first eighties, and today are precious jewels of collection pieces like the "Baldwin" (1-10 Sequence), the "Krauss Engerth" (1-19 and 31 Sequence) and the "Tubize" (41 and 42 Sequence), although we can't forget those designes of wide rail numbered since 51 to 55, that made easier the miner work in Ponferrada and San Miguel de las Dueñas.
All this framework was borned for transporting the mineral that was extracted of the miners from El Bierzo and Laciana, also of the iron miners, found by Julio Lazurtegui last century; resuorces, that were extended from San Miguel de las Dueñas to La Maragateria and, produced an important economic increase to the region since the First World War. Also, the Industrial Protection Law made by Francisco Cambo when he was the Minister of Public Works in 1918, was conceding important advantages to those businessmen who invested their money in the construction of enterprises in Spain, and was borned the MSP at the last of that year like a limit company devoted, above all, to these works. It was constituted by 92 miners and 42 miner awards distributed in groups: Carrasconte, Larmajo, Orallo, Calderon, Maria, Villaseca, Villablino, Sosas, Valdesamario and San Emiliano. In according to the iron of the called Coto Wagner was formed by 29 miners and 6 miner awards along 22 kilometres which started its exploitation in 1949.
Between the pieces showed there is an important selection of different kind of waggons.
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In a few time the MSP was converted in an important industrial complex with the equipment of two thermal stations in Ponferrada and Villablino, a railway with narrow rail and others industrial stations very important to increase those activities. Also, at the town, where nowadays is the Railway Museum, had buillt laundries for the mineral, goods platform, slag heaps and others buildings for the railway service like a station, workshops to repair the trains and to construct pieces, a briquettes and ovoids industry,.., and for the employments: houses, schools, hospitals,..
An interesting walk across the element which conditioned the most recent history of the zone: the miner railway and, nowadays we can look it in its quiet rest surronded of all kind of memories that remembered its glorious past.
*The Ponferrada Railway Museum was at number 7 of New Rail street, and it
can be visit from mondey to suturday since 10.30 a.m. to 14.00 a.m. in the morning
and, since 16.30 p.m. to 20.00 p.m. in the afternoon from october to april,
while from may to september it«s opening since 17.00 p.m. to 20.30 p.m.; sundays
and festive days since is opening 11.00 a.m. to 14.00 a.m. only during the morning.
On thusdays closes.
*The entrance prize is 300 pesetas for adults and 100 pesetas for young people
until18 years, but there are discounts of 50 per cent for those people that
have these requirements: students, people without work, retired people and cultural
groups that request it soon. In this moment they are writing an interesting
and complete Museum guidebook.
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