Victor Balaguer - Montserrat Monistrol Rack Railway No. 4 - Montserrat, Spain - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

A steam locomotive from 1892 is on display at the Monistrol de Montserrat base station in northeastern Spain. It is paired with a vintage passenger car beneath a designated portico by the north side of the Cremallera de Montserrat train station. An information sign in Catalan, Spanish, and English gives a brief, but thorough, history lesson:

OLD TRAIN OF THE MONSERRAT MONISTROL RACK RAILWAY

Built by Compañía de Ferrocarriles de Montaña a Grandes Pendientes, S. A. (FMGP), the first rack railway at Montserrat operated between 1892 and 1957 and became very popular. The train shown here reminds us what its steam locomotives and wooden carriages were like.

The locomotive was built by Société Française de Constructions Mécaniques des Anciens Établissements Cail in Denain, in 1892, with serial number 2353. In its first year of operation, 1892, it had number 2 and was named Monistrol. It was withdrawn from service in 1956, shortly after it had been assigned number 4 and renamed Victor Balaguer.

The saloon car was built in 1928 by workshops of the Enrique Quintana firm in Barcelona, using the chassis and bearings taken from a mixed first/second class carriage built in 1892 by Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) in Neuhausen am Rheinfall (Switzerland). It operated until the line was closed in 1957.

This train was acquired in 1973 by Ramon Carreras i Clotet who kept it at Torre Bacus in Monistrol, a property which had also formerly been owned by FMGP. In 1983 the train was acquired by Ramon Font i Ginesta and Carme Besora i Soler, who moved it to their private property in Balsareny. Thanks to the efforts of the Associació d'Amics del Cremallera de Montserrat, in 2016 the train was donated to FC by the daughters of the Font-Besora family so that it could be displayed at Monistrol station.
FGC would like to express its gratitude.

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[CAT] Una locomotora de vapor de l'any 1892 està exposada a l'estació base de Monistrol de Montserrat, al nord-est d'Espanya. Es combina amb un cotxe de passatgers d'època sota un pòrtic designat al costat nord de l'estació de tren de Cremallera de Montserrat. Un rètol informatiu en català, espanyola i anglès ofereix una lliçó d'història breu però completa:

ANTIC TREN DEL CREMALLERA DE MONTSERRAT MONISTROL

Construït per la Compañía de Ferrocarriles de Montaña a Grandes Pendientes, S. A. (FMGP), el primer cremallera de Montserrat va funcionar entre el 1892 i el 1957 i es va fer molt popular. El tren exposat aquí ens permet recordar com eren les seves locomotores de vapor i els seus cotxes de fusta.

La locomotora va ser construida per la Société Française de Constructions Mécaniques de Anciens Etablissements Cail de Denain, el 1892, amb el número de fábrica 2.353. Al iniciar l'explotació, el 1892, portava el número 2 i el nom Monistrol. Va ser retirada del servei el 1956, quan feia poc que se li havia posat el número 4 i el nom Victor Balaguer.

El cotxe saló va ser construit el 1928 pels tallers de la firma Enrique Quintana, de Barcelona, a partir del bastidor i els rodaments aprofitats d'un cotxe mixt de primera i segona classe, construit el 1892 per Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) de Neuhausen am Rheinfall (Confederació Helvètica). Va funcionar fins al tancament de la línia el 1957.

Aquest tren va ser adquirit per Ramon Carreras i Clotet el 1973, que el va conservar a la Torre Bacus de Monistrol, finca que abans havia estat també propietat de FMGP. El 1983 el tren va ser adquirit per Ramon Font i Ginesta ¡ Carme Besora i Soler, que el van traslladar a la seva finca privada de Balsareny.

Gràcies a les gestions de l'Associació d'Amics del Cremallera de Montserrat, el 2016 el tren va ser cedit gratuitament a FGC per les filles del matrimoni Font i Besora perqué pogués ser exposat a l'estació de Monistrol.
FGC vol fer constar el seu agraïment.

Locomotive Type: (required): Steam Do you need to pay an entrance fee to view this locomotive? (required): No How accessible is this locomotive display? (Required): Only touching is allowed. If "other" what is the engine type? (optional): Not listed If a fee is required what is the approximate cost for admittance? (optional): Not listed

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