gianttrain

Discovering Cartagena

More Articles By Phillip Bruce www.raxomnium.com

Elche’s Giant Railway Engine

The beautiful town of Elche is about an hour’s drive to the north of Cartagena and it has been designated a UN World Heritage City by the United Nations because of its celebrated palm gardens.

The palms of Elche were planted by Arabs when the area was under their control and the gardens are the most northerly concentration of palms in the world.

A surprising sight near the gardens, however, is a giant steam railway engine sitting in the middle of the road. Initial enquiries show that this was made to a British design and that it is of the Mikado class. The engine is huge and the class name may indicate that it was destined for use in Japan. The engine belonged to the Spanish railways and was apparently made in the 1950s. Perhaps steam enthusiasts can supply us with more information.

A puzzling aspect of this display is that there is apparently no railway nearby. However, there is a train station. It turns out that the line now runs deep underground beneath the busy road. Perhaps it was buried as a part of the programme to restore the palm gardens. Certainly, the rail line would have cut them in half during the time that it was above ground.

For more information about Elche see the town’s website, www.turismedelx.com, although you won’t find anything about the train there. A local specialty is “Arroz con Costra”, which is a paella-like dish with a burnt base and which is delicious despite its name. Elche is also famous for its shoe factories, many of which have shops attached, but don’t tell the wife otherwise your visit to look at the big train will be ruined.

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