Vall de Núria Rack Railway


The Vall de Núria Rack Railway is a mountain railway in the Pyrenees mountains in the north of the Catalonia region of Spain. The line connects Ribes de Freser with Queralbs and Vall de Núria in Ripollès, Girona. As Queralbs is the highest point in the valley reachable by road, the rack railway is – along with the old footpath / mule track – the only way to reach the shrine and ski resort at Núria.
The line opened on March 22, 1931, and has been electrically operated from the start. It became part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya on January 2, 1984 and remains in their ownership. The line connects to the main R3 line at Ribes de Freser, but the stations have separate access.
The line is long and has a rail gauge of. The first of the line is operated by conventional rail adhesion. The remainder of the line is operated as a rack railway, using the Abt system and with a maximum gradient of 15%. In total the line overcomes a height difference of. The line is electrified with an overhead supply at 1500 V DC.
Three generations of rolling stock exist on the line. The original stock consisted of passenger cars hauled by four six-wheeled electric locomotives, numbered E1-E4, built by SLM and BBC in 1930–31. They were supplemented by four two-car electric trains numbered A5-A8, built by SLM and BBC in 1985.
The final generation is represented by two low-floor electric motor coaches of type Stadler GTW and numbered A10-A11, built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland in 2003. The line also owns a diesel rack locomotive, D9, used on works trains and to push the snow plough.
Cars A10 and A11 are identical to the rolling stock of the Montserrat Rack Railway. The Montserrat line is also owned by the FGC and some stock is shared between the lines. Locomotive E4 is transferred for use on work trains.

Rolling stock

Rolling stock of the Montserrat Rack Railway are listed, if they are or were also used in Vall Núria
Picture linkNumber, nametype Year builtHistoryAdditional info
E1 Virgen de Nuria
E2 Obispo Guitarat
E3 José Rogent *
E4 Ramon Albó
Cb g21930SLM 3368/BBC 2969
SLM 3369/BBC 2970
SLM 3370/BBC 2971
SLM 3371/BBC 2972
E1 in working condition
E2/E3 Monument
  • ex Elias Rogent
E4 2003 to Montserrat
A5 Puigmal
A6 Torreneules
A7 Taga
A8 Balandrau
+ g41986
1986
1986
1995
MTM/SLM/BBC
D9Bbo de1995Stadler 237/SLM/ABBAlso used on the Montserrat line
L092 dhs1995Stadler 238/MAN/ZauggRotary snow plough
DM6Bbo de2004StadlerBuilt for Montserrat line, transferred to Vall Núria in 2006
A10 Noufonts
A11 Bastiments
2'Bbo 2' g2d2003Stadler 825–826Cogwheel-GTW, same as AM1–AM5. A10 transferred to Montserrat and repainted with Montserrat Rack Railway colors. It was renamed to "La Roca Foradada". A11 will be transferred soon to Montserrat.
11, 12, 21, 22, 23B1930Abffw 11–12
Bffw 21–23
12 = Cinema carriage
22 = Monument with E2
51As1930Aaffw 51Saloon
01, 28Haik1930Affw 1**, Bffw 28Box car
02, 03, PM02R1930Affw 2, Bffw 25, 24Flat car
27, 29X1930Bffw 27, 29**Service vehicle
70.951
K53–K54
Gk1930K52–K54Small box cars
70.951 ex K 52 = Tank car
M44, 062Kklm1930M44,M??062 = Montserrat
P22–P26Kkp1964, 62MGB/FO Uce 4861,62,67,
MGB/FO Gb-v 4433',
MGB/BVZ K 2641
Flat cars
P24 with cement mixer
P25–P26 with thermic container
P27−P28B1949MGB/FO B 4244–45
ex SBB A 182–183
Bought in 2008, still with original livery, 4244 with auxiliary cab
364.012 g11930SLM 3469/BBC 3680Rotary snow plough
KCw 29FdService vehicle for track ballast
T5XCatenary car, without cogwheel

**) Original roster, built by Vereinigte Westdeutsche Waggonfabrik A.G., is said to have been formed of Affw 2, ABffw 11–15, Bffw 21–28 and Aaffw 51. However, box car 01 was rebuilt from Affw 1 and there was a Bffw 29; at the same time ABffw 13–15 and Bffw 26 were off the roster.