A Survivor from the Ferrocarril Ceuta - Tetuan

One result of Spain's colonisation of parts of North Africa, the former Spanish Morocco, was the building of a number of narrow gauge railways. The better known were those in and close to enclaves which today survive as (technically) parts of Spain. The best known is Melila (see Safari Steam Africa), much has necessarily been lost but now news has come of the remarkable survival of a locomotive from the 41km metre gauge Ceuta - Tetuan line.

James Waite reports on a virtual visit - when you read on, you'll probably understand why he hasn't been there just yet!

An old metre-gauge Alco 4-6-0 (57068/1916) has been preserved for many years at the former station at Ceuta, one of the two Spanish enclaves or exclaves (not sure which is the correct term) on the north coast of Morocco. The locomotoras site depicts it as in an appalling skeletal state, even lacking its bogie, and barely worth visiting, but this is clearly now out of date.

http://www.locomotoravapor.com/ceuta_melilla.htm

The locomotive comes from the metre gauge FC Ceuta - Tetuan, which ran south from the town. It closed soon after the Spanish handed over most of what had been Spanish Morocco to the Moroccan government.

Its restoration to encourage tourism is described here

https://copeceuta.es/locomotora-historica-alco-restaurada-en-ceuta-para-visitas-turisticas/

It is housed in a 'hangar' attached to the Railway Station Cultural Centre 

Click here for a picture of the restored locomotive (opens in new tab) should anyone have their own picture which can be used instead of the link, I would be happy to upload it.

Ceuta is not the easiest place to visit from the UK unless you are prepared to spend a lot of time on the journey. There’s no airport, though there are expensive helicopter flights from Malaga airport. Most Spaniards, for whom the journey is just from one place in their country to another, go by ferry from Algeciras, near Gibraltar, it’s a one-hour voyage. However, Algeciras also lacks an airport, and the principal ways of getting there without a car are from a bus station near the Gibraltar border on a local bus or on the long and slow branch line which connects it with the rest of the RENFE system.