Decauville railway at Láchar

The Decauville railway at Láchar was an 8.3 km (5.2 mi) long narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) from Íllora-Láchar railway station via the Eiffel Bridge to the sugar mill in Láchar.

Decauville railway at Láchar
Alcañices on the Arroyo de Escoznar bridge, ca 1890


Alcañices on the Eiffel Bridge over the Río Genil, ca. 1890
Technical
Line length22 km (14 mi)
Track gauge600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
Route map


Route of the track superimposed onto a modern map[1]

km (mi)
Railway Bobadilla–Granada
0 (0)
 Íllora-Láchar railway station
Arroyo de Escoznar
 Escoznar
Río Genil, Eiffel Bridge
8.3 (5.2)
 Láchar sugar mill

Route
One of the Decauville locomotives behind the sugar mill of Señorío de Lachar, 1906

The 8.3 kilometres (5.2 mi) long Decauville railway with rails weighing 9,5 kg/m (19 lbs/yard) ran over two metal bridges, of which one was designed Gustave Eiffel and erected by Fives-Lille.[2][1] The track on the site of the sugar mill was 172 metres (564 ft) long. It ended at a turntable at the western end of the site.[3]

History

Growing sugar beets and producing sugar from them caused a major structural change in the Vega de Granada at the end of the 19th century.[4] The landlord and businessman Julio Quesada y Piedrola, Duke of San Pedro de Galatino, Count of Benalúa and Señorío de Láchar planned and contracted the sugar mill and the industrial railway during or shortly after the Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris. It was put into service in 1890.

King Alfonso XIII, a personal friend of the Count of Benalúa, visited and used the railway to travel to the sugar factory. It was closed in 1926, due to the crisis in the sugar industry.[3]

Rolling stock

There were two Decauville steam locomotives and 46 waggons of different types.

NoBoiler testWheel arrangementGaugeEmpty
weight		NameRefe­rences
N° 10621 May 18900-4-0T600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)5 tAlcañices[1][5][6]
N° 13022 June 18910-4-0T600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)5 tBenalúa[1][5]

References
  1. Carlos Peña und Pachi Calvo: El ferrocarril de la azucerera de Láchar. 10 May 2008.
  2. Ferrocarril de Lachar a Illora. 17 April 2012.
  3. Pedro Salmeron Escobar: Lachar. Fábrica del Conde de Benalúa. In: Estudio del paisaje de la industria azucarera de la Vega de Granada. October 2016, p. 109–123.
  4. Pedro Salmerón Escobar, Fermín Seño Asencio, Rosa María Pérez de la Torre und Diego Garzón Osuna: Diego Garzón Osuna Estudio del paisaje de la industria azucarera en la Vega de Granada: Estrategias para su preservación y uso sostenible. Page 347.
  5. K. W. Clingan und Jeffrey G. Lanham: Decauville Steam Locomotives: A Works List. Industrial Railway Society, 1992, ISBN 0-901096-64-4, 66 pages.
  6. Locomotive names.

37.199470°N 3.834367°W / 37.199470; -3.834367 (Sugar mill)

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