Observations from the drive into Spain over Col du Somport on 23 July, 2014:
The Pau–Canfranc railway was a 93 km (58 mi) long international single-track standard gauge railroad line connecting Pau in France and Canfranc in Spain. It opened in 1928.
In 1908 the construction of the international Somport tunnel through the Pyrenees and under the border, began. The project was large: tunneling a single straight track 7875 meters (4,012 being in France) 6 meters high and 4.25 meters wide opening into the valley Canfranc, Spain.
The huge "boarded-up" railway station at Canfranc (today) was once one of the busiest in Europe, and is now served by a humble rail-motor as an end of the line station!
The section between Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Canfranc was indefinitely closed in March 1970 due to an accident where the railway bridge of L'Estanguet near Accous was destroyed. Today buses run from Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Canfranc International Railway Station.
On the French side of the border a number of grand viaducts, bridges, stations and tunnels stand as monuments to the vision and engineering of a bygone age. It took over 20 years to build, no doubt interrupted by WW1, but has now laid idle for 44 years.
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