Virtual Railfan Tour of the Azores - Some History


The harbour work on San Miguel
The story of the railway in Ponta Delgada, on the island of Sao Miguel, in the Azores begins in Holyhead on the island of Anglesea in North Wales.  J. and C. Rigby won the contract to build the Holyhead Harbour breakwater which commenced in 1848 and took 28 years to complete.  Although the railway line to Holyhead was built to the standard gauge, the broad gauge of 7 feet 0¼ inches because of the large blocks of stone that were to be conveyed.  The broad gauge was that chosen by Isambard kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway.

Around 1861 some of the equipment from the Holyhead Harbour Breakwater project was shipped to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel in the Azores to construct the breakwater there.


Broad gauge locomotive at work in Ponta Delgada in the 1970s

Broad gauge locomotive in the 1970s.

 The day after we arrived I went down early to the harbour offices to try and find out what railway artifacts remain, if any.

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