This page contains the corrections and updates to my book. You can either just scroll through them or click below to go to a specific year.
2006 2007 2008Pages 67, 74 and 147 - The middle name of Henry Atwell Purdon is misspelt Attwell. His departure from Águilas was probably because his wife died in 1897 and not for the reason given in the book.
Henry Atwell Purdon was the youngest son of Wellington Purdon, who was the assistant engineer on the infamous Woodhead tunnel project (pictured). This 1840’s project cost so many lives that a social reformer, Edwin Chadwick reported that injury and loss of life was comparable to major battles of the time. Wellington Purdon was indifferent to this loss. When at an enquiry he was asked why he did not use patent fuses for blasting - weren’t they safer? He replied,
“Perhaps they are - but they are attended with such a loss of time, and the difference is so very small that I would not recommend the loss of time for the sake of all the lives it would save”
He also refused to buy copper rammers instead of iron ones that sparked and caused several explosions.
Page 103 - The mound that was the loading bay for Tesorero mine does still exist.
Page 194 - e missing from "swingeing"
Page 104 Seron - There seems to be some activity towards clearing the space. Everything is still there, but for how much longer?
Page 111 Purchena - I give it 2 years at the most. It is in a very sorry state and is not really safe to go inside any more. If you do go just to look at it, the instructions in the book still hold but take great care, the road is very fast and busy. You may want to use the garage forecourt to orientate yourself.
Page 113 Cantoria - The area shown in the photo (which used to be the line and sidings) is being turned into a park, while the station itself is now a local development office which is encouraging.
Page 114 Albox (Almanzora) - House is now re-occupied and done up. The house opposite houses a small private museum. The proprietor is keen to show it off, so give him a call.
Page 116 Almajalejo - The station has been demolished and only the steps leading down to the platform remain. It looks as though a house is going to be built on the land.
Page 119 Las Norias - The station has been demolished.
Pages 146 and 147 - Popkins should be Popkiss.
Page 148 John Gillman - In December 2006 I had the pleasure of meeting Juan Gillman (second right), the grandson of John. He told me that not only did John only manage the line for a few weeks he was arrested as ”Management” by the Republicans and was sentenced to death. It was only with the intervention of the British Ambassador and friend in the Cortes, that he was able to get away to Gibraltar where he stayed until the end of the war. Since Franco won, he was then able to stay in Spain.
Page 146 W R Arbuthnot - William Reierson Arbuthnot, was born in India 1866. Died 1938. He was a parner at Arbuthnot Latham and Co, a private bank, 1903-38; Chairman, Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd and Estates and Agency Co Ltd; Director, Consolidated Sisal Estates of East Africa Ltd. Director The Great Southern of Spain Railway Co Ltd 1901 - 1910. (Information gathered from the Arbuthnot family web site)
Pages 44, 132 and 186, El Hornillo My book describes the history of the loading area but does not show clearly how it worked. I hope that the link below will help.
Operation and pictures of El Hornillo
Page 148 George L Boag On the left is Alison Mathison, the great niece of George. I had the pleasure of meeting her and her husband this summer at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire. With us was Antonio Moreno (Page ii) and his family. Alison has a fund of information about her "Uncle George" which will appear in a book that Antonio is writing about the people at Águilas.
George L Boag and Gustave Gillman continued This picture, taken in 1923, shows Boag (centre of the group of three) attending the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the work of Gillman, who had died in Brasil the year before. The picture was taken in front of the Hornillo offices (compare with the building today) The plaque is in the centre of the building under a window. The drawn-back curtains on the plaque can clearly be seen.
This is the plaque in detail. It says "To the memory of the illustrious engineer Don Gustavo Gillman, past director of the Lorca to Baza and Águilas Railway, who thought of and built this pier and loading bay. The employees and workers of the railway 1922"
Page vii Acknowledgements Marshall should have two ls
Page 35 Rolling Stock In the 1960s Lawrence Marshall took some pictures of steam engines on the Lorca-Baza-Aguilas line. Although this was well past the GSSR days, the engines were still the same. Lawrence has kindly given me permission to show these pictures here. If you are interested in more of these, Lawrence has published several, with wonderful pictures, including "RENFE Steam Remembered" and "Spanish Narrow Gauge Steam remembered". Contact me by email on my home page and I will put you in touch.
Page 82 Accident at Pulpi This accident was considered the worst in the line's history and caused great distress in the region. Antonio Moreno (mentioned above) plans to write a detailed history of the accident. A much happier event occurred in September 2007 when Pulpi made a bid in the Guinness book of records for the biggest salad in the world!
Update on Stations December 2007
| STATION | CONDITION | PICTURE |
| Águilas | The old marshalling yards are now being covered with buildings and little sign now remains of them. Something is happening to the Hornillo pier, but I am not sure what. The track bed up to the hoppers has been cleaned up, but so far the hoppers themselves are untouched. The gates leading to the pier have again been securely locked. |  |
| Zurgena | There has been some care taken to smarten up the area. The buildings have been renovated and the old platform areas planted with shrubs. The weighbridge building still has the scales inside. The marble works are now a big concern but the old gates can just be made out through the undergrowth. The rear area is being turned into a children's zoo and petting area, there are a couple of donkeys but it is not open yet. |  |
| Albox (Almanzora) | Yet another change for this station. It has now been turned into a nice cafe and meeting place for retired people. |   |
| Cantoria | The station area has been turned into an attractive office park and gardens. The station building appears to be an employment office and there is a music school in one of the other buildings. The area that was once the track and marble sidings (see album 1 and page 114) is now a little park. |  |
| Purchena | This is in a very sad state and cannot last much longer |  |
| Fines Olula | The Hurcal-Overa to Baza road is being turned into a dual carriageway. As a result, much of the trackway that followed the original road is now being covered over. Fines has not gone yet but looking at the terrain, it looks to be in great danger. Will anyone save the crane? It seems unlikely. |  |
| Seron | Little seems to have happened since last year. The artists impression of what it would look like (taken 3 years ago) is now a fading dream. |  |
| Caniles | Both the station and the sugar factory are gradually crumbling away. |  |
| Baza | All the buildings are still there but such a large space in the centre of town surely cannot remain empty for ever? |  |
Page 20 The Civil War It would seem that the albufera area near Adra was used to execute people.
Page 82 1929 to the end In the book "Ferroviarios de la linea Lorca a Baza y Águilas" (Railway workers of the GSSR) the testimony of Jesus Torres Cillar states that at the end of the twenties the English tried to close the line but were stopped by the unions and the workers. I have seen no other report of this but it wouldn't surprise me.
Page 46 The concessions An article in "The Country Gentleman" dated Apr 24 1886 refers to the setting up of the GSSR. The share capital and shares issued agree with that which I knew but several other comments give new points. It says that 10,000 £1 shares may be reserved for issue in Spain, but I have seen no proof that this happened. It refers to "The Government", presumably of Spain, which has granted £534,000 in six instalments. I think that this refers to the 13,309,114 pesetas which was granted on a per km basis (page 40). The six years was more likely the construction time allocated to the project. It refers to towns on the route granting money towards the project. I have only come across Lorca as having done so but it does seem possible. The final paragraph speaks of "If there is no revolution" and "that if must be considered". Well, no revolution disturbed the building of the GSSR but one certainly killed it.
Page 142 The Hopper wagons A member of ASAFAL, Francisco Martin Sanchez in an article for the Society has cast doubt on the origin of these. Here is a translation of that article.
Page 188 The first restructuring A short notice in "The Times" dated Nov 15 1894 refers to an agreement in court for the "reconstruction" of the GSSR. It refers to a lordship, presumably the Mr Justice Vaughan Williams who presided over the other legal matters mentioned in the book on page 192. Messrs Buckley QC and Kirby are given as supporting the application, I guess that they were the GSSR's representatives.
I have been able to obtain archives of some of the missing Reports and accounts for the GSSR. I have put these on a separate page.
Front cover Train at Águilas The driver of the engine "Aguilas" that was taken from the station to a plinth at Águilas port was Miguel Lozano Costa. This is his account of the journey.
"When steam finished, it was decided to make a monument to the railway. I was the only person at the time who could drive the diesel shunter so I was given the job of taking it to the plaza Isaac Peral. For the occasion I was given a new suit and cap. I had to make two journeys because when I got there, the plinth was only long enough for just the engine. So I had to take it back to the workshops, get them to remove the tender, then take it back to the port again. The route from the station passed in front of the old Capri cinema to the Paseo Parril. Here, the line went along the front to the port. At the time, there were many branch lines about the port. However, they were in poor condition and I first had to check with the diesel that the one which led to the plinth was capable of bearing the weight of the engine. Before I could do even this, a gang of 15 - 20 workers from Ways and Works had to go along, the track, replacing screws and repairing the line. A small ramp had been constructed and I pushed the engine into place. I recall that a broken cylinder had been repaired in the workshops but the engine was never used again."
Page 146 et al Directors On this and some other pages, Micklem is miss-spelt Micklam. For more on him see the archive page three paragraphs above.
