The world of the railroad, of travel, of illusions, metaphorically similar to that mysterious world of dreams, which for a traveler always constitutes a true invitation to adventure.
Platforms flooded by the mists produced by the steam of the old locomotives warming up engines, silent witnesses of a thousand and one feelings, of the emotion of departure and the frustration that the bitter taste of farewell always leaves with it.
What I propose to you today is a small journey to the heart of nostalgia, where the contemplation of an old station and the obsolete machines it contains, transports you to truly glorious times, where travel was savored in a different way, where It was more uncomfortable to travel and it took much longer to reach the destination, but in compensation, the trip was much more intense, more exciting, more vital.
The old Delicias railway station, located in that badly wounded south of Madrid, is a good example of all this and, of course, an ideal place to re-ignite the spark of such a human feeling, as deep down it is that of evocation.
Inaugurated in 1880 and wrongly attributed for a long time to the French engineer who designed the famous Parisian tower that bears his name, Eiffel, the Madrid-Delicias station soon became one of the four most important railway stations in Madrid.
In fact, the project was born as a direct alternative that would link the capital of Spain with remote provinces such as Extremadura and, beyond, the neighboring country: Portugal.
For this reason, you will notice that some of the machines and even some of the vintage wagons still carry the posters of the famous Madrid-Lisbon express.
Away from active service since 1969, in which its functions became those of a simple warehouse, a few years ago it was decided to reuse it for the creation of a monumental museum, where to expose those surpluses, which are still in perfect condition, they make up a living and interesting testimony of some glorious chapters in Spanish railway history.
Seeing some of them can even make some of you, in full reverie, recall passages from unforgettable classics, like that Gard in Paris, where a desperate Hamphrey Bogart waited uselessly for the love of his life, played by a beautiful Ingrid Bergman, whose heart was struggling in the eternal story of Eros and Psyche.
In short: an interesting place to visit in Madrid and a trip to the past, which I hope has been to your liking.
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NOTICE: Both the text and the photographs that accompany it, as well as the video that illustrates it, are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore are subject to my Copyright.
