Anecdotes

The Sant Feliu de Guíxols to Gerona small train, also know as "Feliuet".

If anything woiuld differ between the S.F. de Guíxols inhabitants and the ones in the capital, that wolud be the different ways of calling their trains. S.F. de Guíxols people would know all of their trains as normal ones, and Renfe's trains as the "Big trains". To peope from Gerona, the narrow rail trains would be called "trenet" or "carrilet" wich would mean "Little train". The had them on Gerona back in that day. They were even smaller than the Olot-Gerona train, so it was called the "Small train". Then some of them started to call it "Feliuet" as the began to be attached to it. Soon after, the "Feliuet" became the cause of their pride.


In the summer of 1902, a plague of cockroaches fall to the tracks from the train carrying corks made in Bell-Lloc locomotives skidding.


The Santa Cristina d'Aro station would change its name for Ridaura d'Aro on 1936, and then it switched names again.


In 1947 he dropped a heavy snowfall that left a train immobilized for six days in the stop Bell-Lloc.


The Gerona station was always an extra one. And even when there was a project to actually build a station for the Sant Feliu train, it was always a provisional one. Lastly, and knowing it would finally be closed, there were plans on joining the Olot-Gerona train with the SFG, that being made with a station close the Olot-Gerona one, and a 1m rail was necessary for that. Plus the making of a bridge over Renfe’s wide rail train in order to unite. This project was never completed and was closed by the FEVE. Olot-Gerona closed first, with SFG following it.


There are news on the internet that seem to bring back old spirits:

Several people have confirmed that they have seen an old locomotive with a few cars attached, early in the morning on the Llambilles station and where the old Castell d’Aro station was. They say the train passes by at great speed, carrying within it passengers that seem to be empty vessels of pale skin and lost eyes. But if one of those locks on eyes with you before the train passes you by, you will follow their fate and die hit by a train on the next 24 hours. The legend tells that once in a long time, the train will stop and let in all of those who desire to die. But they will never be seen again. It is said that the train stops preferably on February the 29th. (Google Ghost train of SFG, Tren fantasma de SFG).


Back in 1924 and under Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship, Mr. Arturo Carsi ordered to rename all the stations with Spanish names. The company stood against it, and stated that they would only rename them if the Railroad division commanded it. And so, they released this statement:

“We have come to the conclusion that the stations shall not be renamed, for a change in the name of the village they are in would be needed. Such modifications shall only take place if our king and highness would demand them. The following station names shall not be modified as for now: San Feliu de Guixols, Gerona".


Oda a Sant Feliu de Guíxols:                                                             Ode to Sant Feliu de Guíxols:

Llavores tu amb Girona us dàreu una abraçada;                                     " Then woth Girona you held a hug         
en tot espai va néixer un nou estel:                                                 
  And thus a new star was born in the sky
xisclà del tren la máquina volant tota esverada,                                 And line agitated birds about to catch flight,
com àguila que porta sos aguilots al cel.
                                          Your locomotive forever on our sight"


When the SFG managers were to show their locomotives number 11 and 12, back in 1950, the handle from here they were grabbing onto fell to the ground. Despite that, the locomotives were sold with no further problems, and they were well received. To this day it remains as a funny anecdote, but we are sure someone got in trouble for that.


Story of Manuel Berga as told by Carles Malagrida:

It was on the autumn of 1947, the Gerona train was to leave Cassà de la Selva and was to arrive to Sant Feliu, but something got in the way that night. It was a man who jumped into the middle of the path after breaking up with his partner. Five days later, the same train was on its way to Gerona, and the driver saw something on the way before stopping the train. After arriving to its destiny station, blood was seen on the front of the train, and it reminded all of the people on it of what recently happened on that same railroad.

The good thing is, they all found out that the victim turned out to be a pig from a nearly farm.


Carles Malagrida’s story:

In the year 1955 on the level crossing of Riudellots, near Cassá, a man saw someone laying on the rails, just besides the road. He was terrified when he approached the body, as it was all covered in blood, and its guts were falling out of his abdomen. The man ran fast to warn the Guardia Civil (Police) and so he told them a train hit a man on a nearly railroad. Once they returned, they were surprised, as the man on the road was just about to rise on his feet. It turned out that he was about to attend a barbeque, and all of the blood and guts he was covered on were about to turn into delicious cooked meat later on. What he did was tripping with the rails and falling down having the meat supply fall on him, and he laid down for a while due to hitting his head with the ground.


Carles Malagrida’s story (II):

The Sant Feliu train was slow, it was heavy, but it could even kill animals apart from pigs. And so it was, when in 1960, on a level crossing on Remei, in Cassá, the train being carried on by the sixth locomotive hit and killed a deer. By that time they were trying to reintroduce deers to the Montseny (Catalan mountain) where they used to live on. Odds where that the deer escaped the safe zone coming a long way before meeting the level crossing on Remei.


Carles Malagrida story (III):

On the year 1950, the train exiting Cassá at twelve o’clock to Sant Feliu carried a Messenger car. It was an old car that once hosted passengers of the most wealth. But now, it was half-converted into a mobile mail storage. The passengers it carried were few, and that plus the low weight of the car, caused that car to derail often. (Carles saw 3 derailments) Just before reaching the Verneda river bridge, the car derailed and had a part of its body coming out the bridge at a point. Passengers who helped putting it back into the rails confirmed that the mail car was about to fall down into the ground far below.


Carles Malagrida story (IV):

Towards1995 on the Cassá station, two workers put their effort on the transport of two platform cars; they had to push them towards the loading platform and then switch them with fully loaded cars. After a slip, one of the cars began accelerating towards la Llagostera, descending its way through several paths and roads. One of the workers rapidly got onto his bike, in an effort to try and stop the car by pulling the brakes lever, and on the meanwhile, his coworker tried to contact the boss. The bike riding worker was unable to stop the train and it rushed through all of the railroad, but fortunately, it never caused any accidents. It was stopped on the Llagostera.


Carles Malagrida story (V):

It was at the end of 1940. For many years, Pere Bosc, who lived in Cassá, worked on the Llagostera station. Its job was to do the whole route between both stations before the first train made its way through. And so everyday he woke up at 3am, to make his way to the Llagostera station towards 5am. Then, we had to open the Tossa station and take care of the ticket sale and the level crossings there. One day, before the first train was able to get on its way, Pere forgot to reattach the cars to the locomotive, and so it made the whole route leaving the passengers stuck in the Cassá station, and the driver only realized it when he reached Tossa. There was no other solution but to return to Cassá to attach the cars and actually take the passengers there.

What a way to get in trouble Pere!


Carles Malagrida story (VI):

On the train coming out of Gerona at 7pm, on 1955, all of the workers at Cassá, Llagostera and Sant Feliu traveled on the inside. During the 1950’s the head of the station of Quart communicated to the lady on the Llambillas unstaffed station whenever they were ready for a ride. And then the same lady announced it to the rest of the passengers making a bell ring. She ringed the bell a total of times equal to the amout of bottles of wine that the head of station had with him that day.


Carles Malagrida story (VII):

On the festive days during summer, there were extraordinary trains dedicated to the swimmers and tourists. They had one with double traction that was to leave Sant Feliu at 6pm. Half an hour later the normal service would exit the station, and there was this one service, on July the 25th of 1961, managed to surpass the steep slope between Font Picant and la Llagostera, carried by the first locomotive, and had trouble to reach Font Picant due to problems with the amount of pressure on the boiler. Then, making the mistake of continuing the route to la Llagostera without reaching normal levels of pressure, the train was unable to reach the station and thus it halted on the slope near the level crossing on Alou. They called the people on la Llagostera from there, and they had the third locomotive come and rescue the first one. Once they were on safe ground, they decided they would regain the lost time, and so they rushed at full speed between la Llagostera and the halt of Esclet, because the rails on that route were in such a good shape they could reach an amazing speed whikle staying totally safe. Carles himself said he never saw the Carrilet go so fast before.


Carles Malagrida story(VIII):

On September of 1961 there was an accident that only caused material damage. At 8AM, the train on Cassá was to leave towards San Feliu, carried by the fourth locomotive. By that time Carles worked on the office of a factory at a medium distance from the railroad; a lever crossing without barriers allowed their way to the factory. For more than four years, he could hear the sound of the train passing through the lever crossing, and that day he had a strange sensation. He came out of the factory only to see a loaded truck stopped there and a locomotive by it, out of service. Carles then ran to see if they all were alright, and found the lorry driver in a bad state of illness. Joaquin Madrenas was driving the locomotive that day, and he had no option but to warn the lorry driver on a severe manner. Later on, the lorry driver had to take a few days off to recover.


Raymond Morris (Brisbane, Australia) story:
I travelled by train from Girona to San Feliu de Guixols in August 1963 in order to catch a boat to Tossa. I particularly remember the descent down a long grade to sea level. The conductor hurried to the open platforms at the ends of the carriages and turned wheels to apply the brakes. He then retrieved a long pole that had been stored on the roof of one carriage.   Bracing the pole against the leading edge of the rear carriage and holding the pole diagonally, he ploughed the end of the pole in the soil beside the railway track for perhaps one minute in order to stop the train from accelerating down the slope. I suspect that people do not believe me whenever I tell this story, but it is absolutely true.

I worked in Tossa and Lloret throughout the summers of 1962 and 1963 and during those years I saw no efforts by the English tour companies to take their tourists on the Gerona - San Feliu narrow-gauge railway. The tourists were unaware of the existence of the line. That was such a pity because tourist revenue might have kept the line open.



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