7 - The Ships of the old repair shops

On this trip along the arteries of the old Steam Depot, we can see to the right of the “Swing Bridge” a series of industrial railway buildings. Two of them are the oldest buildings in all of the present-day Museum’s installations: the long, transversal Gran Nave, which is crowned by a smaller horizon called the Puente-Grúa (Bridge Crane) building. They were built for the arrival of the railway in the city in 1881, along with the station of Vilanova i la Geltrú.

The Gran Nave was completely refurbished in 2018-2019, with money from the Ministry of Transport’s 1.5% cultural fund, and the Puente-Grúa (Bridge Crane) building in 2020. The latter features an impressive bridge crane, built in Great Britain, that is capable of lifting 40 tons; this makes it possible to raise 19th-century boilers and locomotives and place them on one of its six tracks with a pit, in order to carry out any necessary work. It took up to ten workers on either side to move it. It was restored in 2020 in order to keep it working.

In relation to the Gran Nave, it has two central tracks, one of which has a third rail, which will enable a high-speed vehicle to be brought here in the future. In 2021, it is planned that its interior will feature modern museology in order to experience and discover the railway’s innovative role throughout history. Originally, its two tracks enabled vehicles to be moved from the workshop to the general railway network.

One of its tracks displays a composition of the first “Talgo” train called “Talgo II.” Built in the United States in the 1940s by the Spanish company Patentes Talgo, these vehicles introduced concepts such as modernity, design and comfort to railway transport in post-war Spain. The train’s technology was highly innovative for that time and its final objective was passenger comfort. It was made up of lightweight articulate vehicles, with a low centre of gravity and independent wheels. It featured reclining seats, in-seat meals service, platform-level doors, panoramic windows, air conditioning and an observation car. Its appearance revolutionised the conditions of railway travel. When the “Talgo II” entered service in 1950, most trains still functioned with steam locomotives and wooden cars.