The Way for 50 kilometers west of Soto de Luina is a rugged up and down trail fit only for mountain goats and for young and in shape Euros, not old and out of shape pilgrims like me and Marco. We decided to catch the westbound train this morning at Soto de Luina and ride it for about 50 kilometers to avoid this mountain goat mess of a Camino.
As you can see there is a track on the left and a track on the right. As most of you know I spent 35 years in and around the Union Pacific Railroad, so I know a thing or two about railroads. The track on the left is a passing track and the track on the right is the mainline. The passing track is rusty, weeds are growing up in the middle of the passing track and the ties are falling apart. On the mainline track, no rust, no weeds and the ties are in good shape. Our train is obviously going to come in on the mainline and we are going to board on the platform to the right of the mainline.
There was a German couple that was convinced I was wrong and that the train was going to come into the station on the passing track. It took me forever to convince them to join us on the mainline platform.
About 15 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive a couple of guys pulled up to the train station and proceeded to set up big cameras to take pictures of the train coming out of the tunnel just east of the train station. They were obviously train enthusiasts, or as we call them, foamers. I walked over to them and asked them to confirm that the train was going to come into the station on the mainline. They confirmed what I already knew. In order to establish my railroad bona fides I showed them this picture.
The instant they saw this picture their eyes lit up, big smiles appeared on their faces and they both exclaimed: “Big Boy!” The Big Boy is the largest fully operational steam locomotive in the world. Train enthusiasts world wide know about the Big Boy.
The train finally arrived and we were off on our one hour journey through the tall mountains and deep valleys of Northern Spain.
I tried to take some pictures of the scenery from the train but we spent most of our time in tunnels.
After an hour we got off the train at the station in Villapedre.
in the open dormitory.
Today we travelled 50 kilometers by train and then walked 27,000 steps, 20 kilometers and climbed the equivalent of 27 floors.
That’s it from La Caridad, Spain. I hope you had a good day wherever you are.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 
Love all the pictures and the detailed descriptions. Keep !em coming
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