They're back

After Renfe withdrew this legendary class of locomotives from commercial service, the hope of seeing them on the tracks once again was revived when part of the remaining operational fleet was leased out.

Barely a week after leaving the paint shop sporting its new GoTransport livery, this pristine "Japanese" pseudo-tandem, led by number 269-352, hauls an intermodal container train between Barcelona Casa Antúnez and Zaragoza Plaza.

I cannot help but feel a pang of nostalgia remembering that almost ten years earlier, I photographed this very same pseudo-tandem in a livery far more to my taste, working a potash service that has since ceased to exist. Yet another loss in the ongoing decline that the Spanish railway network continues to suffer. They are, without a doubt, true survivors.

In this snapshot, the train can be seen shortly after leaving Sant Sadurní d'Anoia station, passing through the vineyards of the Penedès region.