Overview to the site of the huge spanish-french border station of Canfranc between high mountains in the Pyrenees on 1141 meter a.s.l.. The railway line from Zaragoza in Spain to Pau in France was inaugurated in 1928, with the iberian broad gauge of 1668 millimeter on the spanish side and the standard gauge of 1435 millimeter on the french side of the mountains. So all passengers had to change trains here and goods had to be transfered. Traffic was very modest from the beginning and never built even close to what was promised. The reception building was built between 1921 and 1925 by the Spanish architect Fernando Ramírez de Dampierre, who sized it for traffic on an internationally important main line, and was one of the first ever to be built entirely in reinforced concrete. It is 241 meters long, has 75 doors on each side and is committed to a late eclectic historicism. The center of the building and the pavilions that terminate at the sides are accentuated by domes. The reception building was parallel to the tracks, between the broad and standard gauge. Passengers were to be able to disembark, complete border formalities in the reception building and immediately re-board the connecting train on the other side. There was also a hotel in the building, as well as restaurants and office units for the Spanish and French departments of the railroad, border police and customs in the respective wing of the building. Since 1970 the railway line on the french side is withdrawn, and on the spanish side there are two trains a day only from or to Zaragoza (in the moment, for rebuilding of the line no trains for months). The station building was completely renovated and is a luxury hotel "Canfranc Estación", a Royal Hideaway Hotel of the Barceló group since 2023.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
