VISITING

In the Pyrenees, for example, several times a day, a small yellow train operated by French company SNCF chugs its way along a line that stops at 22 small French mountain towns and villages—although only eight of these are standard stops. The rest require either notifying the conductor well in advance that you want the train to stop, or, if you’re at the station and want to get on, standing at the far end of the platform, sticking your arm out and hoping the driver sees you.

Construction of the 126-kilometre train line started in 1903, with the section that runs east to west from Villefranche to Mont-Louis. However, it wasn’t until 1927 that it was completed, arriving at La tour de Carol, near the Catalan border. Its aim was to connect these mountainous enclaves, and naturally the technical issues were not easy to overcome. Fifty bridges, 16 viaducts and 19 tunnels are necessary to help the train jaune reach its destination.

Coming from the Costa Brava, the easiest place to pick up the train is at Villefranche, which in itself is worth a quick visit. The medieval walled town, currently a candidate to be a UNESCO heritage site, has ramparts that can be visited, as well as a number of craft shops and restaurants. Villefranche sits at the entrance to the Cerdanya plateau and is surrounded on all sides by impressively steep slopes.

Keep a careful eye on the time though, particularly in low season, because the trains are few and far between and if you miss one, it’s a long wait for the next. At this time of year, all the carriages are closed, a necessary respite from the sharp winds and snow, but in the summer months, some of them are open, a reminder of the very first days of the railway when all passengers travelled standing up in open carriages, engulfed by the black steam pouring out of the engine. If planning to take photos, it’s best to be at the back, because from there you can get some excellent shots of the whole train as it winds its way across precipitous bridges and heads into tunnels.