About us
I’m Bill, a retired railway worker from Crewe, UK, and for as long as I can remember, trains have been more than just a job to me; they’ve been an obsession.
The cost of living in the UK was climbing rapidly, and we wanted a retirement that offered a little more sunshine and a lot more adventure.
That’s how we ended up in Barcelona, swapping Crewe for Catalonia, cold for warmth, and our old routines for something entirely new.
Read Our Latest Blogs!
Night Freight
I hadn’t been near a freight yard in years.[…]
Lleida Day: Fast Line, Slow Branch, and Geoff’s Quiet Power
Sue said we should treat it like a date,[…]
Lights That Last
In Crewe we never put “lamp cleaner” in the[…]
Restoring a Class 47, and Hearing From Geoff (Who’s Gone Off the Rails Entirely)
Some men dream of vineyards. Others build goat pens[…]
Barcelona Sants Station: Functional, Ugly, and Brilliant
I wasn’t even planning to write about it, to[…]
Train Stations with Character: Spain’s Most Beautiful Stations
Not Just Places You Catch Trains You can learn[…]
The Lost Railways of Spain: Forgotten Tracks and Ghost Stations
Where the Tracks Trail Off into Silence They don’t[…]
The Transcantábrico: Slow Luxury Along the Northern Coast
A Different Kind of Train Journey After all the[…]
Crossing Borders: Barcelona to Paris by Rail
The Dream of International Rail There’s something uniquely satisfying[…]
A Lighthearted Day at the Railway Museum
Vilanova i la GeltrĂş and a Promised Trip It[…]
The Forgotten Lines: Exploring Spain’s Abandoned Railways
You’d think I’d come to Spain for the weather[…]
First Spanish Train Trip: Barcelona to Zaragoza on the AVE (and the Bit Where I Nearly Bought a House)
Couldn’t sleep the night before. Nothing dramatic—just that mild[…]
The Good, The Bad, and the Delayed (Spain’s Regional Trains)
After getting bounced around (in a mostly fun way)[…]
Northern Spain’s Narrow-Gauge Trains: Exploring FeveÂ
After Sitges, we needed a shift. Something slower. Less[…]
The AVE: Spain’s High-Speed RevolutionÂ
Spain’s railways? They were solid, sure, but nothing revolutionary.[…]
Exploring Barcelona’s Rail System (And Sue’s Patience)Â
Barcelona doesn’t stand still. It moves, it pulses, it[…]
Spain’s Railways: A Historical Deep DiveÂ
The Beginnings: A Messy, Slow Start Spain’s railways? They[…]
Bill’s Toy Train Collection: More Than Just a HobbyÂ
You’d think after four decades on the railways, I’d[…]
Our Journey from Crewe to Spain
Crewe isn’t just a town—it’s a railway institution, a[…]
Contact Us
Are you a fellow train enthusiast living in Spain? Do you have any personal stories to share with our TrainArtisan.com readers?
Do get in touch. I’d love to hear from you,
Bill.