El Tren De Soller: Mallorca's Vintage Electric Railway

It's not every day you see a 90-year-old electric train running down the middle of the road - unless you live on this street, where it happens every few hours. I went to find out the story behind the unusual Soller Railway on the little-known island of, er, Mallorca...

[macbury]

You've somehow made me desperately want to go and do all the things I found horrifically boring as a child when my parents took me on holidays. Your curiosity is infectious.

[susanh]

My 6 year old LOVES this video. He said, and I quote, "Mommy, he should have taken the tram. Not, climb the silly mountain." So, there you have it, from the mouths a babe.

[olli]

Big mistake to leave the tram, the route along the seaside is beautiful.

[fredrikh]

I was on Mallorca this year for my holiday and traveled on this train and the tram, loved every minute of it.

[Vespuchian]

Love those rail cars, from the wood panels and convertible seats to the little platforms on either end for people who like standing in the breeze.


Nice thing about electric trains is that they don't care if they have to spend five minutes in a tunnel, the worst emissions are from the passengers.

[vulpespannonicus]

German tourists. German tourists everywhere.

[edmundprice]

When I was little, that train didnt need aircon because it was so open, the only thing stopping you from falling was a chain, I nearly fell out

[gymnasiast]

You mentioned the balcony. In Dutch at least, this bit was actually called a balcony - and to this day, the area where you board/alight a train is _still_ referred to as the balcony, even though it doesn’t remotely resemble one any more.

[permaculturee]

It's great that you summarise how to visit the place at the end of each video. Excellent channel!

[granskare]

in chicago on the rapid transit (up high) we had seats that could be changed by the conductor when it was time to return.

[kenet]

Looks like the island of sodor with Toby as the lead instead of Thomas.

[dewiz]

Damn! Just got back from cycling in Mallorca, based in Alcúdia. And now I have a really good reason to go back (as if I needed another reason).

Great video!

[Gebieter]

I absolutely love the way you put your personality and your humor into the videos. 😅 Train - Mountain - Train - Mountain - Train - Subscription.

[DOORNmedia]

When I was 6 years old, I went on holiday in Mallorca and I took the train & tram.

A few months ago, I visited Mallorca again after 20 years. The train & tram is much more busy than it was back when I was 6. Crazy

[unixnut]

I love all the little comedy moments in your videos!

[baumfp]

The Mariazellerbahn, from St. Pölten to Mariazell also has electric vintage trains. It was completed in 1907 and electrified in 1911. They run modern trains (sometimes with 1st class panorama cars and breakfast in 1st class) called Himmelstreppe, vintage electric trains from around 1910 (sometimes with restaurant cars, sometimes with cabrio cars), and steam trains.

[SebastianPeitsch]

This is so funny to me - back in 2004 I went to Mallorca, rented a car and drove all the way up the mountains and along the North-West side of the island, parked the car at the harbor and went up the hill with the train and then back - you basically did the opposite Tim!

Now I feel the need to go back. Maybe I will, I bought the Interrail 1st class ticket at 50% off when they had the sale so I could basically go there by train and ferry next year. Definitely adding it to the list hehe

[nomadMik]

Most trains in New South Wales have reversible seats, and if you like the end bit of the journey in this vid, there's a station in the Blue Mountains called Zig Zag that you should visit. 🙂

[garyg]

It’s a great train ride and the views are stunning. Done it quite a few times. Thank you for reminding me of some great times.

[fadetounforgiven]

I remember going on this train some 30 years ago on a high-school travel to Mallorca, only we did it the other way round. We had gone from Magalluf (yep, that Magalluf, only way before it was what it is today) to Sa Calobra by bus, which has already some views along the way. Then we went from Sa Calobra to Port de Sóller by boat which, yep, it had quite some views of the cliffs over the Mediterranean. And then we went back to Mallorca on this train.

I would have sweared it was all by train but, as you mention in the video and I'm checking, it seems we went first on the tram until Sóller and then we got the train back to Mallorca. It was a nice experience. No air conditioning but lots of windows so air would flow nicely.

I'm not sure if we got to the actual train station in Mallorca, as I remember it being quite in the middle of almost nowhere and it is not the case today, but it may be I don't remember it correctly.

Anyway, for any train or public transport lover, it's a must if you're in the island.