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101-664: The railway was built between 1873 and 1875 by the British Rio Tinto Company Limited (RTC), that sought to provide maritime access to the minerals extracted from ore deposits in the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin . For much of its route, the track ran parallel to the course of the Tinto River , although in its last stage it ran alongside the Iberian-gauge Seville-Huelva railway . For over a century, it

202-403: A metric gauge , came to have a main line of more than 80 kilometers in length. Throughout the route, the single track was predominant, although between Río Tinto-Estación and Marín there was a dual track section due to the intense traffic. The main line ran parallel to the course of the Tinto River , with a winding route and an average gradient of 1.176%, although in its last section it ran over

303-552: A severe economic crisis that would eventually affect the business. From 1931 onwards, the mining basin went through a period of great labor and social conflict. The outbreak of the Civil War , in 1936, caused new difficulties for the company. From very early on, the revolt forces imposed embargoes on the production of pyrites or diverted exports to ports in Axis countries , especially to Nazi Germany. The German company Hisma-Rowak channeled

404-516: A budget cost of 767,190 pounds sterling at the time, a figure lower than expected. A year later, a commercial pier began operating in Huelva, built on the waters of the Odiel river . The infrastructure was made of iron and wood, consisting of three floors and with a length of 226 meters. The route had a track gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6.0 in) , tuvo una longitud de 83,67 kilómetros and had up to

505-579: A dozen stations. Some branches were later added to the mainline to link it with the area's ore deposits and industrial facilities, a network totalling almost 360 km (220 mi). The track started at the company's mining complex and ran parallel to the course of the Tinto River, until it reached the port of Huelva. In 1896, with the Seville-Huelva track already operational, a junction was built at Las Mallas railway station to carry out transfers between

606-508: A flat and smooth area. In any case, the orographical difficulties of the area led to the construction of up to 8 bridges and 5 tunnels, as well as numerous trenches. Initially, a dozen stations or sidings were built to regulate the line's traffic, to which new ones would be added later with the construction of the branch lines. Among all of them, the Río Tinto-Estación complex stood out, which constituted an important railway junction where

707-513: A previous interventionist regime to move to a new one that greatly favored private initiative. But it was really the Ley de Bases de 29 de diciembre de 1868 sobre minas and the Ley de 19 de octubre de 1869 that favored the creation of private and industrial trading companies. Thus, on February 14, 1873, after an unsuccessful auction, the mines were acquired through direct sale by an international consortium created, among others, by three powerful families,

808-585: A process that lasted years, the Rothschilds finally bought the ownership of the mines from the state in 1873. The acquisition of the mines was accompanied by a state concession to build a railway line to connect them with the port of Huelva and thus allow the transport of the extracted minerals to the coast. The construction of the railroad began in June 1873 by the Rio Tinto Company. The engineer in charge of designing

909-453: A single subversive shout, nor did they utter a provocation or an act that would disturb the troops or the Authorities. —"The events of Rio Tinto". Diario la Coalición Republicana , 1888. On February 4, 1888, shortly after the arrival of the new general manager Mr. William Rich, a demonstration of miners and farmers protesting against the fumes of the ''teleras'' and the poor working conditions

1010-754: A strike began in the Cuenca Minera that provoked the Civil Governor to station two companies of the General Pavía Regiment in Huelva, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ulpiano Sánchez. The following day, in spite of the mediation attempts of the Civil Guard , violent attempts take place, the City Council and the manager of the William Rich Company do not accept any of the conditions and probably alert

1111-467: Is presumed that they were buried under slag in one of the mines in the area. The tragedy, which caused national and even international commotion, can be considered as one of the first environmental demonstrations. Despite all this, the teleras were not banned in Spain until years later, because even though that same year a Royal Decree was issued by Minister José Luis Albareda which urged its disappearance, it

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1212-533: The Archimedes' screw — because, when the phreatic level was exceeded, it was necessary to drain the numerous subsoil waters. Centuries later, the Almohads did not work much on the extraction of minerals (blue vitriol and green vitriol) but they worked on the extraction of different materials to create dyes. As early as 1556, the mines were about to be exploited again during the reign of Philip II , who needed to finance

1313-528: The Banco de España . The operation was approved by Franco on August 14 and cost £7.66 million (about 1000 million pesetas at the time). Two-thirds of the assets passed into the hands of Spanish private capital, although RTC would keep the remaining third. On October 28 of the same year, the Compañía Española de las Minas de Río Tinto (CEMRT) was incorporated, assuming ownership of the sites and facilities. For

1414-580: The Chalcolithic and by peoples such as Tartessians , Phoenicians and Romans , who extracted iron pyrites, copper, silver and other metals from them. As a result of the metallurgical operations, there is evidence that the Romans would have left more than fifteen million tons of slag in the Riotinto area during a period characterized by new extraction techniques with furnaces and new tools — such as norias or

1515-620: The Conservative Party for the districts of Huelva and Valverde del Camino with the idea that these, once elected deputies, would support the company in Madrid. In Huelva province, it developed similar initiatives. For instance, in 1890 it actively supported along with Tharsis a "mining" candidacy to the Provincial Deputation formed by José María Parejo Bécquer and Vicente Ferrer Ramírez Cruzado. The joint purpose of this initiative

1616-582: The First World War . However, what was carried out during this period, between 1915 and 1918, was a renewal of the rail track using 65 pounds rails manufactured by the Altos Hornos de Vizcaya . The track was overhauled for the second time in 1935, although the process would take more than twenty years. In 1931, the Riotinto Railway got a major boost with the arrival of British engineer George Rice, who

1717-762: The Sociedad Minera y Metalúrgica de Peñarroya (SMMP) to supply about 19,000 tons of coal annually, relying on the railway network of the MZA . Several years later, in 1917, the SMMP and the RTC participated alongside other actors in the founding of the Sociedad Española de Construcciones Electromecánicas , a company that the Rio Tinto company supplied with significant quantities of copper for its later metallurgical treatment. Added to all this

1818-403: The unrestricted submarine warfare conducted by Germany severely disrupted the export of pyrite to the major North American market, that until then was very dependent on the mineral coming from Spain. Added to this was that international pyrite prices plummeted with the end of the war, reducing RTC's profits. The mining strike of 1920 led to massive layoffs and damaged the company's image among

1919-414: The 1990s, around the time when the popular Tourist Mining Train was introduced. In the 21st century a small 11 km (6.8 mi)-long railway section is kept operational for tourist and recreational purposes. The remaining route has been either abandoned or dismantled. Historically, the territory of the Huelva has been rich in ore deposits of various types, as was the case of the Riotinto mines. During

2020-793: The Mathesons, the Rothschilds and the Goldschimidt — owner of the Deutsche National Bank of Bremen. This consortium later found the Rio Tinto Company Limited, with a capital of six million pounds sterling . The purchase of the mines was accompanied by a concession from the State so that the British company could build a railroad linking Riotinto with the port of Huelva. Construction of the line

2121-493: The Ministry of Finance the continued fraud that the company had committed between 1923 and 1925. The chairman of the board of directors, Auckland Geddes , tried to reach a reserved agreement with the then minister, José Calvo Sotelo , but the latter rejected this possibility and preferred to take the matter through the courts. A tough legal battle ensued, resulting in a first sentence to pay 750,000 pounds sterling in taxes based on

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2222-406: The RTC were of British origin, while the rest of the staff was composed of employees of native origin. In Spain, the company's structure was divided into "departments" that were in charge of different areas: personnel, management, subsidiaries, workshops, railroads, mineral exports, etc. For many years RTC's main facilities were located within the territory of the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin and in

2323-593: The RTC, the fact of divesting its Spanish assets was not frowned upon, given that the Riotinto operations were already beginning to show signs of depletion. Moreover, the British company was the majority shareholder in the company, where it controlled 33% of its capital. With the capital obtained from the sale, the company made investments in Australia, Canada and the United States, where it would exploit uranium and oil deposits. This expansion of its business, in addition to

2424-460: The Rio Tinto Company Limited was one of the leading companies in Spain in terms of net assets . During this period, the company implemented a reform plan that included purchasing machinery for a greater automation of the operations and the construction of new industrial plants to treat the minerals. Up to the early 20th centur, the exploitation was very profitable, but by the 1920's the situation had turned upside down. During World War I (1914-1918).

2525-407: The Riotinto Railway passenger services were closed, as well as the "workers' trains" that transported employees to their workplaces. This was due to the widespread use of the automobile as a means of private transportation and the loss-making nature of these services for the owner of the railway. A few years later, in 1978, the branches going to Nerva and Zalamea la Real were closed for good. In 1974,

2626-606: The Spanish public. An additional issue, even during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship , involved paying taxes to the Treasury. As a result of its close ties with high political spheres, the RTC was engaged in systematic tax fraud against the Spanish Treasury during its first decades of existence. In 1928 a former employee of the company who worked at Casa Colón, Harry Pilkington, denounced to

2727-509: The State also ceded land in the public domain and authorized compulsory expropriations for reasons of public utility. The Rio Tinto Company Limited reached an agreement with the operating company of the Buitrón railway for the transportation of construction materials, also using the facilities that this company owned in San Juan del Puerto for the unloading of railway material. The slag resulting from

2828-472: The State in 1783, to be managed by the State again until 1810, when they were closed due to the War of Independence . Between 1815 and 1823, only the sour waters were precariously exploited. The failure in mining exploitation during that period can be explained by the difficulty, and above all the high cost, of transporting the minerals to the sea when there was still no railroad line and transporting them by pack animals

2929-491: The administration and the government. Between 1873 and 1904, these functions were performed by Gabriel Rodríguez and his son Antonio, being succeeded from 1905 by José Valero Hervás. During the latter's period, the influence of the Rio Tinto Company in the capital was at its peak. Thanks to these "Madrid anchorages" the company was able to assume a course of action more in accordance with its own interests and to operate independently from other mining companies. Its influence within

3030-451: The ancient mining works carried out in Roman times was used as track ballast — because it was abundant in the Riotinto basin. The Riotinto railway was officially inaugurated on July 28, 1875, and started operations by early August of the same year. Due to the rush of the RTC for its commissioning, the works proceeded swiftly. Construction was completed three months ahead of schedule and also at

3131-584: The appearance of the city and contrasted with the rise of a new bourgeoisie of both Spaniards and foreigners who were linked to the company. The power of the company became so strong in the city that the civil buildings depended on the interests of the company. Proof of this are the Reina Victoria Neighborhood , as a garden city that housed part of its employees; the construction of the Casa Colón , which ended up becoming headquarters for company offices,

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3232-448: The area dated back to the 18th century, with leasing companies such as Robert Wolters. The take-off of industrialization in highly developed countries had led various companies to seek new minerals and deposits for their growth. Likewise, the increase in employment needs caused a rapid growth in the area and even in Huelva. The reason behind the private interest in these mines has its origin in the new central laws of 1849 and 1859, overcoming

3333-512: The area since the beginning of the century, but with the arrival of the English their use increased considerably and it is estimated that around 500 tons per year were released into the air. This had a certain national resonance, and the population in the province was divided between humistas ("pro-smoke") who defended their use as a symbol of progress and antihumistas ("anti-smoke") who condemned them for their extremely high polluting effect (in fact,

3434-469: The area, did not raise concerns about people's health. That is to say, to a certain extent, it "legalized" the use of the calcinations regardless of several deaths of workers in the area caused by them — deaths that the Company's doctors attributed to congenital diseases of the workers and not externally caused ("lack of life" according to their own reports) and, of course, not the result of the mines. Meanwhile,

3535-476: The capital to transfer the army companies to Riotinto. The morning of February 4, a new demonstration took place with the arrival of people from the nearby town of Nerva and neighboring areas, and a delegation even went up to the Town Hall to present their claims. The town's Plaza de la Constitución is full of workers, women and children, and it is estimated that there were more than twelve thousand people from all over

3636-493: The city of Huelva, although starting in the 1920s, the company began to own mines in North America and Africa. Besides the mining sites, it also controlled industrial plants, auxiliary facilities, warehouses, offices, houses and guest houses, country estates, etc. Within Spanish territory, it owned a railway network with a total length of 360 kilometers, including the main track, branch lines and various secondary tracks. Part of

3737-408: The closure of the line, the facilities were abandoned and underwent uncontrolled dismantling, affecting both the railway tracks and the rolling stock parked in the locomotive depot at Zarandas . Many stations on the line were seriously deteriorated, while the historic facilities of Río Tinto-Estación and Huelva ended up disappearing for the most part after being dismantled. In addition, some sections of

3838-468: The company, which caused great unrest among disadvantaged sectors and, after numerous protests, led the RTC to implement a fare system. There were special services, the "workers' trains", which transported technicians and workers from the various towns to their workplaces. These "workers' trains" only ran in the mining area and ran several times a day, both to and from the mine. In addition to occasional trips to Huelva, RTC employees and their families also used

3939-444: The company. The party of the dictatorship came to describe the company as a "colonizer", while Franco himself called the Riotinto mines "an economic Gibraltar of Spain". From some areas, the idea of nationalizing the sites began to be openly promoted. This coincided in time with the outbreak of World War II , which severely affected RTC's traditional markets to the point that by 1941 its turnover had fallen by about 53%. Faced with

4040-567: The country: The company had its headquarters at number 3 Lombard Street in London , with a representative office at number 8, Calle de Ventura de la Vega in Madrid . Its administrative offices were located in the Huelva municipality of Minas de Riotinto. During the early 1930s, the Riotinto offices were located in the Casa de Dirección . Within the business organization, the managers, technicians and engineers of

4141-460: The disappeared Hospital Inglés, or the huge Rio Tinto Pier located on the Odiel river. During the early years, the railroad was built in order to provide a cheap and fast outlet for the ore. By 1875, there was already a railway line linking the mine itself with the nearest exit to the sea: the port of Huelva. Thus, most of the wealth obtained from mining — it is estimated, for instance, to be half of

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4242-540: The documentary holdings of the former company are located in Spain, stored in the Archivo Histórico Minero of the Río Tinto Foundation . They are grouped in the subgroup "Minas de Riotinto" and the classification table corresponds to the different departments of the company that produced the documentation: Personnel, Accounting, Management, Labor, Railroad, Medical Department, Topography, etc. Apart from

4343-424: The early 1900s, the Rio Tinto Company Limited was already in a strong financial position and began to invest in strategic sectors. In 1905, it founded a subsidiary, the Sociedad Española de Productos Químicos de Huelva , in charge of the production of artificial fertilizers and superphosphates . The company was based in Madrid and had a production plant in Huelva. Around 1907, the RTC signed an energy agreement with

4444-509: The extracted material by sea. Likewise, the company had a great influence in the region and the province beyond the merely economic. The harsh working conditions of the miners led to numerous conflicts between them and the RTC management. In addition to the Riotinto mines, the company expanded its operations to Africa in the 1920s. After the Spanish Civil War , the political and economic context in Spain became much more adverse, conditioning

4545-423: The following decades, the extraction of minerals in the area experienced a major growth, with the development of various mining and metallurgical activities. Under British exploitation, the Riotinto mines became "a world reference". The RTC was the builder and owner of the railroad line that connected the mines with the port of Huelva , where it built a commercial pier to facilitate the unloading and transport of

4646-459: The fumes from the teleras flooded the entire region and were sometimes visible in the mountains of Seville and even Ayamonte and Portugal ). Thus, since 1877 , the first complaints regarding this matter were made to the Government of Cánovas del Castillo . As a result, a Resolution was published on July 22, 1879, which, even though it imposed small indemnities for the damage caused to the crops in

4747-618: The future of the business. In 1954, the company's assets in Huelva were divested and sold to a local consortium, thus creating the Compañía Española de Minas de Río Tinto . Meanwhile, in 1962, RTC merged with the Australian company Consolidated Zinc to form the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation , branching out to other parts of the world. The area of the Iberian Pyrite Belt had already been exploited for more than 3000 years — in

4848-532: The government was considerable, reaching a close relationship with the upper spheres of Spanish politics. During the restoration , speculation was rife about the role that Rio Tinto may have had both in the ministerial appointment of Manuel de Burgos y Mazo and in the dismissal of Ángel Urzaiz — the latter, as Minister of Finance, had attempted to introduce some tariff levies on the export of iron pyrite. The company also had its own newspaper in Huelva, La Provincia , that it controlled for some time. By 1917,

4949-464: The ground. Filón Sur in 1874, Filón Norte in 1892, and above all Corta Atalaya , in 1907, then the largest on the European continent. By 1909, RTC had a workforce of 16,973 workers at Riotinto, employing almost a third of the population of the mining basin. The growth of mining activities in Riotinto led the company to build several industrial facilities since the late 19th century, dedicated to

5050-450: The heritage of the FRT. A study was carried out in 1990 on the possibilities of using the mining line for tourist purposes, although it was rejected due to its high cost. A second project, dated 1993, foresaw the rehabilitation of the railway line through several phases. Following these postulates, the recovery of the rolling stock and infrastructure was carried out, which included the restoration of

5151-576: The labor and "environmental" protests of the miners. Thus, on January 31, 1888, a demonstration led by the Cuban trade unionist Maximiliano Tornet arrived at the town's town hall to deliver a series of demands, among them the disappearance of open-air calcination . It was not until December 29 of the same year that the Government decreed that this type of calcination (already banned in Great Britain seven years earlier) should be reduced. Starting on February 2,

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5252-463: The lack of profits. Once this initial stage was over, the situation underwent a considerable change. The British company — having obtained the rights to exploit the copper, silver and gold of the mines — initially brought about the resurgence of the region by opening new exploitation areas and developing inland mining. Its production, which left Spain through the Huelva estuary , turned the company into one of

5353-469: The largest in all of Europe and — in the words of businessman and historian David Avery — made Riotinto (in 1884) "the largest mining center in the world". By the late 1880s, control of the Riotinto company was transferred to the Rothschild family, who bet on increasing the scale of the mining workings. At its peak, Riotinto became a small English colony thanks to the mine, a "Gibraltar sui generis ", as

5454-399: The layout was George Barclay Bruce . The construction works were carried out in five different sections simultaneously over two years. The most complicated part of the project was between the Riotinto mines and the municipality of Niebla , a section where the route had to run parallel to the course of the Tinto River . In addition to the private land that the RTC acquired to lay the tracks,

5555-423: The local writer and poet Juan Cobos Wilkins called it. The luxurious and exclusive Bellavista Neighborhood was built a few meters away from the excavations for the English personnel, which could be accessed after passing through a sentry box with guards; a Victorian style neighborhood that was equipped with tennis courts, golf courses, a own cemetery , a Social Club or even a Presbyterian church . Meanwhile, in

5656-454: The main line with the facilities of the Peña del Hierro mine . Throughout its history, the main traffic of the railway consisted in the transport of ore, but the route would eventually be used for passenger traffic after the municipalities in the area requested it. Passenger services began in 1895, going through different stages. Passengers traveled free at first, through a system of passes granted by

5757-446: The main railway facilities of the line are located in the complex of Zarandas-Naya. The railway's rolling stock was one of the largest of all Spanish railways in its time. Throughout its history, it employed a total of up to 143 steam locomotives, 9 diesel traction locomotives and as many electric locomotives — the latter destined for subsurface travel in the mines. It had about 1,300 wagons of different types and about 2,000 mine cars for

5858-429: The management and ownership of the railway was transferred to the Compañía Española de Minas de Río Tinto (CEMRT), following the acquisition of the Rio Tinto mines and its facilities by Spanish capitalists. In 1970, management was taken over by the newly created Unión Explosivos Río Tinto (ERT) group. Due to the large volume of traffic it carried, the Riotinto Railway had a large fleet of vehicles and engines, becoming

5959-506: The mines it already operated in Africa, consolidated the diversification strategy that RTC had been undertaking for several decades. In 1962, the Rio Tinto Company Limited agreed to merge with Consolidated Zinc , giving rise to the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation . Concurrently, the Australian assets of the two companies were merged to form another company, Conzinc Riotinto of Australia. As the demonstrators, more than 12,000 in number, were huddled in

6060-445: The mining basin. This meant a cheapening of these goods, which would translate into an improvement in the living standards of the area's inhabitants. In 1904, two new branches coming from downtown Riotinto came into service: one that reached Nerva and another that reached Zalamea la Real . Three years earlier, the State had authorized RTC to build the new routes, which sought to provide means of transportation to mine workers living in

6161-571: The most part, although some stations and bridges have remained unscathed. The track between the stations of Manantiales and Las Mallas has also disappeared. Much of this infrastructure dismantling can be attributed to the action of illegal scrap metal dealers, many of which proliferated after its abandonment during the 1980s. It should also be noted that an old section of the railway has been rehabilitated for cycling and pedestrian use, now called Vía verde de Riotinto , which runs between Zalamea la Real and Minas de Riotinto. The Riotinto Railway, which used

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6262-399: The narrow adjacent streets and square with greater joy and confidence, the cavalry was ordered to withdraw from the place it occupied and immediately afterward a closed, immense discharge — with projectiles sweeping that human mass — sent the crowd in disorderly retreat, leaving many corpses and injured on the ground and ran through the streets shouting cries of terror and violent rage. Who gave

6363-533: The numerous wars of the Empire. This attempt failed, since the studies of the time considered their exploitation unfeasible and unprofitable. In 1725, the Swede Liebert Wolters Vonsiohielm got the authorities to grant him the exploitation of the sites, under lease, for thirty years. During that time, Wolters would exploit the mines together with his nephew and a Spanish associate. The mines returned to

6464-493: The old line were largely dismantled, with the removal of tracks and crossties. Since the late 1980s, several initiatives were carried out to recover the railway infrastructures and stop their deterioration. In this context, the company Río Tinto Minera transferred its historical heritage assets to the Fundación Río Tinto (FRT), an entity created in 1987 that carried out many of these tasks. The railway line became part of

6565-538: The old railway route. In turn, some locomotives and wagons were taken to be exhibited at the Riotinto Mining Museum . In total, about eleven kilometers of track were restored to service. A very different scenario applied to the rest of the old railway line. The route between Los Frailes and Manantiales remained untouched; although its recovery was initially planned, over the years it has not happened. The track between Las Mallas and Huelva has been dismantled for

6666-532: The order to fire? So far it is not known. Was it the Governor? Was it the Military Chief? The unconscious soldiery, the stupid machine that obeys and kills, the soldier who directs the muzzle of the rifle to the town from where he left and to where he will return, enjoyed the sight of gunpowder and blood. With the testimony of hundreds of people who witnessed the event, we can affirm that the demonstrators did not utter

6767-480: The ore shipments. The new situation did not affect exports to the United Kingdom, but it did with France, which between 1936 and 1939 lost virtually all shipments of Riotinto pyrite. The measures imposed by Franco's authorities caused relations between the company and the administration to grow strained. Starting in 1940, the regime adopted a more interventionist line of action, initiating serious harassment towards

6868-476: The original Spanish town, the church or the Plaza de la Constitución — where years before the massacre of the " Año de los tiros " had taken place — ended up being buried under the slag from the excavations. Huelva also underwent an important development under the English influence. The numerous workshops and facilities built by the RTC that employed more than seven hundred workers, such as the railway station , changed

6969-452: The owning company. Although several studies were carried out by Río Tinto Minera in order to keep the railway in service, eventually it did not materialize. The line was closed to traffic in February 1984, after the last regular service had been carried out. On 8 February 1984, a train pulled by locomotive no. 911 ran on a route from Las Mallas to Riotinto, in order to remove empty wagons. After

7070-585: The partial reopening of the Riotinto Wailway in November 1994. A small section between Talleres Mina and Zarandas was initially reopened for service; in February 1997, the operating track was extended to Los Frailes station. From the historical rolling stock that was recovered during those years — including two steam locomotives — the Tourist Mining Train was formed, which offers recreational services along

7171-524: The prevailing situation, the company adopted a strategy of minimizing its activities at Riotinto, also imposing a restriction on expenses and dividend distribution among shareholders. From the 1920s, the Rio Tinto Company Limited began a policy of diversification of its investments and activities, acquiring several mines in British colonies in Africa. Around 1928, it was already investing heavily in sites located in Northern Rhodesia . Spain slowly lost

7272-402: The processing of ore. These included  a sulfuric acid factory, a metallurgical plant ( Fundición Bessemer ) and a classification plant ( Lavadoras ). Likewise, a network of auxiliary facilities was set up: warehouses, ore loading bays, workshops, a railway network and branch lines, power plants, dams and reservoirs, etc. Over time, Riotinto became an industrial center of great importance. By

7373-475: The profits generated by its activities in Spain in 1928. The litigation lasted until 1931 and was not favorable to Rio Tinto. The Pilkington affair contributed to increase popular animosity towards the company. In 1929, ore extraction at Riotinto reached its historical maximum. The company made several investments in order to modernize its network of facilities, such as the railroad or the pier in Huelva, or to build new ones. However, in that same year also began

7474-491: The prominent position it once held within the company since 1873. The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic , in 1931, was not welcomed by the management of RTC due to fears of an expropriation of the Riotinto mines. Throughout World War II, difficulties faced by the company led to various discussions regarding the sale of the mines to Spanish capitalists, although this possibility did not happen. After 1946, with

7575-404: The railway in the early 20th century led the company to introduce a series of modifications to allow dual traction, making it possible for larger convoys to circulate. This increase was up to 35% between 1907 and 1912, so the RTC had to buy new freight cars. There was a project to provide electricity to the general railway in order to save costs, although it was not implemented due to the outbreak of

7676-462: The railway's existence, diesel traction would eventually be introduced in an attempt to modernize the fleet. In this sense, the purchase in the 1960s of a Fried-Krupp tractor and several Creusot-type diesel locomotives stood out. To this was added the past acquisition of a series of pantograph electric locomotives for subway operation in the tunnel no. 16 of Naya and in the Filón Norte . In 1968,

7777-462: The region. When leaving the building the Pavia forces charge for fifteen minutes with shots and bayonets against the demonstrators resulting in a number of fatalities and wounded not officially known — ranging between 14 and 45 in the press and depending on whether it was the conservative or liberal media and today is estimated much wider. Where the bodies of the deceased were buried remains unknown, but it

7878-404: The rest of the journey. Dual traction was also adopted, allowing larger convoys to be moved and increasing the load carried. In 1929 the railway moved 1,740,854 tons of ore and 15,369 tons of cargo, a figure that constituted its historical maximum. It is noteworthy that the start of operations of the Riotinto railway allowed the arrival of certain products from the coastal area and the countryside to

7979-541: The rise in the international price of copper, the exploitation of the Huelva sites began to yield profits again. In the early 1950s, in a much more stable context, the old idea of selling the mines was taken up again. In June 1954, the negotiations that would lead to the sale of the RTC properties in Huelva to a group of financial institutions began: the Banco Español de Crédito , the Banco Hispano Americano and

8080-550: The route between Las Mallas and Huelva was closed to traffic, leaving the infrastructure inactive. From then on, the trains coming from the mines would reach the Las Mallas complex, where the ore would be loaded onto trucks and later transported from there to Huelva — destined for the new facilities of the Chemical park of Huelva . As a result of the new situation, a year later the Odiel river piers stopped operating, and this infrastructure

8181-513: The second half of the 19th century, the exploitation of province's various deposits passed into foreign hands, mainly British. Parallel to this process, a network of railway lines was built to connect the mines to the coastal ports, such as the Buitrón railway (1870) or the Tharsis railway (1871). The Riotinto basin, rich in pyrites and copper , was of special interest to the house of Rothschild . After

8282-455: The second largest in Spain after the RENFE . In the mid-1950s it had 120 locomotives, about 3,000 large-capacity freight cars or wagons, and various auxiliary material, such as cranes. In order to introduce new engine material, the RTC had acquired new Mogul type steam locomotives, colloquially known as "Gildas", which arrived in Spain in 1954. Although the use of steam locomotives prevailed for most of

8383-477: The town councils tried to prohibit these procedures. But the government, influenced by the Company and conservative newspapers such as La Provincia (which had carried out an almost crusade in favor of mining) systematically repealed all municipal laws against the teleras . The degree of discontent with the situation was such that landowners and day laborers, who saw how their crops and traditional livelihoods were being lost and contaminated without remission, joined

8484-421: The towns of Nerva, El Campillo and Zalamea la Real, thus allowing them to continue to travel to and from the mining area. During this time, a total of 85,972 workers and 11,686 individuals (family members), as well as 48 tons of cargo, were transported each month on these branches. However, the operation of the branch lines was financially unprofitable. Between 1883 and 1913, another detour was operational, linking

8585-441: The tracks and the rehabilitation of stations such as Zarandas-Naya or Los Frailes . Since the former Río Tinto-Estación facilities had been dismantled, the rehabilitation of the railway Since the former Río Tinto-Estación facilities had been dismantled, the rehabilitation of the trackbed began near the former Talleres Mina , erecting a new railway enclosure in order to accommodate visitors and trains. These operations allowed

8686-424: The tracks that went to Nerva and Zalamea la Real converged. The general workshops and a large shunting yard were located in Huelva; the traffic of the entire network was also controlled from this station. Several signal cabins were also built along the route to control switches and signals. Currently, only a section of about 11 kilometers between the stations of Talleres Mina and Los Frailes remains operational, while

8787-543: The train in summer to travel to the company's beach in Punta Umbría Railway traffic was affected by the strikes of 1913 and 1920, that paralyzed activity in the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin. During the mining strike of 1920 the railway workers began a general strike and the line came to a standstill, with army soldiers arriving in the area having to take charge of its operation. The growth in traffic experienced by

8888-420: The transport of minerals and goods. The RTC also acquired 36 passenger cars for passenger traffic, as well as some railcars. Since 1987, the Río Tinto Foundation has managed to preserve part of the legacy railway heritage. Nowadays, steam locomotives no. 14 and 51, as well as diesel tractors no. 931, 932, and 933 remain in working order. Rio Tinto Company Limited The Rio Tinto Company Limited ( RTC )

8989-451: The two lines. In its early days rail traffic was irregular, since it depended on whether there were ships docked at the port to load ore. Another problem was locomotives getting worn out after many trips between Riotinto and Huelva due to the steep gradient between them. Beginning in 1895, the following system was adopted: locomotives based in Huelva would pull the trains to Gadea train station , where engines from Riotinto would take over for

9090-402: The workers' children had to be taken in by other workers' families from Andalusia because they could no longer be fed at home due to the lack of wages and aid. The large English-speaking population settled in the area — mostly workers and managers of the Rio Tinto Company — allowed part of their cultural, social and sporting traditions to be implanted in the mining basin and even in the rest of

9191-494: The world's pyrite — departed quickly across the Atlantic to England , leaving a region in apparent progress but in reality, degraded by a fierce industrialization. Despite all this, the company's profits in the province were undeniable: in little more than eighty years it generated more than 54 million pounds of profit. The landscape impact of the mines was significant, as evidenced by the three immense open-pit mines that opened up into

9292-432: Was also abandoned. Starting in 1975, steam locomotives were definitively removed from traction work on the line, a role that was taken over by diesel locomotives. In May 1975 and April 1979, two new Alco model diesel engines were acquired (No. 911 and No. 912), which ended up performing well. During its final years, the railway traffic experienced such a decline that its exploitation ceased to be economically profitable for

9393-402: Was considered an expert in railways. Under the direction of Rice, important reforms in the main track and in the factory works (tunnels, bridges) were undertaken during the following years to facilitate the circulation of more powerful locomotives on the track. At the same time, two Garrat locomotives — that RTC had acquired some time before to boost traction — also started operations. In 1954,

9494-401: Was harshly repressed by the army. While the central government and the company hushed up part of the event, it is believed that more than two hundred people were killed that day. The events were known in the province of Huelva as " El año de los tiros" ("The year of the shots"). The teleras (open-air calcination of low copper ore imposed in Spain by Gaspar Remisa decades before) were used in

9595-412: Was not until 1907 when this method of calcination disappeared, being replaced by the construction of small smelters. Less known but also proof of the less poor system of management of the company were the strike of 1913 and, above all, the strike of 1920. With a duration of six months, the workers once again demanded rights that were held by colleagues in other Spanish mining districts. During this strike,

9696-562: Was one of the founding companies of the Rio Tinto Group conglomerate, which was responsible of the exploitation of the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin in Minas de Riotinto between 1873 and 1954. It was founded in 1873 by British capitalists to take over the exploitation of a series of sites in the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin that they had acquired from the Spanish State that same year. During

9797-488: Was one of the most heavily-used mining railways in Spain. Likewise it had a large fleet of cars and engines, to the point of becoming the second largest in the country after the Renfe . The route closed to public traffic in 1984. After several years the abandoned infrastructure was subject to looting, so in the late 1980s action was taken to recover the historic railway line and return it to service. This work would be carried out in

9898-464: Was started in June 1873. Rio Tinto Company Limited's board of directors met for the first time in London on March 31, 1873, under the chairmanship of Hugh Matheson . One of its first decisions was the construction of a railway line, under the advice of the engineer George Barclay Bruce . The first years of the RTC were difficult: the shareholders had to make large investments and face strong criticism for

9999-521: Was the agreement that the RTC signed with the British Tharsis Sulphur and Copper Company Limited in 1911 whereby both companies shared customers. Practices carried out by the Rio Tinto Company Limited have been equated with those of a pressure group . From its early days, it made use of some deputies in the Cortes to act as intermediaries. However, from 1896, the RTC promoted the candidates of

10100-468: Was the only option. It was towards the end of the 19th century that the private initiative was interested in renting them again. In 1873, the mines were bought by English bidders — who created a consortium for its exploitation — from the government of the First Republic (practically saved from bankruptcy by this sale) for 94,000,000 pesetas . However, it is worth mentioning that the foreign presence in

10201-489: Was to get the repeal of the Albareda decree , that had prohibited open-air ore calcinations in 1888 because of the pollutants they caused. Leveraging the context that prevailed in the late 19th century, the company managed to have a net of representatives in the province that defended its interests, including names such as José María Parejo Bécquer, José Sánchez Mora or José Valero Hervás . RTC had representation in Madrid before

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