The railway was once the main means of transport in Majorca. Back in the day there was a network of 250 kilometres of track with 44 steam locomotives, more than one hundred passenger carriages and over 600 goods wagons.
The preservation of this rail history is the task of the Fundació Ferrocaib. Created in 2008 by the association of friends of the railway with the support of the SFM rail operator, it has five principal aims. One of these is to create an historical line between Sant Llorenç and Son Carrió with a restored steam train. Others are to do with documentation, cultural aspects and research.
The old station at Son Carrió will house the future Majorca Railway Museum. The regional transport ministry has presented a project for its financing with tourist tax revenue. The jewel in the collection is a Swansea Wagon mail carriage that was bought by the one-time rail company, Ferrocarriles de Mallorca, in 1874. It is the oldest example in the country. Another item of particular interest is the steam locomotive C.P. E-215 that was bought from Ferrocarriles Portugueses, a company which between 1914 and 1920 took sixteen engines from the German firm Henschel-Kassel.
Another is a Brown Marshall coach, which dates back to the 1870s, the decade when rail travel began in Majorca.
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I am a great admirer of STEAM powered Locomotives . How I wish Mallorca could have had the foresight, to keep the tracks, and operate Steam Hauled Trains. WHAT A WONDERFUL ATTRACTION THAT COULD HAVE BEEN. Stations and already made track preparation from Manacor through Son Severa to Arta would be a great tourist attraction, especially if STEAM ENGINES operate on the route.