- The Valencian regional government’s railway company has four similar vehicles, restored and included in its collection of historic railway equipment.
- FGV has officially requested that its collection of Historic Railway Equipment be recognized as a Permanent Museum Collection.
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) is collaborating with the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) on the restoration of two historic trams from the early 20th century.
FGV’s experience in the conservation and management of its collection of historic equipment serves as a reference for the restoration of trams 131 and 53, which were loaned by the EMT (Valencia Municipal Transport Company) to the UPV.
FGV has four similar vehicles, fully restored and included in its collection of historic railway equipment, which is housed in the former Torrent Workshops.
From the 100 series, trailers 101 and 123, with their 171 engine, are preserved. These vehicles originated in 1911, when the Valencian company Lladró y Cía signed a contract to build the 24 railcars.
The other unit donated by EMT, number 53, belongs to the series known as the “jardineras” (garden cars). FGV retains the original Bristol trailer of these cars, built in 1890 to be pulled by horses.
Among its most important holdings, FGV also preserves two units, donated by EMT years ago: the VO-1 track maintenance tram and the 424 motor, one of the last tram vehicles to run in Valencia in 1970.
Joint effort
The UPV, through its University Institute for Heritage Restoration and the company awarded the contract for the restoration of these vehicles, has contacted FGV’s technical staff to receive advice, visit the restored units, and consult all the documentation held in its historical archive.
FGV has previously collaborated with the UPV on other initiatives, such as the exhibition of tram trailer 206 during the XII Congress of Transport Engineering (CIT), organized in 2016 by the Higher Technical School of Civil Engineers.
More recently, FGV was invited to participate in the 2nd Meeting on the Conservation of Railway and Tramway Heritage, organized in 2023 by the Institute of Heritage Restoration of the UPV (Polytechnic University of Valencia), to present its experience and procedures regarding the preventive conservation and restoration of industrial heritage.
Experience in Restoration and Conservation
FGV is a pioneering entity in the intervention of railway and tramway heritage, with a long history of this type of work. The company’s historical heritage is essentially comprised of its collection of vehicles and historical equipment, historical infrastructure, and documents housed in its Historical Archive.
These holdings are managed by FGV with the aim of protecting the cultural assets and spaces of historical and cultural interest located on its premises, whether movable or immovable, documentary or intangible, carrying out research, inventory, cataloging, and dissemination work, always with the goal of preserving and disseminating FGV’s railway history.
FGV has officially requested, following an agreement by the Board of Directors, that its collection of Historical Railway Material be recognized as a Permanent Museum Collection by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Universities of the Valencian Community.
