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Today we bid farewell to one of the most important engineering works in the history of Spain. Just as the Canal de Castilla succumbed to the passage of time and technological advances, today it is the turn of the Pajares Ramp. After 139 years connecting Asturias with the rest of Spain through one of the most complicated railway crossings in Europe, today it hands over to the latest generation section known as the Pajares Variant, which will save an hour of travel. It had been 8 years since the end of the third Carlist war and there were still 20 years to go before the first car was registered in these provinces. A milestone in engineering that has its symbolic point in the La Perruca Tunnel, the largest tunnel in all of Spain at its inauguration. Today we will travel the section between Pola de Gordón and the La Perruca Tunnel, with stops in Villamanín, Busdongo and the false tunnels that are an icon of this infrastructure. We will see the last trains pass along these tracks, both freight and Alvia S-130. After saying goodbye to the La Perruca tunnel, it is time to look to the future, the Pajares bypass. A quick visit to the Buiza and Folledo galleries, key in the construction of the new tunnels and evacuation routes, to finish today's route at the southern entrance of the Pajares bypass. Tunnels of almost 25 km in length, making them the second longest in Spain after the Guadarrama tunnels. Crossing the Cantabrian Mountains has never been easy. 00:00 Introduction 02:38 On the way to Villamanín 05:03 Villamanín 06:46 On the way to Busdongo 07:36 Busdongo 12:02 False tunnel 15:11 La Perruca tunnel 23:23 On the way to Villasimpliz 24:44 Ascent to the Collado de Villasimpliz 27:13 Buiza and Folledo galleries 28:55 On the way to Pola de Gordón 29:39 South mouth of the Pajares Bypass 30:12 Farewell #railway #history #cycling #mtb #bikepacking #cycletourism #solocycling #villages #provinceofleon #provinceofeasturias #principalityofeasturias #puertodepajares #rampofpajares #laperrucatunnel #laperruca #busdongo #pajares #villamanín #pajaresvariant #poladegordón #railwayhistory #renfe #train #trains #railways #spanishrailways