ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW

Ferrocarriles de vía estrecha—Is it just me, or does everything sound better in Spanish? “Narrow-gauge railways” doesn’t have nearly the same ring to it. Call them what you will, northern Spain has a network of these historic tracks, their rails spaced just a meter apart due to the mountainous terrain. One of the region’s oldest lines, La Robla, is also the longest stretch of narrow-gauge railway in Western Europe; it was built in the late 19th century to transport coal from León and Palencia to the blast furnaces of Bilbao. These days, though, instead of freight, the route carries tourists. Or should I say turistas? Yep, that sounds better too.

I had joined at León as the train embarked on its seven-night journey to the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela. Now, three days later, we were rolling through the dewy Cantabrian countryside toward Cabezón de la Sal, all of us