Malta Railway Blog

Here you’ll find all the latest news and discoveries. There’s plenty to see, including many research updates covering investigations that have helped inform the main pages on this site, and odd stories that we’ve not been able to fit in elsewhere. Have fun exploring.

Notable new view of Notabile

We’ve recently been sent an amazing photo, one new to the history of the Malta Railway. We’re indebted to Robert Galea-Naudi for his permission to[…]

Habel Bellu sgraffito

The Habel Bellu sgraffito of a Malta Railway engine, one of the original Manning Wardle engines no doubt, scanned in 3D and available to view[…]

Hamrun survivals

There are a few bits of the Malta Railway still hidden about Hamrun. These photographs show two important fragments surviving from the railway embankment at[…]

A tale of two stations (or more)

Floriana station remains the most enigmatic and elusive feature of the Malta Railway. It was the second underground station on the line after Valletta, supposedly[…]

Crossing the wild lands

As the Malta Railway entered the rugged rural landscape uphill from San Salvatore its character changed. It became relentlessly steep, picking its way field-by field[…]

Boring details.

A detailed record drawing of the digging of Floriana tunnel helps understand how it was engineered. The original drawing uses a colour code to track[…]

Ticket to ride

An example set of Malta Railway Tickets held as part of a personal collection donated to the UK National archives, Kew. They’re unusual as they[…]

Platform pump paradox

This curious contraption at the end of Museum railway station is a hand pump used to fill the tanks of the Malta Railway engines with[…]

A bridge too many

I’ve talked before about the clash between the line of the Malta Railway and the Wignacourt Aqueduct and how it was resolved by a syphon[…]

Revelations and restitution in Santa Venera

The historic photo above showing the nearly complete Malta Railway has long been stated as being the cutting west of Attard, but this identification now[…]