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All Spain Madrid Nave de Motores de Pacífico (Pacifico Engine Shed)
AO Edited

Nave de Motores de Pacífico (Pacifico Engine Shed)

Built to power trains, the engines in this building provided the entire city of Madrid with electricity during the Spanish Civil War.

Madrid, Spain

Added By
Luis Morato
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Diesel generators   JJ González López/CC BY-SA 3.0
Diesel generators   JJ González López/CC BY-SA 3.0
A transformer   Antonio Tajuelo/CC BY 2.0
Nave de Motores del Metro de Madrid   Antonio Tajuelo/CC BY 2.0
Rotary Converter   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Detail of several meters   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View of one the three diesel engines   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Due the intense noise, instructions are given to workers by a lights system   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View of the building   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Engines   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Engine 1   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Under the grass are hidden the old gasoil tanks   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View of the garden   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Tools   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Controls   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
The three big engines   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Way out to the garden. Nave de Motores de Pacífico   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Entrance. Nave de Motores de Pacífico   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
  Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Panoramic view of the three engines   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View of operator panel   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Nave de Motores de Pacífico (Pacifico Engine Shed) was designed by the Spanish architect Antonio Palacios. It is an outstanding example of clarity and functionality, and a perfect model of industrial building in the 1920s.

The engine shed was built in 1922 and 1923 and started operating immediately, although it was not inaugurated until 1924. Inside are three impressive diesel engines, machinery (alternators, transformers, and the like), as well as other furniture. At that time, these engines were responsible for generating and transform the energy with which the trains worked.

During the Spanish Civil War, due to restrictions, the engine shed came to provide electricity to the whole city of Madrid. Over time energy companies were able to ensure an increasingly regular supply and this power station, which at the time was the largest in Spain, become largely obsolete. It was definitively closed in 1972.

The building stands out for the clarity of its conception, attention to detail and good execution—all characteristics of the work of Palacios, whose work helped define the image of Madrid in the early 20th century. The building was abandoned until 2006, when an agreement between the Madrid City Council and the Madrid Metro Network helped return to the shed its original appearance, including cleaning and restoration of the machinery within.

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Energy Electricity Power Stations Trains

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By tube in Pacifico Station. L1

Community Contributors

Added By

Luis Morato

Edited By

Xavixavir, Michelle Cassidy

  • Xavixavir
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

April 14, 2021

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Sources
  • https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nave_de_motores_de_Pac%C3%ADfico
  • https://www.unaventanadesdemadrid.com/nave-motores-pacifico.html
  • http://www.guiadelturistafriki.es/nave-de-motores-madrid/
  • https://www.metromadrid.es/en/press-release/2019-05-17/regional-government-of-madrid-organises-100-years-of-metro-a-trip-down-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-madrid-underground
Nave de Motores de Pacífico (Pacifico Engine Shed)
49 Calle de Valderribas
Madrid, 28007
Spain
40.404049, -3.674362
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