Mr Henderson's Railway takes passengers on a scenic journey from the Bay of Gibraltar through the stunning Andalusian countryside – and Spain's brigand past.

As I stepped aboard Mr Henderson's Railway in the Spanish city of Algeciras, the sun's rays pierced through the branches of juniper trees, and we chugged away from the glittering Bay of Gibraltar. The three-carriage retro British train soon trundled over the Guadiaro river, and cork forests framed the green-and-ochre patchwork fields as we wound our way north into the heart of Andalusia.

Ride the train

You can purchase tickets for Mr Henderson's Railway here. Three trains a day travel between Algeciras and Bobadilla. One-way tickets cost €18.70 and round-trip tickets cost €29.90.

Two hundred years after the British invented the modern railway, this Victorian-era line, launched in 1892, still weaves its way between mainland Europe's southernmost rail station in Algeciras, through the stunning Serranía de Ronda region to its terminus in Bobadilla. During the three-hour journey the diesel-powered carriages slowly climb the single track to nearly 800m above sea level while journeying through 16 tunnels and across 20 bridges. The route offers passengers up-close views of rural Andalusian pueblos blancos (white hill towns) and undulating countryside, seamlessly reconnecting travellers with the golden age of train travel.

Gibraltar's strategic location at the western entrance of the Mediterranean has long lured overseas powers, including the British. After Spain ceded "The Rock" to Britain in 1713, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 increased the headland's strategic importance. But in order to propel Gibraltar from a provisioning port to a major international trade hub, the British needed to build a railroad to carry goods from their overseas territory into Spain and the rest of Europe.

There was only one problem: a Spanish royal decree stated that the British couldn't connect a train line from Gibraltar onto Spanish soil.

An ingenious solution was proposed: by starting the rail line in the Spanish industrial port city of Algeciras, passengers and goods could easily be ferried between the two ports. This new train line would also provide a better means of transportation through Andalusia for Spanish residents. What's more, British residents and military officers stationed on The Rock would also now have a way to escape Gibraltar's sweltering summer heat.

To lure holidaymakers, the British built the Reina Cristina hotel near the port at Algeciras to provide plush accommodation for officers and their families. The........

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