Alejandro Goicoechea: Spain's Most Hated Autist
The true story behind (the fictional) "Bloodbath on the Guadarrama"
Raw Egg Nationalist asked me, in a soon-to-be-released interview for his podcast, about the inspiration behind my short (fictional) story Bloodbath on the Guadarrama. I was considering a topic for the Man’s World pulp fiction contest, and, from the aether, “Spanish Republican members of the Maquis trained by the OSS out for post-war revenge” materialized in my mind, and the target was obvious (to me): Alejandro Goicoechea.
Goicoechea was born in Elorrio, Biscay, Spain in 1895. He was educated at the Spanish Army Engineering school in Guadalajara and commissioned as an officer, but resigned his commission as Captain in 1920 at the age of 25 so that he could fully devote himself to his true love - trains and railway technology. He went to work for La Robla Railway Company in Balmaseda and immediately began innovating.
Twenty years later, he was forcibly re-commissioned as a Captain and compelled by the Spanish Republic to help design and implement Bilbao's "Iron Belt" or “Iron Ring” fortifications to protect the North’s greatest city from the oncoming Navarre Brigades. He is nearly universally described in English language documentation as the designer, but, more accurately, he was charged with implementing Commander Alberto Montaud y Noguerol’s basic design with fellow Captain Pablo Murga. The problem was that Goicoechea was not an enthusiastic participant - he was a monarchist and a Catholic, and thus not sympathetic with the Republic’s socialist/communist government in the least. Nor was his fellow engineer Captain Pablo Murga, who was executed November 19, 1936 for providing detailed plans of the fortifications to Wilhelm Wakonigg, Austrian consul, who had been arrested by the Republic and executed the day prior.
Goicoechea crossed the front the night of February 27, 1937 via a mountain pass between the provinces of Álava and Guipúzcoa, along with other Basque sympathetic to the Nationalist, or at least Carlist, cause, including the son of the Marquis of Casa Jara, a fellow native of Elorrio. Goicoechea had pre-arranged his surrender to the IV Brigade of Navarre.
This accusation of “betrayal” is par for the course - the Republican coalition in the north consisted of Basque traditionalists whose ancestors had revolted against Madrid three times in the prior century, Basque libtards, anarchists, communists, and other such silly people. Fat Republican politician and Bilbao rabble-rouser Indalecio Prieto, who Goicoechea resented deeply for detaining him to participate in a war rather than allow him to participate in a railway conference, had previously stated that Basque autonomy was a mere front for “sedition by Alfonsists [royalists loyal to deposed King Alfonso XII], Jaimists [Carlists], Nationalists and Jesuits.”
Goicoechea, now free from distractions, immediately went to work on transportation infrastructure projects for the nascent Nationalist government. In 1938, with the war still raging, he began work on his next generation design with independent wheels, heavy articulation, and low center of gravity.
Goicoechea co-founded Spanish train concern Patentes Talgo in 1942; production of their Talgo II train began at the American Car and Foundry Company in 1945. The designs allowed for higher turn speeds with less hunting oscillation & track noise, and revolutionized the industry.
The Talgo II's inaugural presentation trip on March 2, 1950, broke a speed record in Spain, safely reaching speeds of up to 145 km/h. Franco was on the trip, and hailed Goicoechea and his train as exemplars of Spanish science and industry.
Goicoechea's ideas were so revolutionary that many did not see fruition until after his passing in 1984. Talgo trains are still in production and service across the world, many of them traveling up to 230 km/h, and Talgo trains serve Joe Shea's beloved Pacific Northwest.
In an hour-long interview a few years prior to his death (YouTube link), Alejandro Goicoechea countered the accusations of betrayal of the Republic by defining himself as an “enemigo de la guerras” - an enemy of war - and a person who did not allow himself to be bossed around. It’s a rather charming interview; the pleasant interrogator wishes to, of course, talk about Goicoechea’s pivotal role in the Spanish Civil War, but Goicoechea politely routs back to the topic of trains and train technology.
Alejandro Goicoechea, therefore, would have made the perfect target for the seething resentment of failed Spanish revolutionaries - a traditionalist genius and autist who redirected the exploitation of his intelligence by libtards to benefit his own obsessions while crushing his enemies.