Mr Henderson: The British financier of a Spanish railway

Mr Henderson's Railway, which runs three times a day from Algeciras to Bobadilla via Ronda, is named after Sir Alexander Henderson, the British financier behind the project.

The railway was the brainchild of Scottish engineer John Morrison, who was known as Juan Morrison in Algeciras. He wanted to allow travel to the rest of Spain and Europe for British military personnel based in Gibraltar,

The two men also had the help of French engineer Charles (Carlos) Lamiable, who they had previously worked with on projects to build railways in South America.

In fact, there are two streets in Algeciras named after the two British men: Calle Alexander Henderson and Calle Juan Morrison.

Sir Alexander Henderson or Lord Faringdon, (28 September 1850 to 17 March 1934), was a British financier and Liberal Unionist member of parliament. He was best known as a financier of railways in Great Britain, Spain and South America.

The Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company was created to build the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line, which connected with the Madrid line at Bobadilla, providing connections across Spain and beyond.

The first section of track was laid on 1 September 1888 and the first train was purchased from Beyer, Peacock & Company in Manchester.

The first section of the railway up to Jimena was officially opened in October 1890 and the next section, which went to Ronda, opened in November 1892.

Six passenger trains ran daily stopping at 22 stations and it cost 11 pesetas for a first class seat from San Roque to Ronda. A first class return ticket from Gibraltar to Ronda cost 17.10 pesetas.

Back in the UK, in 1898 SIr Alexander Henderson was elected to the House of Commons, representing West Staffordshire, a seat he held until 1906. He later returned to parliament as member for St George's Hanover Square from 1913 to 1916.

Mr Henderson's railway starred on BBC Two's Great Continental Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo on 27 October 2013 .

The journey can still be done, albeit on more modern trains and tickets can be bought via the Spanish railway company Renfe's website.