RENFE (Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles, Spanish National Railways) class 599 DMU at Badajoz ready to work train MD18331, 06:58 to Alcázar de San Juan. This six hour marathon via Mérida, Puertollano, Ciudad Real and Manzanares provided two short pieces of "required track": the curves into and out of Ciudad Real station, where the train reverses. I had done the station avoiding line on a railtour a few years ago. This train, and one opposite working, are the only passenger trains that use the connection from Puertollano into Ciudad Real station.