hello,
i’m a french modeller, and i like to discover some other railroad networks than french railways…[swg]
i show you in this first message some images of my town’s station, to let you discover the charm of a little french station
some other images will come later…
a general view of the station of St Aubin les Elbeuf :
an english Class66 parked on main track
the same loc entering in station
Part of the charm in your pictures, as you call it, is that your town has both a railroad and a station! That’s a heck of a lot more than what mosto US towns have anymore! But my snide remark aside, I really appreciated you pics…we miss scenes like that here.
Thank you for sharing the pictures. It looks like a good place to watch trains. A Google search shows there are also model railroaders in that town:
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/minireso/mini.htm
Dave Nelson
I noticed a small yard behind the station…is it a freight yard, or a service yard for the passenger cars?
Do you guys run freight and passenger trains on the same line?
A question engendered by old film footage of Normandy.
Documentaries of the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy often contain a clip of Allied troops moving along a road. Beside the road is a narrow gauge railroad. A rough guess as to width would be a metre.
Was there a large system of narrow gauge track in Normandy? What purpose did it serve? What of this narrow gauge system remains?
yes we have many little stations in France, but many of them are closed because of not enough passengers…[
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i know this model railroad, it’s just at 10 kms from my home, they receive many children from schools around for visits…good idea !
this yard is for freight wagons (in my region, many of minerals, sands, etc…), and yes we run freight and passengers on same lines, because freight trains in France goes from 90 km/h (55mph) to 200 km/h (125 mph) depending on the line they run…
no, just a little part of these narrow jauge tracks subsist today (because of economical choice), a very active network still works at 100 kms from my home, on metric tracks (1 meter), in “la baie de somme”
http://www.chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr/
but i think it’s the only one in the region…[]
"no, just a little part of these narrow jauge tracks subsist today (because of economical choice), a very active network still works at 100 kms from my home, on metric tracks (1 meter), in “la baie de somme” "
http://www.chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr/
Here’s a link to their metre gauge steam power and some rolling stock:
http://www.chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr/
but i think it’shttp://www.chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr/ the only one in the region…
Copied to “heat” up link![tup][tup]
wasn’t there also a network of Decauxville light railways in normandy? those were only 600MM gauge (23 -1/2 inch) and ran on pre-fabricated track with steel ties. hopelessly uneconomic once motor trucks were widely used.
France (and Belgium) was almost covered with narrow gauge lines. Most were metre-gauge, but there were some 60cm lines, particularly the system in north Normandy.
Some were substantial lines, but others were lightly laid tracks by the side of or in roads, operating at under 20 mph.
Some lines only operated for 10-15 years. Main closures started after the first World War, when motor transport became more practical and roads became metalled to a greater extent. Closures continued until the 1930s. The second World War slowed closures down, as petrol fuel was in shrot supply, but then re-started and most were closed by mid-1960s.
There are four main commercially-operated lines: 1 - In the Pyranees (electric); 2 - Chamonix area (electric); 3 - The Centre Region (diesel); 4 - North of Nice (diesel with some steam); plus a diesel line on the island of Corsica, There are a large number of tourist preserved lines all over France and some in Belgium of various sizes, mainly metre-gauge, but also 60cm and other gauges. Well worth seeing.
Try looking at the internet.
Eric Stuart (France)
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were found in northern France railway track of 60 cm, used to transport the beets at harvest time. |
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