RMweb Gold TravisM Posted January 7, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2017 Having a quick glance at the latest issue of Railway Magazine today in WH Smith and there are two articles about recent activity regarding SNCF motive power. It seems that the 67400 series diesel's have all but vanished off passenger workings apart from a few locations and will be complete gone within two years and the most heartbreaking was the story that over 400 SNCF loco's, both diesel and electric, along with withdrawn TGV's are being moved from all over France and being stored at Stotteville yard near Rouen. It seems that it's the older stuff from the 60's and 70's that's being stored but there was a 26000 "Sybic" mixed in with the rest. Seems a little odd that something so recent is being stored? Julian Sprott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 The yard at Sotteville seems to have become a sort of 'limbo' or 'purgotary' for an awful lot of SNCF stock of relatively recent vintage. Quite a few shunters seem to have from the adjacent 'Quatre-Mars' works after overhaul, and have gone straight into storage. Here's one link to some photos; there are others:- http://www.railwayherald.co.uk/imagingcentre/view/426462/PL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted January 7, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2017 The yard at Sotteville seems to have become a sort of 'limbo' or 'purgotary' for an awful lot of SNCF stock of relatively recent vintage. Quite a few shunters seem to have from the adjacent 'Quatre-Mars' works after overhaul, and have gone straight into storage. Here's one link to some photos; there are others:- http://www.railwayherald.co.uk/imagingcentre/view/426462/PL I just viewed Stotteville yard on Google maps and it's a depressing sight to see all those loco's lined up. As it's not far from Le Havre, or a two hour drive from Calais, I think I will have to make a trip there soon and do a viewing. Julian Sprott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted January 7, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2017 TBF they are pretty venerable. Griff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 TBF they are pretty venerable. Griff Many are, but there are 'Sybics' from the 1990s, along with newly-overhauled BB66XXX derivatives, straight out of the adjacent works. There have also been newly-delivered 27xxx electrics, which have never turned a wheel in commercial service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 It's a very sad sight but I think it's a sign of the changes taking place on the French railway scene. I visited the yard with Kintbury Jon in March last year and have driven passed it every year for the last 5 years. It appear to be growing in numbers of locomotives but I do see it change so I don't know if some of the stock gets periodically scrapped. On our last visit I estimated about 400 locomotives were there. I put the footage into a hastily put together YouTube video which can be found here: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 It's a very sad sight but I think it's a sign of the changes taking place on the French railway scene. I visited the yard with Kintbury Jon in March last year and have driven passed it every year for the last 5 years. It appear to be growing in numbers of locomotives but I do see it change so I don't know if some of the stock gets periodically scrapped. On our last visit I estimated about 400 locomotives were there. I put the footage into a hastily put together YouTube video which can be found here: Some gets scrapped; quite a lot is sold overseas (to both various Eastern European and North African operators), and some even goes to SNCF's competitors via their leasing subsiduary, AKIEM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Country Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 There was a report in the local media near the end of last year that SNCF is going to make a start on scrapping the locos at Sotteville. SNCF's rail freight subsidiary Fret SNCF has a huge surplus of locomotives, partly due to the continual decline in its business, partly due to competition from new entrants, and partly because of the recession. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 There was a report in the local media near the end of last year that SNCF is going to make a start on scrapping the locos at Sotteville. SNCF's rail freight subsidiary Fret SNCF has a huge surplus of locomotives, partly due to the continual decline in its business, partly due to competition from new entrants, and partly because of the recession. A certain amount of scrapping has been going on for years; it must have been ten years ago when I had a visit to the yard, courtesy of some drivers I know there. At that point, it was when the A1A-A1A 68000s were being withdrawn en-masse, and some were being reduced to bite-sized pieces. Subsequently, arrivals at the yard have outstripped the local capacity for cutting them up, hence the huge increase in numbers. Most scrapping of locos is dealt with by a couple of yards; one is at Culoz, near Lac du Bourget, and the other is somewhere in the North-East. Neither seems to be on a particularly large scale, in comparison to Woodham's or Vic Berry's operations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 As Stephen said, we visited in March. This was the first time I had ever stopped to have a look. There is a turning off the main road that runs parallel to the line. Dump the car at the side of the road and then you can walk over the bridge to get a spectacular view. When visiting in March there was what looked like a security guard with a dog wandering around the site so. There's not a lot of graffiti on the locos and I imagine any of it has been done elsewhere. I visited the Loire Valley in October and persuaded the wife to let us stop for a short break. Locos were in different positions, with new arrivals evident. Here are a few shots that I took. There is a huge variety of types of locos there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 There are many more now than when I first went, at that time, five years ago, there were two lines. Saddest thing for me is that fourteen years ago, when passing Sotteville Yard, there were loads of freight wagons there, in use, with usually a train departing or arriving. Now loads of it's given over to storing redundant locos. And the most annoying thing? With all this lot here, SNCF/French government has just ordered a whole load of new locos from Alsthom...which just keeps the plant from closing...well I never. How to get round EU rules, anyone? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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