What I did on my holidays - Pacy-sur-Eure.

[ianp]

On our recent week in Normandy we visited the preserved railway at Pacy sur Eure which is here, about an hour's drive south east of Rouen: https://www.google.com/maps/place/27120+Pacy-sur-Eure,+France/@49.0218761,1.1181678,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e14ab9a63a6b61:0xcc341d3339aec2ae!8m2!3d49.013679!4d1.381434 

 

Once part of a single track line running from Rouen south to Orleans, it was finally closed in the late 1980s. Then, some of it was bought by the Chemin de Fer de la Vallee de L'Eure (CFVE): https://www.cfve.org/ which was set up in 1993 to run trains on the line again.

 

If you fancy a trip please note that the website does not give accurate information about the time table. You should ring the town's tourist office which is in the station building to find out what is running and when.

 

For instance the website suggested there were no scheduled trips until July, which thankfully turned out to be nonsense.

 

Broadly speaking, two journeys are offered a few times per week: either north from Pacy to Cocherel, or south to Breuilpont.

 

I got the impression that the railway is underfunded and understaffed. For instance, it has accumulated quite a lot of rolling stock, much of which appears to be slowly rotting outdoors.

 

But some is clearly still working, including a restored postal sorting carriage which is, apparently, classified as a national monument,

 

Overall it was a very nice slow trip to Breuilpont through some lovely unspoilt countryside.

 

To protect cars at the unguarded level crossings, two members of staff drive ahead and close the crossings by standing in the road with red flags until the train has gone past.

 

Back to the 1800s!

 

Anyway, here are some pics (sadly the Renault railcar was not operating on the day we went).

 

Our engine for the day.

 

 

The Renault railcar. Very nice.

 

 

The first two carriages running that day.

 

 

The postal sorting office which inside is a museum describing, among other things, the hot, sweaty and dangerous working conditions of the sorting staff.

 

 

The third carriage with seats of wooden slats.

 

 

A derelict steam engine.

 

 

The station building at Pacy, trackside.

 

 

A seemingly rotting diesel engine.

 

 

And some sort of diesel draisine (I think).

 

 

I picked up a leaflet describing all the rolling stock but stupidly threw it away.

 

If anyone wants to see a few more pics (such as some narrow gauge steam engines rotting at Breuilpont) let me know.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by ianp

[Oldddudders]

I’d love to have a ride in that ABJ4. I think your finding on underfunding is not uncommon in France. The enthusiast market, and the appeal of a “tourist train” are considerably less than in the UK, it seems. 

 

I must make the effort to visit this Summer. 

[Pacific231G]

Hi Ian

I know this line quite well since they held a major anniversary event RailONorm in 2008 with a very good model railway show in the local Lycee's  sports hall and a Cokerill vertical boiler 040T pulling and pushing a draisine (gangers trolley more or less) to take visitors between Pacy station and there.

 

 

I don't think they had any of their autorails working even then so everything else was hauled by diesel locos including a Decauville Autorail trailer. 

 

 

 

The line was once part of a cross country line connecting Rouen and Orleans via Chartres. They are supposed to be reopening Chartres-Orleans for passengers but so far have only upgraded Chartres-Voves (which gives a Chartres-Tours connection) 

Pacy was the junction for a branchline to Vernon and Gisors (via Monet's garden in Giverny) but the bridge at Vernon was destroyed during the war and there's virtually no trace of it now at Pacy. This is how it was 

 

Did you happen to visit Acquigny? Between the north of the CFVE's line, which ends at La Croix-Saint-Leufroy (though they don't send trains that far yet), and just to the south of Acquigny is the section, then closed but intact now lifted, where several scenes  of "The Train" were filmed in 1963. Acquigny was "Rive Reine" of course  but the line through it was reopened for trains serving the large Georgia Pacific paper mill near Acquigny. That finished a few years ago (RFF wanted millions for track maintenance) but the track was still there last time I looked so I wondered if it still was.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Pacific231G

[Oldddudders]

I confess a weakness for railcars, and French ones perhaps most of all. My local TRANSVAP has a lovely Picasso, X93953, and on the relatively few weekends of the year that they run, I could rely on it doing a lunchtime trip from Beille to Tuffe Lac and back. But now they have some X2200s and use one of them instead.  

[ianp]

Here are some more pics, all taken at Pacy apart from the final pics of narrow gauge steam engines which are parked - seemingly just for decoration - at Breuilpont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ianp]

54 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Hi Ian

I know this line quite well since they held a major anniversary event RailONorm in 2008 with a very good model railway show in the local Lycee's  sports hall and a Cokerill vertical boiler 040T pulling and pushing a draisine (gangers trolley more or less) to take visitors between Pacy station and there.

 

 

I don't think they had any of their autorails working even then so everything else was hauled by diesel locos including a Decauville Autorail trailer. 

 

 

 

The line was once part of a cross country line connecting Rouen and Orleans via Chartres. They are supposed to be reopening Chartres-Orleans for passengers but so far have only upgraded Chartres-Voves (which gives a Chartres-Tours connection) 

Pacy was the junction for a branchline to Vernon and Gisors (via Monet's garden in Giverny) but the bridge at Vernon was destroyed during the war and there's virtually no trace of it now at Pacy. This is how it was 

 

Did you happen to visit Acquigny? Between the north of the CFVE's line and just to the south of Acquigny is the section, then closed but intact but now lifted, where several scenes  of "The Train" was filmed in 1963. Acquigny was "Rive Reine" of course  but the line through it was reopened for trains serving the large Georgia Pacific paper mill near Acquigny. That finished a few years ago (RFF wanted millions for track maintenance) but the track was still there last time I looked so I wondered if it still was.

 

 

 

 

Hell and damnation! I had no idea about Acquigny. Had I known, I would have visited.

[Pacific231G]

12 minutes ago, ianp said:

Here are some more pics, all taken at Pacy apart from the final pics of narrow gauge steam engines which are parked - seemingly just for decoration - at Breuilpont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They've repainted the NG locos since I first saw them rusting away. They were in such poor state that I wasn't sure if they were related to the CFVE or just some contractor's locos that had been dumped  there. At least somebody now cares about them.

[Pacific231G]

1 hour ago, ianp said:

 

Hell and damnation! I had no idea about Acquigny. Had I known, I would have visited.

It was in 2006 that I was visiting Acquigny again

The Ave. de la Gare looks just as it did in the Movie.

This was the station (now offices) and recognisably in the same style as Pacy

 

 

and this was the Hotel de la Gare kept by Jeanne Moreau - now  a private house- the station building is behind me and the track to the right.

 

I thought the track looked a bit shiny for a long disused railway when this appeared

The second man had to manually wind down the four or five level crossings on the paper trains's short route.

 

And yes, this IS the level crossing where they staged the first crash with an ancient 030C deliberately derailed.

(Continues)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Pacific231G

[Pacific231G]

To conclude.

The distinctive (at least from the air) Y shaped double viaduct where the loco was shot up by a Spitfire and the tunnel it hid in are further north between Louviers (St.Avold in the movie) and Rouen

In the film the loco supposedly being delivered to Rive Reine  is actually going away from Acquigny.  By 2008 only one of the viaducts still had track - the other had a fence and stern notices telling you not to walk over it- so only one of the two parallel single lines still went into the tunnel (at the other end of the tunnel is Grande Couronne and Rouen's major port installations) The track that still remained used to go to Louviers but by 2008 just served a chemical works beyond Elbeuf Ville after which the line to Louviers and thence to Pacy etc. had been lifted. The other line looped down to the double track mainline between Sotteville and Serquigny. How much of all this is still there now I have no idea.

By making a slight diversion between Abbeville and Rouen (Boos) did once manage to fly over the Y viaduct and it is impressive. As in the shot in the movie the main line beneath it is not at all obvious being surrounded by forest. 

 

Naviagation is rather harder on the ground because of all the loops in the Seine and I do find this area south of Rouen incredibly confusing in working out whch lines went where. I have also wound up on the wrong autoroute more than once while trying to get to Acquigny or to Le Mans.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Pacific231G
clarity

[Joseph_Pestell]

31 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

To conclude.

The distinctive (at least from the air) Y shaped double viaduct where the loco was shot up by a Spitfire and the tunnel it hid in are further north between Louviers (St.Avold in the movie) and Rouen

In the film the loco supposedly being delivered to Rive Reine  is actually going away from Acquigny.  By 2008 only one of the viaducts still had track - the other had a fence and stern notices telling you not to walk over it- so only one of the two parallel single lines still went into the tunnel (at the other end of the tunnel is Grande Couronne and Rouen's major port installations) The track that still remained used to go to Louviers but by 2008 just served a chemical works beyond Elbeuf Ville after which the line to Louviers and thence to Pacy etc. had been lifted. The other line looped down to the double track mainline between Sotteville and Serquigny. How much of all this is still there now I have no idea.

I did once manage to fly over the viaduct (by making a slight diversion between Abbeville and Rouen) and it is impressive. As in the shot in the movie the main line beneath it is not at all obvious being surrounded by forest. 

 

 

On the ground, because of all the loops in the Seine,  I do find this area south of Rouen incredibly confusing in working out whch lines went where and have also wound up on the wrong autoroute while trying to get to Acquigny or to Le Mans more than once.

 

I have been through Rouen many times over the years. This year was the first time that I have ever done it without getting lost somewhere.

[readingtype]

Thanks for this report and the photos.

 

I visited the station at Pacy-sur-Eure with a friend a few years ago and was bemused by the layout so it's good to have a photographic explanation, thanks. It was almost entirely deserted, certainly no trains running, and nobody seemed to mind us wandering about and looking at things, so we did. Being pretty ignorant of French railway history I'm not sure that there is anything especially coherent about the collection of vehicles but I could tell that there were some venerable and probably quite unusual ones there. The Whitcomb diesel for example (the blue Bo-Bo with yellow stripes shown looking respendant in one of @Pacific231G's photos, originally US built for use in WW2), the 'saucisson' carriage (dark green with oval windows and aftermarket graffiti) and that magnificent Renault railcar. There was an open 4-wheel wagon with a body that might I think simply decompose where it stands.

 

 

 

 

On 24/05/2019 at 13:33, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I have been through Rouen many times over the years. This year was the first time that I have ever done it without getting lost somewhere. 

 

I think the secret is to ignore all the road signs. You need a willing navigator though.

 

[ianp]

 

Indeed. Every day in our recent week's holiday, when driving, I had to consult a street map of the city, reconcile it with the actual roads, reconcile the map and roads with the road signs, and then always felt I was on the wrong road or going in the wrong direction; even If I wasn't. Rouen has the most badly designed road system I have ever come across, making a bowl of spaghetti look orderly and streamlined. I know that French road signs are always designed for people who know where they are going, but the ones in Rouen seemed deliberately designed to mislead the unwary into going the wrong way.

[Fat Controller]

12 minutes ago, ianp said:

 

Indeed. Every day in our recent week's holiday, when driving, I had to consult a street map of the city, reconcile it with the actual roads, reconcile the map and roads with the road signs, and then always felt I was on the wrong road or going in the wrong direction; even If I wasn't. Rouen has the most badly designed road system I have ever come across, making a bowl of spaghetti look orderly and streamlined. I know that French road signs are always designed for people who know where they are going, but the ones in Rouen seemed deliberately designed to mislead the unwary into going the wrong way.

I've got used to it now, but I've cursed it in the past, especially when a 'Convoi Exceptionnelle' wedged itself across a bridge; we missed our ferry. 

[signalnorth]

Careful study of Google earth (street view)  will reveal the exact spot of the very final scene of the film. If you want to know it and can't find it, drop me a PM.

 

Len

[Pacific231G]

I

2 hours ago, signalnorth said:

Careful study of Google earth (street view)  will reveal the exact spot of the very final scene of the film. If you want to know it and can't find it, drop me a PM.

 

Len

Hi Len

It sounds like you've been there recently. If so, what is the current state of the track  through Acquigny?

I know that stretch of line and think the location of the final scene is about half way between the footbridge where Labiche (Burt Lancaster) gets shot in the leg (to justify his limp following an accident off-set) and the former Heudreville station (now a private house)

(this shot was taken from about the middle of the four foot)

 

 

 

The actual location of the final scene is where the D836 Rue d'Acquigny runs very close to the line of the former railway and just north of the point where the main channel of the Eure swings away to the west. 

 

At the time they made the film, Heudreville and Louviers were respectively the northern and southern termini of the former Rouen-Chartres  line for freight traffic and the track between them through Acquigny had been closed for several years but was still intact, That was (and to some extent still is) the situation where such lines could be used for out of gauge loads or were kept intact for the military as strategic connections and made it ideal as a main filming location.  The line was déclassée (formally abandoned) in 1976 but several years later, I think in the 1990s, was reactivated from Louviers to just beyond Acquigny on the Evreux branch, to serve the big Georgia Pacific paper mill . It finally (?) closed again in about 2008

 

The location I've not been able to find is where the train, during its night passage supposedly to Germany, went over a flat 90 degree crossing with another line.

This frame is from the trailer so the shot is slightly obscured by the title and I know that the night-run scenes without actors were shot by the second unit around Troyes, Longueville and Provins. This shot was clearly a not insignificant set up as it involves a lot of lighting.

 

Apart from an ancient Ouest 0-6-0 (3-030C-757) which was the first loco to be derailed at "Rive-Reine" (Acquigny),  the locos used in the film were four ex Est 4-6-0s (1-230B 739, 517, 655 & 711). A recent issue of Loco-Revue, reporting a new H0 model of this fairly large class, still describes it as "the loco from the film The Train"

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Pacific231G

[signalnorth]

Great post pacific. I believe this to be the location of the final scene. Would you agree?