Argy Gare . Looks fascinating. Preservation ?

[signalnorth]

On Google Earth I've just stumbled across the station at Argy. 46 56 20 56  North,   1  26  26 34 East

 

Is it a Preservation project?  There are some very old pieces of goods rolling stock in the yard! 

 

It looks like a delightful route. The line at Argy is separated by a 100 yard piece of missing track from the remaining SNCF system by the looks of it 

 

Anyone know much about it?

[jivebunny]

Argy has been the terminus for the www.traintouristiquedubasberry.com for the past 15 years, and it is indeed separated from the national network by a very short piece of track with nothing more than a metal shed in the way. Haven't been there myself but it certainly looks like a nice place to visit

 

Alan

[signalnorth]

It does yes. Just found this 

 

 

[Pacific231G]

23 hours ago, signalnorth said:

On Google Earth I've just stumbled across the station at Argy. 46 56 20 56  North,   1  26  26 34 East

 

Is it a Preservation project?  There are some very old pieces of goods rolling stock in the yard! 

 

It looks like a delightful route. The line at Argy is separated by a 100 yard piece of missing track from the remaining SNCF system by the looks of it 

 

Anyone know much about it?

Yes quite a lot. I've visited and travelled on the Train du Bas Berry a couple of times and also saw it when that part of the line was still open for goods.  It is indeed a delightful route and a wonderful living example of a surviving metre gauge secondaire  in La France Profond. 

 

The Train du Bas Berry runs on the southern surviving section of the metre gauge Chemin de Fer du Blanc-Argent (BA) between Argy and Valencay with its headquarters at Eceuillé. This railway once ran for 191km between Le Blanc and Argent with several standard gauge connections along its route. The line lost its two end sections in the early 1950s after which it ran from  Salbris to Buzancais. When I first saw it it in the early 1980s it was open for passengers from Salbris to Lucay-le-Male and for goods only down to Buzancais.

Part of the Blanc-Argent Is still open as an SNCF operated branch line, albeit metre gauge,  to regular passengers from Salbris (where it connects with the SNCF Orleans-Vierzon mainline) via Romorantin to Valencay.

 

The line  finally lost its goods services in 1989 which latterly had mainly served grain silos along its route. However, the large silos at Argy still warranted a rail connection so the metre gauge line between there and Buxancais was relaid as a standard gauge private siding. At Argy this is actually at a lower level than the original metre gauge formation.  After that the line between Lucay-le-Male and Argy was apparently just left to rot. I remember seeing it in the early 1990s with saplings and bushes growing between the rotting sleepers and rusting rails and thinking how sad it was that it would never see a train again. I couldn't have been more wrong because the very dynamic preservation group SABA was already working to reopen it as a Train Touristique which it did in sections between 2003 and 2005 to run between Lucay-le-Male and Argy. The SNCF operated section from Valencay to Lucay-le-Male closed in 2009 and in August last year SABA ran their first service to Valencay.

When I visited it was still diesel only but SABA acquired a small 0-4-0 steam loco from the Baie de Somme.

There's a lot more on SABA's website

https://www.traintouristiquedubasberry.com/

Edited September 8, 2020 by Pacific231G

[signalnorth]

Great info. Thanks!