Iolanthe

[Joseph_Pestell]

 

Picked up an old copy of the parish (commune) magazine while clearing out the house (and €500 euros worth of comics). Parish magazines are rarely a rivetting read but always good for getting a feel of a place.

I struck lucky with this one which included a 5-page article about the old steam depot and its 20(?) stall 180 degree roundhouse. I don't suppose many villagers found the article that interesting as there was so much about shed allocations. Article was copied (with permission) from Voies Ferrees magazine. Sadly, the reproduction of the photos is poor and I will have to see if I can find a copy of that Voies Ferrees.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Joseph_Pestell

[Joseph_Pestell]

Went onto the Voies Ferrees website where, as I expected, there is an index of content from past issues.

 

Several issues from around the date that I am looking for (2012/2013) have articles that are just listed as "Depots of the Massif Central". It will one of those. But which one?

[Joseph_Pestell]

Having already set up this thread, I thought that I would continue to use it, but change the name.

 

A bit cryptic? You have to know your Gilbert & Sullivan operettas to get the reference. My father always wanted to name their retirement home "Villa Yolande" but was worried that some French would have been offended.

 

Anyway, my intention is to provide a bit of a mix of updates: renovating the building, the new 50m2 layout room (would have been 120m2 if a certain lady had not asked to join me), what's running on the 1:1 scale layout outside, etc.

 

St Sulpice - Lauriere is a large junction station on the Paris - Toulouse main line. It served two other lines. One, via Gueret and Montlucon led, ultimately to Lyon. Trains to Lyon (and even Turin) from Bordeaux reversed here. So not really a branch line. The second branch, to Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Chateauponsac and Bellac diverged about 6km further north after the main line crosses the rather fine viaduc de Rougerolles.

 

So at St Sulpice, there were three platforms (five platform faces), one of which is now out of use. Before electrification in the late 1930s, there was, I believe, an overall roof. The station is on quite a sharp curve with the trains passing through on the mainline at a max of 80kph. Even leaving the station to the south, the speed limit is 100kph.

 

The remaining faces are designated:

 

A, by the station building:, 

1, the down main;

2, the up main.

 

Trains between Limoges and Gueret / Montlucon usually reverse in Platform A but the whole layout is comprehensively signalled for dual-directional working. A lot of the "branch" trains have recently reversed on the main line roads as massive pw works trains have occupied both Platform A and the former down goods loop, now signalled for passenger working.

 

All very different from the UK where most of this surplus infrastucture would have been ripped out decades ago.

 

I am afraid that I have regressed to my childhood (age 3) when my mother would rush me down to the bridge at Beaconsfield to see the Paddington - Birmingham - Birkenhead train headed by a King. I find myself going to the window every time I hear a train approaching.

[rovex]

From thy dark dungeon thou are summoned!

[Spotlc]

Joseph, there are a few pics of the Loco depot in steam days, like this:

 

No idea when this was taken - the station building is upper right, beyond the junction from Gueret.

 

And here is an English visitor, seen at the Fête de la Gare in 2018

Built by Vulcan Foundry, Newton le Willows.

 

Good luck with your new house,

Best,  Mike

 

 

[JeffP]

"when my mother would rush me down to the bridge at Beaconsfield to see the Paddington - Birmingham - Birkenhead train headed by a King. I find myself going to the window every time I hear a train approaching"

 

And why not, say I.

 

Only thing with me would be annoyance at missing stuff if i was in bed.

 

But don't go down the same road as a friend whose poor wife had to note the make up of every train that passed his house if he couldn't.

The marriage faltered when he started checking her records at the nearby signal box

[Joseph_Pestell]

Before I found this house on the internet, I had been looking at a pair of 1930s semi-detached, €34k for the two at St Germain les Belles, about 30km south of Limoges. Would really have been a better solution if I had known that M would join me. They were built for the Orleans - Toulouse electrification, Some way from the station only noise would be from passing trains.

 

I expected, choosing a house opposite a station would lead to some disturbance from station announcements... but not 60 times an hour! This is not "the next station at platform A is for Limoges", nor even "stand clear of the platform edge, fast train approaching". This is endless automated announcements about wearing masks and not leaving baggage unattended.

 

I actually went down to Limoges Benedictins on Thursday evening to see how often these announcements are broadcast there - one in 20 minutes. So obviously a technical cock-up. Why have the station staff not had it sorted out?

[Joseph_Pestell]

On 31/05/2021 at 16:32, Spotlc said:

Joseph, there are a few pics of the Loco depot in steam days, like this:

 

No idea when this was taken - the station building is upper right, beyond the junction from Gueret.

 

And here is an English visitor, seen at the Fête de la Gare in 2018

Built by Vulcan Foundry, Newton le Willows.

 

Good luck with your new house,

Best,  Mike

 

 

 

Looking back at your St Sulpice thread, there may be an opportunity to get involved with this group at Limoges. That would be a big bonus.

[Joseph_Pestell]

On 31/05/2021 at 16:32, Spotlc said:

Joseph, there are a few pics of the Loco depot in steam days, like this:

 

No idea when this was taken - the station building is upper right, beyond the junction from Gueret.

 

And here is an English visitor, seen at the Fête de la Gare in 2018

Built by Vulcan Foundry, Newton le Willows.

 

Good luck with your new house,

Best,  Mike

 

 

 

That top photo has indeed answered a question for me.

 

Pre-electrification, it shows a water tower (two tanks) between the main line and the branch to Gueret. Strange location relative to the depot and the station. The base is still there but there is something on top of the base whose purpose I don't know. Not easy to get an angle to take a photo but will try,

[Joseph_Pestell]

22 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

That top photo has indeed answered a question for me.

 

Pre-electrification, it shows a water tower (two tanks) between the main line and the branch to Gueret. Strange location relative to the depot and the station. The base is still there but there is something on top of the base whose purpose I don't know. Not easy to get an angle to take a photo but will try,

 

Looking again this afternoon, as I left site, the structure is where those water tanks were but the base is much newer (1960s?), so I am no further forward. My phone is playing up so not able to take a pic at the moment.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Today was a big day in that we started work on the railway room. Not because of a need to run trains asap but because it is the part of the building with the most serious problems (the complete set of water penetration issues) and until we get the railway room sorted, I can't do much about the flat below (to be occupied by Magali).

 

A neighbour came and helped for the day and we knocked down two brick partitions (about 30' length in all) and part of a ceiling that was being held up by a prop. Hell of a lot of shovelling but with a good dose of Ibuprofen, I have felt better physically that I have for weeks. Apart, that is, from nearly ending up 3m lower down when I stood on a rotten floorboard.

 

The joist above the ceiling was in quite good condition but had always been several centimetres short. Would it not have been better to go out and buy a joist the right size rather than buy an Acrow Prop? Measure once, cut twice, etc.

 

Knocking down the ceiling makes it easier to access the roof. There is a skylight (no glass!) from which I can get a better picture of the problems with lead flashings around the chimney.

 

Really looking forward to tomorrow when we remove another couple of partitions and I can really get a feeling for the space that will be the railway room.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I cut a hole in the concrete floor of the old bathroom (enormous, it will be M's bedroom and en-suite bathroom) so that we can just shute material down to the ground floor ex-laundry room. But that room is nearly full of rubble now and I have not yet got my pass to the recycling centre. Hope to use the neighbour's pass. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

On 31/05/2021 at 16:32, Spotlc said:

Joseph, there are a few pics of the Loco depot in steam days, like this:

 

No idea when this was taken - the station building is upper right, beyond the junction from Gueret.

 

And here is an English visitor, seen at the Fête de la Gare in 2018

Built by Vulcan Foundry, Newton le Willows.

 

Good luck with your new house,

Best,  Mike

 

 

 

That aerial view of the junction is interesting as it shows a very different track layout with very restricted access from the Gueret branch. The current layout is much more flexible allowing access from the branch via two double slips to all the roads in the marshalling yard. I will need to seek out some old maps to see when that change occurred.

 

Work continues on the area which will become Flat 6, the railway room. We are finding more and more rotting beams, still just about usable but it makes a lot more sense to do a proper repair while we are at it. Some quite expensive renovation work done about 30 years ago will have to be stripped out (floor below) as they did not address the issue that had caused the damage in the first place.

 

Hopefully some photos but I have had to change my telephone and having difficulties linking the new one to the computer.

[Joseph_Pestell]

I know that a lot of people hate all concrete buildings but I find this one quite interesting.

 

It is a church, Notre Dame de la Voie, built for the railway community in St Sulpice who, apparently, worshipped separately from others. Traditionally railwaymen were not great churchgoers. Many, of course, had to work Sundays but there was also a considerable element of anti-clericalism. I have not encountered a railway church before.

 

Situated just south of the station, it is just a concrete box but the architect has tried to make it a bit less dull by a "bell tower" formed by a curved upsweep of concrete. Shades of Ronchamps? The area below forms s shrine which can be used for prayer when the church itself is closed.

[Joseph_Pestell]

First local steam run this year is on Sunday to mark Fathers' Day.

 

As is common in France, this is more a tourist event than a rail enthusiasts' event. So it takes all day even though only 30km each way from Limoges to Eymoutiers. Do I really want to be stuck in Eymoutiers for six hours? So I may just follow by car.

 

There is also a rally of old commercial vehicles which will be on display at Eymoutiers and even giving rides.