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Sud de France 2007-Present Day - Photos


Focalplane
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I spent many a happy hour on the station and at the works at Beziers.

 

Sadly, we bought a house in a railway desert...the Limousin.

Yes, most of the trains that run through Narbonne also run through Béziers, the only difference being the Midi Pyrenees trainsets don't go beyond Narbonne and Béziers has the addition of branch line trains to Millau, etc.  All the loco hauled passenger and freight trains will pass through both stations.

 

I have to admit that the Midi main line was part of the reason for selecting Languedoc for our "place in the sun" (incidentally, I have watched several of the TV programs and have to smile at the way in which people appear to buy into French property at first look.  Advice to anyone thinking of doing the same:  visit the area in all four seasons before you buy!)

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You can go up and down that line from Beziers to Bedarieux, and even further, for just 1 euro each way. Or at least you could a few months ago.

The 1 euro fare moves around the region from branch to branch.  What a deal!  Bedarieux is an interesting old railway center, including a huge abandoned stone viaduct.

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Yes, Bedarieux is very interesting. My parents used to go on holiday there every summer (because it is off the beaten track), renting a cottage up on one of the hills directly overlooking the station and its huge but now disused goods yard. Its hard to believe now that this was once a coal mining area (well, a bit further up the Orb valley) and that the goods yard would have been crammed with coal wagons. I think I once read there was a daily train from Paris to Lamalou les Bains, which is just a few miles to the west, to cater for people going to the spas there for the good of their health. For what is now a station on quiet rural line, Bedarieux has a simply massive iron and glass roof over the platforms, which alone is worth the trip.

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I once tried to do Clermont Ferrand-Beziers by rail.

sadly, there had been a problem south of Millau, which meant we de-trained and were taken by coach, first to Montpellier (for some reason), then on to Beziers.

The coach was driven by a mad french woman......

 

I've still never done the Beziers-Millau bit......

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I thought I had run out of photos, but here are some of the Bedarieux area:

 

The abandoned viaduct which crosses over the town:

 

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A rather poor shot of the train shed at Gare de Bedarieux:

 

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The curved viaduct south of Herepian en route to Béziers.  The highway has recently been upgraded which could spell the end of the branch line now that the coal and other mineral traffic is long gone.

 

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Except this is France!

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Bedariaux is looking a bit run down, compared to when I last visited about 25 years ago. At that time, the yard was chock-full of 'stored' Transfesa vans and other stock; some may have ended up as donors for the Ford flats.

In the foreground is a relatively rare sight; some 'D-C' rail. D-C in this case stands for 'double-champignon'; resembling bull-head, it was intended that when the head was worn, it could be turned upside down. Nice idea, except the chairs dented the bottom, meaning it wasn't possible to invert it...

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.......(incidentally, I have watched several of the TV programs and have to smile at the way in which people appear to buy into French property at first look.  Advice to anyone thinking of doing the same:  visit the area in all four seasons before you buy!)

 

 

I have to agree totally.  I am constantly surprised by the number of visitors (supposedly intelligent and educated) we have who express surprise that we get snow every winter even though we are south of a line from Bordeaux.   Mind you we are just across the valley from ski resorts, so you might have thought that would be a clue.

 

Sorry OT - now back to railways.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Contrasting TGVs

 

Taken at Valence TGV, a combination double trainset consisting of a 700 series Dasye Duplex and a Carmillion International Reseau.  The train came from Lille and is heading for Perpignan.  The International Reseau is numbered in the 45XX series and is equipped to travel in and out of Belgium.  Typically these trains consist of the Bruxelles through train connecting with a Lille based Duplex for onward passage to Lyon, Montpellier and Perpignan.

 

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I think the Carmillion paint job is the best so far that SNCF has applied to its TGVs.  I think the word is a contraction of Carmine and Vermillion.

 

Valance TGV is a great place to watch TGVs go by as the main concourse is above the tracks with windows looking out to the south.  Occasionally, SNCF will route a through ticket with a change here rather than at Montpellier or Lyon.  If so, take it!

 

 
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  • 3 weeks later...

Three more from the South of France:

 

First, a classic SNCF grandes lignes express, westbound through Nissan, hauled by dual voltage 22xxx class:

 

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In the opposite direction a TGV Duplex heading for Paris:

 

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And now for something completely different:

 

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This is the clock and facade at Gare de Perpignan.  Salvador Dali famously declared that the station is at the center of the Universe.  Well, he was certainly an eccentric and perhaps this proves the point.  The original station building on the eastern side was under restoration when I took the photo a year ago, with new facilities now open on the western side.

 

I like the font used on the clock face - could it be mirroring a certain famous mustache?

 

Another year has passed and still no evidence of the LGV from Perpignan to Montpellier being approved.  The latest news I have received from the Languedoc-Roussillon regional government is that the route will be finalised (not completed) by the end of 2015.  No guesses as to when the project itself will be finished.

 

The part from east of Nimes to west of Montpellier has passed the planning stage and this short 80 km stretch is under construction.  Paris to Montpellier will take 3 hours when this is open.

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  • 2 months later...

Malpas Tunnel, between Béziers and Narbonne on the Midi Main Line.  As an east/northbound Reseau TGV disappears into the tunnel a local EMU passes it on the way to Narbonne.

 

Apologies for not posting recently.  Actually I have not in in France yet this year but will be taking the 7:13 train from Gare de Lyon to Narbonne next Tuesday morning.  This is a Barcelona bound service.  Once in the area I will hopefully be updating this thread with photos of the new RENFE trainsets, etc.

 

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Looking forward to it.

 

We have property about 35 miles SW of Limoges.

We visit regularly. Every time I go, I promise myself I'll have a day in Limoges via St Junien on the train, or even that I'll go to Angouleme, which is 35 miles SW of us.

 

But I never have...there's always too much to do on the house and especially, at this time of year, the garden.

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  • 7 months later...

My apologies for being away since March - I have actually been doing quite a lot of modelling but there have also been family priorities during the summer season.

 

I went down to the local station this morning to try to capture one of the RENFE AVE trainsets and arrived ten minutes before a south (Spain) bound single AVE unit came through:

 

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About twenty minutes later a northbound TGV passed through - two double duplexes:

 

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There is an automatic announcement that is triggered down the line to remind passengers that the next train will not stop - very useful for train photographers, just enough time to find a good spot!  It would be nice (though totally uneconomic) if the TGVs did stop, after all the platform is long enough to hold two of them.

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  • 6 months later...
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Long it is.....did you ever do the same in the days of the N9? Before that pass and the whole road system fell into the valley, south of Millau?

 

In those days you wound down a cliff face under the viaduct, and climbed back up the other side. There used to be a nice hotel nearby where you could swim in the lake.

 

 

The first time we travelled on A75 was in 2004, before the Viaduct de Millau was completed, so we remember well the drive down into and up from from Millau. There was a special lookout to view the fast completing bridge which was compelling. I would think the Viaduct chops off at least 90 minutes from the journey time.

 

 

The programme 'Impossible Engineering' tonight features the building of the Millau Viaduct. It is on at 9:00pm on the Yesterday channel, Freeview 19 (Sky537, Virgin Media 245).

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

I have not kept this thread going for quite a while - 2 years - but today we went on a short hike in a quiet area north of Narbonne. The aim of the hike was to visit the place where canal crosses river with no aquaduct. The Canal de la Robine literally joins the River Aude for about 500 meters and in this stretch the branch line from Narbonne to Bize Minervois crosses the river by an imposing Eiffel style bridge.

 

The branch line no longer carries passengers though maps still show it as offering a train touristique. But there are several factories along the route and stock can be seen within the factory compounds. How often trains run is difficult to say but I would guess rarely if at all where a level crossing was examined near Moussan. There was enough asphalt on the tracks to cause a derailment!

 

But back to the bridge. Typical French bridge design.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another day, another bridge, though this one has been featured before.

 

The Viaduc de Gabarit is located on the Clermont Ferrand - Béziers single track line that now has a very limited service, largely due to the construction of Autoroute A75 which includes another iconic bridge, the impressive Viaduc de Millau.

 

That the line remains open at all is largely due to the Viaduc de Gabarit, Gustav Eiffel's second most famous project but in many ways a much more useful structure compared to the Paris landmark.  The line reaches an altitude of around 1,000 meters in the vicinity of the viaduct and winds its way down south toward Millau.  The obstacle is an incised river, La Truyère which has been damned to form a huge reservoir.

 

The viaduct was started in 1880 and completed in 1884 and consists of cast iron, painted a red oxide colour, sitting on piers of locally quarried granite.  The viaduct is visible from a rest stop on A75 but on this journey we decided to make a detour down to the reservoir and stretch our legs, taking photos as we walked.

 

There is plenty of parking and several hotels with restaurants:

 

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This is my favourite photo of the visit, taken from the west side of the bridge on the road toward the south.  Even the sun tried to shine on an otherwise cloudy afternoon:

 

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Classic Eiffel engineering:

 

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The huge main piers:

 

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Another view of the bridge, taken from the road bridge just above lake level:

 

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Edited by Focalplane
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Another day, another bridge, though this one has been featured before.

 

The Viaduc de Gabarit is located on the Clermont Ferrand - Béziers single track line that now has a very limited service, largely due to the construction of Autoroute A75 which includes another iconic bridge, the impressive Viaduc de Millau.

 

That the line remains open at all is largely due to the Viaduc de Gabarit, Gustav Eiffel's second most famous project but in many ways a much more useful structure compared to the Paris landmark.  The line reaches an altitude of around 1,000 meters in the vicinity of the viaduct and winds its way down south toward Millau.  The obstacle is an incised river, La Truyère which has been damned to form a huge reservoir.

 

The viaduct was started in 1880 and completed in 1884 and consists of cast iron, painted a red oxide colour, sitting on piers of locally quarried granite.  The viaduct is visible from a rest stop on A75 but on this journey we decided to make a detour down to the reservoir and stretch our legs, taking photos as we walked.

 

There is plenty of parking and several hotels with restaurants:

 

attachicon.gifIMG_1839.jpg

 

This is my favourite photo of the visit, taken from the west side of the bridge on the road toward the south.  Even the sun tried to shine on an otherwise cloudy afternoon:

 

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Classic Eiffel engineering:

 

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The huge main piers:

 

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Another view of the bridge, taken from the road bridge just above lake level:

 

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We stopped to view this amazing structure while driving down the A75 to Collieur in 2007. It is an ambition of mine to travel this railway line. Meanwhile, the mem sahib keeps sending me photos of tempting and attractively priced properties in the region between Clermont and La Rochelle. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

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We stopped to view this amazing structure while driving down the A75 to Collieur in 2007. It is an ambition of mine to travel this railway line. Meanwhile, the mem sahib keeps sending me photos of tempting and attractively priced properties in the region between Clermont and La Rochelle. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

 

 

The once-a-day-in-each-direction direct service between Clermont and Beziers is still running, despite continued mutterings, and past proposals, from the various authorities about ending it. It is well worth the trip; 7 hours or so meandering in slow comfort through lovely, unspoiled and mainly uninhabited countryside. Currently the Clermont departure is at 13:03 and the Beziers departure is at 09:37, though the timing of these direct services that go over the Garabit bridge seem to vary a lot, both from season to season and year to year. Take plenty of water and sandwiches. You may well find, as we did, that you are the only passengers travelling the whole route.

Edited by ianp
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I have tried to take the journey before, when living near Béziers, but at the time the bridge was closed "for repairs".  I drove by several times during the "closed for repairs" period and saw no activity.  The problem is that the line is often closed due to permanent way work and buses are substituted.  If the word "autocar" features in the timetable, this means that some of the journey will be by bus.  So do check to avoid disappointment.

 

Paul

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  • 2 months later...

I stopped at the Viaduc de Gabarit overlook the other day, in glorious sunshine, and took this photo:

 

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The reservoir below has filled up since our last visit a few months ago.  The Massif Central has been experiencing a lot of rain.  Shortly afterwards I saw a yellow permanent way vehicle starting to cross the viaduct from south to north and took a short video.  I will try to upload it later.

 

Paul

 

A link to the video

Edited by Focalplane
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  • 8 months later...
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Now that I've been living in France for nearly a year I really ought to have contributed to this thread but small matters like model railways got in the way. However we had a holiday at Cannes in September last year so here are a couple of photos I too whilst I was there.   Our apartment was close to the yard at La Bocca.   

 

First up one of the Thello class 36000's that operate a Nice to Milan service that is extended to Marseille at weekends.

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The timing meant that it was difficult to get a shot where the front of the cab wasn't in shadow.

I was pleased to find that there was a regular train, of what I think were steel carriers. most afternoons with a 27XXX in charge.

The line runs along the shoreline for at least 2 miles with the beaches just the other side of the road.  Not the best place for photos due to the overhead masts but still there are worse places to trainspot.

 

Jamie

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ah, Cannes la Bocca.

 

On one of my first solo expeditions I drove from our campsite near Castellane to Lingostiere on the Chemin de Fer de Provence, touring the little depot and works there, before boarding a CFD train to Nice Sud. Disappointingly modern, with the old gothic station left to rot nearby, but a very interesting ride. There were lots of very interesting old trains  and locos at Lingostiere, again, sadly, mostly now gone.

 

I then walked to Nice mainline station, and decided, having seen Cannes la Bocca mentioned in a Platform 5 book, to take a ride to it. The train stopped at the station, but there was little to see, so I stayed abaord...only to find it proceeding into the sidings at La Bocca and parked up, in full sunshine in August!

 

I eventually managed to get out of the train, and walked across the yard to the mazement of various french SNCF employees, before walking the 2km or so back to La Bocca and a welcome drink!!!!

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