two tone green Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have finally got around to uploading videos I did whilst down in France over the Easter period. It set out as a visit to Antibes to visit friends down there using our motor home so we could wander around at will after visiting them. We set off back via the rather spectacular Gorge de Verdon and then via various points north including Nuits-Saint-Georges to night stop and sample some of the finer things in life. One bottle was priced at Euro 9999.00 and when I asked why not 10,000 was told people just would not buy it at that price !!!! Anyway, we head north with a happy smile on our faces with some nice examples of the local brew and finally ended up in Crotoy on the Picardy Coast about just over an hour south of Calais. We parked up in the nice Aire there right next to the sea and set off to explore and found that it was one end of the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme. So despite me saying I knew nothing about there being a railway there my wife agreed we should have a ride. And what a lovely ride it turned out to be. The railway operates around the bay from Crotoy to Cayeux-sur-Mer but at the time of year we were visiting it only ran to Saint Valery sur Somme. Don't be put off by this shorter run as Saint Valery sur Somme is a lovely place to spend the day. Here are some videos I did. I wont bore you with photos as the videos give a far better feeling for the place. The interchange at Noyelles-sur-Mer is very interesting with some slick operations so the trains can pass and I suspect if the UK H&S people every visited there they would be having heart attacks. I have added a video of the Gorge de Verdon to give an idea of what its like. Do visit if you get chance as you wont be disappointed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 Here is a link to the railway http://www.cfbs.eu/en/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trains4U Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 A last minute change to my holiday plans means my family and I will be staying about 40Km from here for a few days. I was taking a look a this last night - having seen your videos, I think it is now a must-see! - It seems a better proposition than the chemin de fer touristique de la vallée de l'aa, which is also nearby. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 A last minute change to my holiday plans means my family and I will be staying about 40Km from here for a few days. I was taking a look a this last night - having seen your videos, I think it is now a must-see! - It seems a better proposition than the chemin de fer touristique de la vallée de l'aa, which is also nearby. yes, definately a must see, although the vallee de l'aa was interesting its only a Picasso railcar, although it does run past La Coupole which looked quite interesting. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Hi The hand pushed turntables are interesting, although I felt guilty about the crew doing the work and me not helping. Signals at the mid point station are interesting as well All the best K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brittannia Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Travelled along the line return trip 2013 ,can really recommend the journey and as well well as the locos, the coaches are really interesting, be prepared for wooden seats. Another interesting point is St Valery is the point that William the Conqueror set out from to invade England Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Great place and hope to be going back again in the new year. The turntable was powered in the video, no one pushing it as far as I remember. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Thoroughly recommend this railway from so many aspects. I have not been through all your films, but did you film them racing each other out of Noyelles? That really is fantastic and worth the trip just for that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Have a look and see what happens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted August 7, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2015 They are twined with the KESR, a few years ago their P tank went and spent a few weeks in Fance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 The turntable was powered in the video, no one pushing it as far as I remember. Interesting. Can't remember about the new one at Saint Valery but have found a video of the ones at Noyelles:- All the best K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
siltec Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 It was a few years ago, but this was our trip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uHoMZGCQH0&index=2&list=PL1983814BC47A2D9B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Some pics I took on Saturday. I didn't know this was one of the best days of the year to visit. Almost everything was steam, including a mixed replacing the aurorail and a shuttle between Saint-Valery-Port and Saint-Valery-Canal. No. 2 at Le Crotoy. E332 with the mixed at Le Crotoy. No. 25 with the shuttle at Saint-Valery-Port. What appeared to be the only diesel train of the day at Saint-Valery-Ville. No. 15 at Cayeux-sur-Mer. Some recent(?) arrivals at Saint-Valery-Canal. No. 2 and No. 101 arriving at Noyelles. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Very nice David. I wish I was back there. I may well be back in 2016 with some friends who are interested in venturing over to France for the first time in their motorhome so as I have volunteered to escort them using my motor home so I thought it a good place to go as it offers some interesting opportunities for some wildlife photography which they are into. A cunning plan, yes ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 If you pick the right weekend you can probably do both CFBS and P'tit train de la Haute Somme at Froissy (which doesn't run as often). Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Tempting but two railways may be pushing it. I will try to fit in to my cunning plan. Pretend I am lost and ah, another railway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trains4U Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I managed to visit on the 21st August - traveled from Le Crotoy to St Valerey Port and return. All in all a very nice day out, but I stupidly left my camera in the car at Le Crotoy - also the train was absolutely rammed. It was much busier than I had anticipated. no2 and no15 were in service on that day I managed to get a few pics on my wife's iPhone - Will post when I get them. My daughter and I were happy to be riding immediately behind the loco on the balcony between St.Valerey and Noyelles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 It is a great railway, and the Gorges-de-Verdon are good too (bit difficult to do both in a day, I suspect, but TGV's are pretty nippy!). I built a CFBS-inspired layout in about 1980, after my first visit c1978. The layout was 009, so not the right gauge, and everything else was a bit approximate too, although I did manage a fairly accurate model of St Valery station building. On the first visit, I remember that we arrived at the loco shed, after walking up the track from Noyelles, at "morning tea break", and the "mettys" there treated us to shots of Calvados to go with our bread-rolls. We had cheese, bread and wine from a local shop for lunch, and when we went back to catch the train, there was a stunningly beautiful farmer's daughter with a trestle-table, selling home-made cider and more cheese in the station yard, so we were constrained to consume further copious quantities of local produce. When we got to Noyelles, both my pal and I fell fast asleep in the waiting room, but the station master was kind enough to wake us, and shove us up the steps onto the train to Calais. Our excuse was that we had been travelling all the night before, and had walked from the ferry terminal to Calais Ville station before dawn. Kevin PS: I was young then! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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