Moves at Limoges and other French Photos

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon from a warm and sunny Charente.   A slight hiatus over the last couple of weeks due to my other half having a significant birthday and various surprises being arranged.  Anyway they all went well and I survived to the extent that Andy and I had an afternoon out last week on the 20th.    We headed down to our usual spot but en route spied a ballast train with the class 212 that was at Ruffec last time.

It was obvious that nothing would be moving until that was out of the way so we headed to the LGV but managed to get a view of the road rail plant being taken off the track

Then it was down to our usual spot and just after 15.3- this double header appeared with a 27XXX and a 7200.

The 7200 wasn't under power.   However there was the usual long train of steel and LPG.

 

One more freight escaped my camera but it was a 22XXX with Y9014 in tow plus some wagons.

Eventually the northbound local appeared

With that we called it a day.

 

One Ouigo TGV and Y9014 to be underlined.

 

Jamie

 

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[jamie92208]

Andy and I escaped again last Friday, 6th October and spent a pleasant afternoon, chewing the fat and watching a few trains.   First up was this Vigirail track monitoring unit heading north.

Then 186 303 on the regular car train.

Followed by a light engine move of a 27 and a 75, both of which Andy and I needed.

Just before we left we got a southbound, which sometime happens on a Friday, a 27 on tanktainers.

And whilst waiting we were entertained by the maize alongside us being harvested.

 

We  needed to keep the windows shut when it passed us.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Yesterday I had to go to Limoges to collect a friend who was arriving from the UK, as it was an afternoon flight I set off early and spent an hour and a half in very warm sunshine, sitting at the station in Limoges. The temperature was about 32 degrees.   However someone had kindly parked a locotractor that I needed opposite my seat. Y9070

The first train was a set of three suppositoire's.

The station there is absolutely magnificent.

Then a long train to Paris Bercy arrived behind 22343.

And almost immediately 26139 arrived on a service to Brive.  A lucky cop for me. The railcars headed for the depot and the third one was one I need.

Then 22343 headed out, with both pantographs up.

As I left I saw this rather nice model of the station building plinthed in the concourse.

All in all a very nice lunchbreak.

 

Jamie

 

 

[brushman47544]

Interesting to see 22343 on train 3664. I thought all Brive - Paris trains were now allocated sybics, such as your 26139 running the other way.

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

The first train was a set of three suppositoire's.

 

I read that as a train of three suppositories.😁

[Fat Controller]

26 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I read that as a train of three suppositories.😁

You read it correctly

[jamie92208]

27 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I read that as a train of three suppositories.😁

 

That's the French nickname for them. They could bring tears to your eyes

Jamie

Edited October 9, 2023 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, brushman47544 said:

Interesting to see 22343 on train 3664. I thought all Brive - Paris trains were now allocated sybics, such as your 26139 running the other way.

 

On this Sunday and the beginning of autumn, despite blue skies and summer temperatures, we clicked on the famous 3650 old 100% eco du polt it's seen here at St Sulpice heading for Paris Austerliz.  That's a translation of what my friend wrote.  He has some connection into SNCF via his father.  It was  possibly one of the Ouigo inter cities.   It left Limoges at approx 13.50

Jamie

[brushman47544]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

 

On this Sunday and the beginning of autumn, despite blue skies and summer temperatures, we clicked on the famous 3650 old 100% eco du polt it's seen here at St Sulpice heading for Paris Austerliz.  That's a translation of what my friend wrote.  He has some connection into SNCF via his father.  It was  possibly one of the Ouigo inter cities.   It left Limoges at approx 13.50

Jamie

Interesting, thanks. checking the SNCF website, the train appears to be 3656, 12.41 Cahors to Paris calling at Limoges at 13.52, so presumably a regular POLT service.

[jamie92208]

I got lucky yesterday and was allowed to play out for the third time in a week.   Andy and I headed out for Juille as usual but there as obviously trackwork ongoing so after seeing a couple of YGV;s we headed to the LGV maintenance depot at Villognon.  Nothing interesting was happening there so we went up to Luxe station.  as we got there 186 161 pulled in heading north and stopped at the signal. The train was the usual load of Seat cars, I think about 240 of them heading north.  

That waited for 20 minutes and then headed north across the crossovers onto the down line.   Due to the reballasting there are severe speed restrictions on both tracks.   Then we headed for our usual spot.

No combine harvester to trouble us this time.   In due course the usual northbound TGV came up from Angouleme going very slowly.

The pantographs were dropped very late and the train crawled past us 

It got past the changeover point and then hit the steep gradient up to the LGV still coasting.

It appeared to drop to walking pace before the pantographs were raised.

The photo may not show it but the pantographs were just rising and the train was nearly at a standstill.

Then it was wait and wait again and a long freight appeared with three locos on the front, 27066, 75461 and 27077  with a very lengthy train of LPG, sugar and some box wagons.  Like the 186, the 75 was a cop.   We then watched the northbound local before heading a mile or two north to another spot on the classic line.   The first thing to arrive was a tamper towing a bogie ballast flat with a container on it.

We were just about to go when we heard a noise from the north and a really rare beast emerged with a train of cereal hoppers.

99506, one of only 6 such locos still in France.   A real catch.      All in all a good afternoon.

 

Jamie

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[EddieB]

On 09/10/2023 at 16:58, jamie92208 said:

That's the French nickname for them. They could bring tears to your eyes

Jamie

There was another nickname when they were operated for a time in Luxembourg. 

I couldn't possibly disclose on a family site, but the ladies might have been tickled by it (until the batteries ran out)!

[jamie92208]

37 minutes ago, EddieB said:

There was another nickname when they were operated for a time in Luxembourg. 

I couldn't possibly disclose on a family site, but the ladies might have been tickled by it (until the batteries ran out)!

They don't look anything like a rabbit. 

 

Jamie

[brushman47544]

1 hour ago, EddieB said:

There was another nickname when they were operated for a time in Luxembourg. 

I couldn't possibly disclose on a family site, but the ladies might have been tickled by it (until the batteries ran out)!

If that’s what I think it is, it wasn’t just confined to Luxembourg.

 

I had a journey in one from Grenoble to Veynes in the snow and at least it was warm and the view from the panoramic windows was great. Preferred the 67400 and Corails onwards to Marseille though.

[jamie92208]

Good morning from a rather dark and damp Charente.   I managed to get out last week on the 18th October and we saw a very strange sight.  At 14.14 a train of Italian Ambroglio containers hauled by a 27XXX headed north.  These originate from Turin and we can only presume that it was a rather lengthy diversion, from the closed Modane route, via Ventimiglia,  Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux.   Sadly I didn't have my camera ready.

 

Yesterday Andy and I met up again and headed south to Juille where TGV 4411 was een heading north.   That filled a gap in our books for both of us.   We heard the sound of loco horns south of us so headed down to Luxe.   There was no sign of any works trains as we followed the line south so we headed for the station.  The early afternoon southbound local was showing as a bus replacement so we helped a New Zealand couple who were waiting for it. After we told them that the buses rarely turned up their lift headed to Angouleme with them to catch their northbound train to Charles De Gaulle.

As they left  the northbound car train came into view with a 186 on it as usual.   186 167 was a cop for me.

This came slowly to a stop at the signal.

We then decided to head bac north to our usual spot and ended up pacing the freight.   I missed, what would have been a lovely shot of it crossing the Charente on the viaduct just north of the station but did manage to snatch this shot just as it was about to go underneath the LGV.

We anticipated a flood of freights but there was nothing at all part from the regular TGV working and finally the northbound local at 16.50.

The Car train actually ran wrong line from Luxe, presumably crossing back at Ruffec.

 

Jamie

 

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon from a rather wet and windy Charente.   On Tuesday this week I bought tickets for a day out to Bordeaux.   Then storm Ciaran came past on Wednesday night so on a rather windy Thursday morning I set off at 07.00 to drive to Ruffec. I had to stop twice en route due to large branches in piles in the road and also a complete tree.  A following motorist and I cleared the branches but left the tree.  Fortunately there was a lay by there and we were able to drive round it.  He was going to get a colleague with a tractor to come and clear it.  Anyway I got to Ruffec where SNCF had routed me north to Poitiers to get a train south to Bordeaux.  My 08.00 train was due 20 minutes late.  The corresponding southbound had been cancelled.   However the bell started to ring in the signal box and this appeared.

The train running as ECS, presumably checking the route.

However mine di arrive.

Off we went to Poitiers and were still in time to catch my southbound TGV.

And then headed off at speed towards Bordeaux where we arrived an hour later.

In the platform was this sight.   A Sybic on an Inter City working waiting to head off to Marseilles.

I then caught my local to Beautiran just south of the big yard at Hourcade.   I only managed to identify one loco 67421 which was a cop.

The yard at Beautiran was obviously heavily used.

Then my return train to Bordeaux appeared.

A good start to the day.

 

Jamie

 

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[JeffP]

Went to Bordeaux a couple of times while camping at Canet, about 20 miles north of Beziers.

On the first occasion I was to catch a train to Paris.

It arrived behind a C-C6500...😁but that got removed and a B-B9200 was substituted. Disappointed.

The second visit saw me visit the shed, then take a train to Lourdes for a visit to the shed there.

On arrival I found Lourdes shed closed, empty except for two B-B4700 locos awaiting scrapping😒.

So, back to Toulouse. My train back to Beziers left on time, stopped, reversed back into the station, while a multiple unit smouldered on an adjacent line, having caught fire on it's way east.

We eventually rolled into Beziers at 12:20 am, instead of the 21:10 posted arrival time.

My wife was none too pleased, as this was pre-mobile phones, and the campsite was in total darkness. I even had to leave the car outside as the gate was locked.

The joys of trainspotting, eh.

[jamie92208]

Thanks for those memories of the area.  Happy days when you could get round depots.

 

Anyway back to the 2nd November.   I caught my train north from Beautiran and off we set only to grind to a halt ater about 100 yards.   Some emergency up ahead we were told.   The train was packed and got warm quite quickly till the aircon came back on.   I then spent the rest of the day on St Jean station, mainly on platform 5.  There were intermittent heavy showers so I needed to keep under cover.  The Marseille trains were a pleasure to see, proper trains with loco and coaches.  26020 had been waiting outside the station as my train came through and then reversed it's rake of coaches into the platform with a gut with a radio in the corridor connection at the leading end.

That went as another arrived from Marseille with 7259 on it decorated for a drivers last run.

Not the driver who is seen here talking to his relief though.

Meantime I had been catching fleeting glimpses of a Yo Yo shuttling coaching stock in the yard.   i finally got near enough to be identified.

There was very little freight activity but these two COLS G1206's caught me by surprise as they headed through.

26155 then reversed a rake of coaches into platform 4 for the next departure to Marseille.

And another Yoyo appeared and departed but this one got me a line in the book/

More tomorrow.

 

Jamie

 

[jamie92208]

Apologies  to @Oldddudders  I should have put ©Oldddudders after the term yoyo.

 

Jamie

Edited November 5, 2023 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

After a slightly flood delayed trip to a cancelled French Lesson I've got time to do the next part of the story.  In between showers and shunting movements my long lens was good enough to identify another yoyo.

And a pause in train movements allowed me to record the builder of the rather magnificent overall roof.

Ouigos were coming and going.  Often rather late.

Then 75457 came back with another load of tankers.

And then the stock for the next Marseille working was reversed in by 7259 which had obviously been turned so that the inscriptions stayed on the leading end.   A nice touch.   Whether it had used the triangle or the turntable I don't know.

 

 

I headed off for a nice basque burger for my tea before going back onto the station as it was getting dark so time for one final photo before I headed off for my TGV north to Angouleme and Ruffec.

 I liked seeing the cab lights.

 

Despite the lack of freight traffic a good day was had.

 

Jamie

Edited November 6, 2023 by jamie92208

[brushman47544]

Looking at the state of it, perhaps it was 7259's dernier train rather than a driver's. Can't see any reason to turn it as a driver would only have worked one part of one journey, traincrew rostering in France being what it is...

[Oldddudders]

21 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Apologies  to @Oldddudders  I should have put ©Oldddudders after the term yoyo.

Not needed! I read the yoyo term in a French mag in recent times, so believe it to be kosher - not the invention of some foreigner!

[SimonHMT]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Not needed! I read the yoyo term in a French mag in recent times, so believe it to be kosher - not the invention of some foreigner!

It is definitely kosher...when I was visiting exhibitions in Northern France in the late 1990s/early '00s, more than one of my French friends used it; when I looked baffled it was explained to me that the rationale was that shunters at the time bore the Y prefix and went up and down like yoyos...fairly typical French humour,  I guess!

Simon. 

[jamie92208]

7 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

Looking at the state of it, perhaps it was 7259's dernier train rather than a driver's. Can't see any reason to turn it as a driver would only have worked one part of one journey, traincrew rostering in France being what it is...

I did ask the driver that brought the train in and he said that it was to honour a colleague. 

 

Jamie

[Joseph_Pestell]

20 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

Looking at the state of it, perhaps it was 7259's dernier train rather than a driver's. Can't see any reason to turn it as a driver would only have worked one part of one journey, traincrew rostering in France being what it is...

The ritual around a driver's retirement is a dearly held tradition on SNCF. Huge effort is made to change rosters around so that the driver's day will conclude at  the right time and place for a suitable celebration with colleagues. Most depots seem to have a semi-official restaurant. Look those out if you can - usually very good and cheap.

 

Y class locotracteurs have indeed been known as Yoyo for many decades. The Y8400 at Narbonne used to go up and down at great speed. Hit the buffers more than once at speed, enough to move the buffers.

[EddieB]

6 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

The ritual around a driver's retirement is a dearly held tradition on SNCF. Huge effort is made to change rosters around so that the driver's day will conclude at  the right time and place for a suitable celebration with colleagues. Most depots seem to have a semi-official restaurant. Look those out if you can - usually very good and cheap.

Not just in France.  Being surprised to find a fellow enthusiast at Tatabanya in Hungary, it turned out that his father was retiring that day, on a Railjet service.  When the train pulled in, his cab and station platform were full of well-wishing staff members.  I think the celebrations in Hungary may include more liquid than France!