brightspark Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Today I came across a delightful scene here in Brittany. The location is at Bon-Repos on the RD2164. For those fans of Maggie and Gordon Gravett's model Pempoul a model of the metre guage Réseau Breton Railway, well it looks like the dream of restoring this has come true. Today I visited the railway. They are currently running a narrow gauge track in a form of loop using a Simplex(?)loco. As I understand it they acquired the site in 2010 and started work in 2011. This year they have managed to open with a short (platform length) section of track and the narrow guage. The exciting news is that they have access to 4km of trackbed that will take them to the station at Gourec. As yet they do not have the station building but do have the platform and yard. They reckon that track laying will take about four years. The railcar looks in reasonable condition, but again they are talking about four years to restore. Anyway here are the pictures that I took today. Ahh Railcar They have some wagons in various states of repair. A streetcar from Strasburg It has an American chassis and has been made to look like an American loco. To me it is saying "when I grow I want to be a steam engine". I think that this railway deserves support. So if you are in the region look it up and say that you saw it mentioned here. As I get more info I will post. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted July 14, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 14, 2015 Fantastic to see this, the RB must have been a wonderful system as portrayed in Gordon Gravett's book and by the many remaining stations. There is a Mallet 'double sixe' at Carhaix if they get really ambitious! Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Fantastic to see this, the RB must have been a wonderful system as portrayed in Gordon Gravett's book and by the many remaining stations. There is a Mallet 'double sixe' at Carhaix if they get really ambitious! Dava Why stop there? There are perhaps a couple of Chapelon-designed "GELSA" locomotives surviving/rotting away in Bolivia - as tested out on the Reseau Breton before being exported to South America. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Good luck to them. The parts of Brittany I visit show hardly any trace of the Reseau. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Fantastic to see this, the RB must have been a wonderful system as portrayed in Gordon Gravett's book and by the many remaining stations. There is a Mallet 'double sixe' at Carhaix if they get really ambitious! Dava Yes they are aware of the double sixe. But the French are, shall we say, not big fans of preservation and restoration. I get the strong impression that they would see the loco in bits rather than a working machine. So not only do the RB have to restore everything, they also have to engage the interest of the locals. Hopefully if they can prove that it works they may get their hands on some of the RB stock that is still in the area. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rue_d_etropal Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Unless you have a lot of money to not only restore a steam loco but also maintain it then I cannot see big steam locos being practical or cost effective(ie sustainable) on such a short line. Better to explore the idea of using railcars. I am not saying the loco should not be restored but it needs someone prepared to put their money where their mouth is. I also like the railcars and they probably could be restored in a way that makes them far more to run than when they were built. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 19, 2015 Author Share Posted July 19, 2015 I agree. I too am a fan of the railcars and a few of the other diesels they have tucked away. However is there interest in such things from the general public. I suspect that this tourist attraction will have to be aimed at British and German holidaymakers and that they will expect steam. In the eyes of Joe Public isn't that what these old fashioned railways are about? I guess that you could promote the railcars as part of the glamorous and progressive 50's and 60's. But these were not glamorous. I think that these guys have a realistic ambition. That is to get the railbus into working order with a couple of industrial types and get some simple coachng stock running. They have what looks like some open cars. The bigger challenge however is the trackbed. I have been trying to figure what will happen here. From the station at Bon-Repo the line goes down an incline and the trackbed is now part of a dual carriageway that forms the N164. However a bypass has been built and this road is now very empty. So it looks like the track could be replaced and a hard (suitable for high pressure tyres) cycle track could be put next to it. I think this is what was mentioned. If you use google maps you can follow the road from Gouarec station at https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.226842,-3.175967,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3CZ7x_3WnYdiMaDeMLNTBA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656and follow the road along towards Bon-Repo. Leaving the station yard will be to the right. The trackbed runs along the rough ground towards the roundabout. After the RAB old photos show the track running in the right hand carriageway. To the left are steep cliffs and to the right is the canal so it has to run along here. The road eventually turns into a single carriageway. I guess the railways stays to the right before crossing it and climbing to the easterly station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Evenin' all, ....the Railway Roundabout European DVDs feature some delightful colour footage of the long lost French narrow gauge lines. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
upneysidings Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I rarely promote my web site and haven't done so within RMweb since the beginning of 2014. The site has seen major changes in format and contents since then including a large increase in the volume of overseas images. Amongst those are large numbers of French subjects including a gallery of images featuring French narrow gauge and industrial material: http://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railway-overseas/Europe-Scandinavia/France-French-Railways/France-4-narrow-gauge/ I did mention this gallery in my posting last year but the url's for my site have been changed since then and there is some material that's been added in the meantime. The link to all the French images is: http://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railway-overseas/Europe-Scandinavia/France-French-Railways The rare pre-war material, all scanned from original film btw, includes scarce shots of Tramways de la Sarthe as well as three of the streamliners. One hopes that some of RMweb's members enjoy the contents. Rgds, MikeM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted July 20, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2015 Thank you Mike, a fascinating collection! Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rue_d_etropal Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 On the subject of diesel versus steam, I wonder which is more popular. Diesel weekends on lines in the UK seem to be pretty popular, sometimes more popular than steam. I tend to find that most standard gauge lines in UK using mk1 coaches , even steam hauled does not feel that special. Pity. If a railway travels through interesting scenery, then a railcar may provide a more comfortable ride. I have not had chance to travel on many of the French narrow gauge lines, but when I had the chance I chose the metre gauge line on the Somme rather than the 60cm line as I had never travelled on metre gauge. The Breton lines are as well known for their railcars as for the steam. A good restaurant at the end of the line is also a good pulling point, so hopefully someone might look into this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 The website for site is www.reseaubreton.com Mike, great pictures. Hmmm I am starting to get a soft spot for this railway...1:50th scale was it Gordon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Hayter Posted July 20, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2015 1:60 will make your life so much easier. Track gauge 16.6mm - call it 16.5 and then use whatever H0 and 00 chassis, wheels etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 But I model EM....It not about the scale its (now) about the track gauge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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