80s and 90s trips to France

[MrTea]

I’ve been going through some family photos my Dad kindly scanned for me and found a few good ones of French railways I thought might be of interest. 
 

I’ll add captions if I can find when and where the images were taken. 
 

Here are some TGVs to start off the thread:

 

 

 

 

These were all taken in Paris in the summer of 1990, I think at Gare de Lyon. 

 

 

Yours truly aged 14. 

[Rich Papper]

Yep, definitely Gare de Lyon. Great to see, thanks for sharing. I have some of a similar vintage in the loft somewhere. Maybe inspiration for a layout one day…

Rich

 

[MrTea]

80s and 90s SNCF nostalgia Part 2

 

These shots, also courtesy of my Dad, were taken in Paris in the summer of 1990. If I remember right we stayed outside Paris and commuted in for a couple of days of sightseeing. 
 

 

Push-Pull double deck set. 

 

 

 

The electric loco hauling the double deck set.

 

 

I think this is one of the turbo train sets. 

[Fat Controller]

2 hours ago, MrTea said:

80s and 90s SNCF nostalgia Part 2

 

These shots, also courtesy of my Dad, were taken in Paris in the summer of 1990. If I remember right we stayed outside Paris and commuted in for a couple of days of sightseeing. 
 

 

Push-Pull double deck set. 

 

 

 

The electric loco hauling the double deck set.

 

 

I think this is one of the turbo train sets. 

It is one of the turbo-powered sets. At the time of the photo, they worked from Gare du Nord to Boulogne Aeroglisseurs, St Lazare to Cherbourg and somewhere on the SE Region. Noisy, smelly things.

[Rich Papper]

3 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

 Noisy, smelly things.

 

But very smooth riding. I remember a couple of trips from Boulogne to Paris and back on family holidays and seeing what we could balance on the air-con vents by the window as the train pulled away. I'm sure good track helped too, either way a different experience to the 4-CEP that got us to our side of the channel.

Rich

[MrTea]

80s and 90s SNCF nostalgia Part 3

 

My Mum had a pen friend who she’d kept in touch with since school. We visited them in Angers on the way back from one of our camping holidays in the summer of 1980. 
 

 

 

 

Express service waiting at the platform 

 

 

Shunting operations. 

 

 

Railcar on a local service. 

 

 

Me with my younger brother (nice dungarees Rich!) overlooking the station. 

 

 

[MrTea]

80s and 90s SNCF nostalgia Part 4

 

We were fortunate that both my parents worked in education and therefore we were able to take several weeks holiday during the summer break. In the early 80s driving to the south of France with two infants wasn’t exactly an appealing prospect for them but fortunately there was a motorail service from the channel ports to destinations across France. The highlight for me was the shunting and the changes of traction in the middle of the night at Amiens.

 

 

Diesel locomotive at Calais, summer 1980.

 

Electric traction from ? in summer 1981. 

 

 

SNCF electric locomotive at Narbonne, summer 1981. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by MrTea
Corrections on the captions!

[phil-b259]

48 minutes ago, MrTea said:

80s and 90s SNCF nostalgia Part 4

 

We were fortunate that both my parents worked in education and therefore we were able to take several weeks holiday during the summer break. In the early 80s driving to the south of France with two infants wasn’t exactly an appealing prospect for them but fortunately there was a motorail service from the channel ports to destinations across France. The highlight for me was the shunting and the changes of traction in the middle of the night at Avignon. 

 

 

Diesel locomotive at Calais, summer 1980.

 

Electric traction from Boulonge-sur-Mer in summer 1981. 

 

 

SNCF electric locomotive at Narbonne, summer 1981. 

Erm 25KV didn’t arrive at Boulonge until the early 1990s (and then only from Calais so as to allow TGVs to serve the town)

 

The motorail services (which we used for family holidays to the south of France from the mid 1980s) were all Diesel hauled as far as Amiens where the change to an electric loco would be made. I also remember paying great attention to the process peering round the edge of the window blinds to see what I could
 

Once the motorail operation shifted to Calais in the early 1990s electric haulage via Saint Omer was possible but anything routed via Boulonge still needed diesels - it wasn’t until the 2010s that the gap in the OLE via Aberville was filled (by which time motorail service from Calais were no more.

Edited August 6, 2023 by phil-b259

[MrTea]

Thanks Phil for the corrections. I’ve amended the details on my post. 
 

I don’t know where the middle photo was taken but I think it was on the first of the two trips where we took the motorail. 

[MrTea]

80s and 90s French nostalgia Part 4
 

In summer 1983 we visited Switzerland and travelled through France and Germany on the way. This time we stopped in Alsace for a night, where there just happened to be a local heritage railway. 

These pictures were taken at Volgelsheim on the Chemin de Fer Touristique du Rhin http://www.ried-express-cftr.fr/index.html

 

 

 

 

I gather from the railway’s website that operations started in 1982 so we were lucky to see this. 

[MrTea]

80s and 90s French nostalgia Part 5

 

In 1989 we had a summer visit to Switzerland - in fact this was the trip that kickstarted my interest in all things RhB. On the way we travelled across France and this time we stayed near Mulhouse on the outward journey. The French National Railway Museum is located there so it would have been rude not to visit. 
 

 

[MrTea]

80s and 90s French nostalgia Part 6

 

Couple of off-piste selections to finish off thread with:

 

 

Steam outline diesel, narrow gauge taken at a ‘Parc d’attractions’. I’m not sure quite where this is but I suspect it’s somewhere in central France as we visited the Tarn Gorges area in summer 1980. 
 

 

Narrow gauge again, but this time in the Pyrenees in summer 1981. This is the petit train d’Arouste - great fun if I remember right. It also seems to have the SNCF rounded on the nose of the loco. 

[Gordonwis]

On 06/08/2023 at 21:26, MrTea said:

Thanks Phil for the corrections. I’ve amended the details on my post. 
 

I don’t know where the middle photo was taken but I think it was on the first of the two trips where we took the motorail. 

 

 

Late to this thread as I have been in Alaska, Canada and California!

 

Classic 80s/90s SNCF stuff - thank for the photos

The loco is BB9262, a dc only 'BB Jacquemin' aka 'BB MTE', so likely to be at Avignon or somewhere in the south (given that you also show a 6500 in Narbonne)

[Gordonwis]

On 16/08/2023 at 08:27, MrTea said:

80s and 90s French nostalgia Part 6

 

Couple of off-piste selections to finish off thread with:

 

 

Steam outline diesel, narrow gauge taken at a ‘Parc d’attractions’. I’m not sure quite where this is but I suspect it’s somewhere in central France as we visited the Tarn Gorges area in summer 1980. 
 

 

Narrow gauge again, but this time in the Pyrenees in summer 1981. This is the petit train d’Arouste - great fun if I remember right. It also seems to have the SNCF rounded on the nose of the loco. 

 

 

Artouste. The dam construction railway which was converted into a tourist attraction

 

.

[Gordonwis]

On 08/08/2023 at 07:46, MrTea said:

80s and 90s French nostalgia Part 4
 

In summer 1983 we visited Switzerland and travelled through France and Germany on the way. This time we stopped in Alsace for a night, where there just happened to be a local heritage railway. 

These pictures were taken at Volgelsheim on the Chemin de Fer Touristique du Rhin http://www.ried-express-cftr.fr/index.html

 

 

 

 

I gather from the railway’s website that operations started in 1982 so we were lucky to see this. 

 

 

This was a a breakaway group (politics ... politics...) from the Doller tourist railway Cernay - Sentheim (CFTVD) which I visited in 1979

 

.

[Gordonwis]

On 05/08/2023 at 10:33, Fat Controller said:

It is one of the turbo-powered sets. At the time of the photo, they worked from Gare du Nord to Boulogne Aeroglisseurs, St Lazare to Cherbourg and somewhere on the SE Region. Noisy, smelly things.

 

 

Disagree! Brilliant - jet aircraft on rails

 

They worked Strasbourg - Lyon inter city and Lyon - Bordeaux for many years

 

 

 

 

.

[Fat Controller]

15 hours ago, Gordonwis said:

 

 

Disagree! Brilliant - jet aircraft on rails

 

They worked Strasbourg - Lyon inter city and Lyon - Bordeaux for many years

 

 

 

 

.

I travelled on them a couple of times; from Paris to Caen and GdN to Boulogne Aeroglisseurs. They were certainly comfortable, especially after a week's grape-picking..

Am I correct in thinking there were two-car units, possibly with a diesel and a  gas turbine

[Gordonwis]

8 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

I travelled on them a couple of times; from Paris to Caen and GdN to Boulogne Aeroglisseurs. They were certainly comfortable, especially after a week's grape-picking..

Am I correct in thinking there were two-car units, possibly with a diesel and a  gas turbine

 

 

No two car units.

 

There were two types of SNCF Turbotrain.

 

First version: type ETG = Element a turbine a gaz. 4 cars. One turbine motor car with a Turbomeca 'jet' engine, the other end power car was diesel essentially a modified Caravelle (X4300) DMU power car

 

Second version: type RTG = Rame a turbine a gaz. 5 cars both power cars with Turbomeca jet engines

 

The ETG's were ousted from Paris - Cherbourg by the later RTGs, and redeployed to Rhone-Alpes/Burgundy/Franche Comte

Edited August 27, 2023 by Gordonwis

[Fat Controller]

10 hours ago, Gordonwis said:

 

 

No two car units.

 

There were two types of SNCF Turbotrain.

 

First version: type ETG = Element a turbine a gaz. 4 cars. One turbine motor car with a Turbomeca 'jet' engine, the other end power car was diesel essentially a modified Caravelle (X4300) DMU power car

 

Second version: type RTG = Rame a turbine a gaz. 5 cars both power cars with Turbomeca jet engines

 

The ETG's were ousted from Paris - Cherbourg by the later RTGs, and redeployed to Rhone-Alpes/Burgundy/Franche Comte

Thanks for that, Gordon. I wonder which worked on the line from Lozanne to Paray le Monial? I remember some trains on this line were very noisy; my friends have vineyards nearby, around Letra.

[brushman47544]

On 27/08/2023 at 11:56, Fat Controller said:

Thanks for that, Gordon. I wonder which worked on the line from Lozanne to Paray le Monial? I remember some trains on this line were very noisy; my friends have vineyards nearby, around Letra.

Both Lyon depots Vaise and Venissieux had an allocation of Turbos - the ETGs at Vaise and the RTGs at Venissieux. On a trip to Lyon in June 1996, I remember seeing ETGs on Bordeaux - Lyon trains (did the trains on the “northern” route go via Paray?) but I don’t know if that was normal or not. The through trains on the “southern” route via Clemont-Ferrand that I saw were BB67400.

 

Incidentally on that trip I caught a Lyon Perrache to Torino train that I expected to be a 6500 but was 26208 instead. The driver told me that Sybics worked the train on Mondays only and that it was 26208’s first revenue-earning working, so my disappointment was tempered slightly.

[Nova Scotian]

Thanks for sharing these - very nostalgic. Went to France regularly with my family in late 80s and 90s - which would include stops at all the major stations (and some minor ones). Always Fréthun depot (as you could see things back then). We did motorail at least twice, once to Biarritz, the other I think to Bordeaux, but maybe it was Toulouse. French traction was always so exotic, absolutely loved it. 

 

I'll have to ask my father if he's finished scanning his slides and negatives. Most of my photos from that time were blurry, too far away, shot on a cheap disposal camera. 

 

Again, thanks - was nice remembering some of those visits. We stopped going as often in the late 90s I think it was - just as the Sybics were making their way to the Calais (if I recall they were elsewhere first)

[JeffP]

The Sybics seemed to spread from Dijon Perrigny.

I remember visiting in around 1995/6 and there were quite a few brand new ones awaiting acceptance.

[SimonBoulton]

Great pictures, I travelled around Brittany and Normandy by rail in the early nineties and wish now I'd paid more attention to the railways, I remember a double headed freight train coming out of Cherbourg Harbour, the old red and cream diesel railcars and a loco hauled service to St Malo with those low silver coloured coaches, thing the locomotive was one of the 67000 family

[Gordonwis]

On 27/08/2023 at 11:56, Fat Controller said:

Thanks for that, Gordon. I wonder which worked on the line from Lozanne to Paray le Monial? I remember some trains on this line were very noisy; my friends have vineyards nearby, around Letra.

 

I suspect the loud trains were RGPs not Turbos

[Gordonwis]

On 18/10/2023 at 12:52, SimonBoulton said:

Great pictures, I travelled around Brittany and Normandy by rail in the early nineties and wish now I'd paid more attention to the railways, I remember a double headed freight train coming out of Cherbourg Harbour, the old red and cream diesel railcars and a loco hauled service to St Malo with those low silver coloured coaches, thing the locomotive was one of the 67000 family

 

 

67300 + RRR to St Malo in the 1990s