Valence - some photos from my recent visit

[AndyB]

I'm not in any way familiar with French railways. But visiting friends in Valence last week I took some photos which hopefully might be of interest? Apologies in advance, I'll not be able to tell you wgat those trains were.

 

Our journey started around 08.30 in Hampshire, where we headed to Waterloo and St. Pancras, taking a lunchtime Eurostar to Gare du Nord. An RER connection to Gare de Lyon, and then on to Valence TGV station. Finally a local train into Valence Ville around 20.30.

We then returned via Marne la Vallee and Lille on Friday / Sunday.

 

Because of file sizes this may take a couple of posts... 

 

First up a somewhat ironic photo from my seat on the INOUI TGV train, where passengers were told to keep the blinds down to save energy.

 

"Seat with view". 

 

I'm going to call this my Schrodinger photo. 

If its sunny the blind is down. 

If its dark outside the blind can be up! 

 

There was a 30-minute delay in departure from Gare de Lyon whilst they sorted out coach numbers; there was some doubt about which end of the train should be which. This at least got my fellow passengers chatting as we debated whether we were in the right coach &, therefore, in the right seat. 

As the train was due to split and head towards both Marseille St Roch AND Perpignon this was of some practical importance for many.

In the end, with Gallic shrugs, the conclusion was "Seat numbers are compulsory, the coach number is optional!" And we all settled down for our journey south.

 

Valence TGV is a junction station a few miles northeast of Valence. So a train connection into town is needed. TGV lines are on the lower level and the local line on the upper level, with the 2 levels at 45 degs to each other. 

Because of our earlier delay we missed our connection and had an hour to watch the trains go by...

This one was heading towards the Alps.

 

 

Day 1 was finished with beer and pizza. 

 

Day 2 saw us stroll round town ahead of visiting friends. This shot is of Valence Ville station. The train is, I think, similar to the one photographed the previous evening.

 

 

A nicely cooked bavette was washed down with a Crozes Hermitage. 

 

In my next post I'll show some trains spotted during the 15mins we waited for our train back to Valence TGV. 

 

[AndyB]

We started back leaving Valence Ville around 08.30. 

 

 First up was this local passenger service which terminated at Valence.

 

 

Within a couple of minutes was this combination...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by AndyB

[AndyB]

Apologies for this blurred one, an electric loco hauling a train of tanks, I believe. 

My excuse was that I was concentrating on listening to a change of platform announcement.

 

 

You can see that train disappearing rapidly into a tunnel.

 

And lastly our train to Valence TGV.

 

 

All in all a busy station with lots of interest.

 

 

[AndyB]

Lastly some photos of Valence TGV.

 

 

 

 

And possibly the most surprising spot of the day. This 66 in a freight yard just south of Lyon. They get everywhere!!

 

 

So, that's pretty much "it" for our quick trip to Valence and back.

 

If anyone is able to add any info about these trains I'd be very interested to hear more. But hopefully you'll have enjoyed taking a quick look. 

Cheers. Andy 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gordonwis]

Where to start?

 

 

1) die hard older French railways enthusiasts will make a lot of effort to see real trains like the push pull loco hauled sets you 'happened upon' at Valence Ville! I suspect that some might even be jealous that you saw 'by chance' the 'old' SNCF, when right across France passenger services are increasingly being taken over by up to date multiple units! You perhaps weren't to know but Valence - Grenoble - Annecy / Geneve is one of the routes in Rhone - Alpes that is part of a triangle of regional services bucking the trend and clinging on to loco haulage.

 

2) 22264 (ignore the prefix '5' which is a sector identifier) belongs to the large class of  BB22200 dual system (1500v dc / 25kV ac) 'broken nose' locos . 22264 entered service in 20 February 1978.

 

3) The two diesels running light belong to the 'Infra' sector and what you saw constitutes a veritable 'showcase' of old SNCF versus new SNCF. 75021 is France's main 'modern' diesel class - of the Alsthom 'Prima' loco family. entered service 28 March 2007. In contrast 69482  (re-engined, originally 66482) represents one of the five main 1960s 'steam replacement era' French diesel classes.  482 entered service on 7 Dec 1970, but the earliest 66000 entered service in 1959.

 

4) the silver electric is a BB26000 'Sybic' type. I can tell from the distant view of the wagon that they are cereal hoppers - one of the most iconic sites on French railways for decades.

 

5) The site of an EWS '66' is probably the least (not most!) surprising of all your pictures , since the EWS 66s have been hauling freight all across France for over 20 years now. 66s run from the Alps all the way to Calais with the Evian water trains that end up on the WCML between Wembley and Daventry. 

 

 

 

.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Gordonwis

[AndyB]

Thank-you Gordon.

 

I very much appreciate all your insights. 🙂

It sounds like I was in the right place at the right time! 

 

At the time I did think the brace of diesels running light looked unusual; thanks to your info that confirms it.

 

Living deep in South Western EMU territory it was definitely a pleasure to see loco hauled passenger trains for a change. 

 

As for the "EWS 66" I did wonder if it was the English, Welsh and Scottish rugby teams promoting themselves in the face of these Equipe Francaise-liveried units. 😀

 

 

 

Andy

[AndyB]

I found myself back at Valence yesterday. Having previously taken in the sites, and wanting a distraction from the reason for my visit I settled down and took some more photos. I hope you find them of some interest.

 

Having arrived at around 09.45 by TGV from Lyon St Exupery I relocated to platform "A" which afforded me a decent overall perspective.

 

The traffic flowing through Valence Ville is quite intense at times. So the following images are just snapshots of a parade of passenger and freight trains. Time stamps should give an idea of what was happening.

 

First up was this loco hauled train which hung around for some time. I suspect it may have eventually headed off towards Valence TGV 

 

Taken at: 09:49

 

Taken at: 09:58

 

Taken at: 09:58

 

And having recently figured out that I can upload MP4 format, the same loco with sound effects.

 

 Taken at 10:03

 

And the first freight train I saw; a mix of hoppers and Iso container wagons passing through at speed, so apologies for the blurred images!

Taken at 09:58

 

 

 

 

Taken at 10:04, heading south.

 

Around 10.10 this rather smart 2-car train came in headed for Bourg de Peage. As an aide memoire I took a photo of the information board!

 

Taken at: 10:09

 

Taken at: 10:10

 

Short break whilst I stretched my legs round town and visited a nearby florists!

 

Taken at 11:25 

 

Taken at: 11: 29

 

And I think you're going to like the next sequence. A rake of shunting locos being hauled at modest speed by another loco.

Taken at: 11:34

 

 

 

 

And with sound effects...

 As modellers one of our challenges is to squeeze in long rakes of rolling stock into a tiny layout footprint. But I think this video shows that it's actually quite difficult to count the shunters as they're partially obscured by the platform canopy supports. 

Why not use view blockers to our advantage...and think how much money we'd save! 😁

 

Anyway to round things off...

Taken at: 11:44

 

Taken at: 11:47. Note the light engine running in the background. 

 

Taken at 11:51. Note the loco in the background pulling a long rake of intermodal wagons including some form of tank wagons.

 

Taken at 11:56

 

I returned to Lyon St Exupery by TGV in the evening after an afternoon spent in a village on the other side of the Rhone. The river sits between this park and the distant escarpment.

 

Although it's perhaps less likely I'll return to Valence I'd recommend this town and region; it's really very pleasant and easy to get to. 

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my photo account of my visit. I can't tell you anything about the rolling stock featured, but I know there are experts on here who will hopefully be happy to fill in some of the gaps. 

 

All the best. Andy

 

 

Concourse at Lyon St Exupery. Very futuristic...and clean!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16 by AndyB