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I saw that carriage at Pacy-sur-Eure last year. Here is my pic.

I bought one of those old kits (on Ebay) a couple of years ago. A word of warning - the parts do not fit. Repeat: the parts do not fit. If you want a ready-to-run version of that autorail, you can buy this one made by R37: https://www.jura-modelisme.fr/44-autorails/s-6/fabricant-r37/categories_2-autorails By the way, I applaud this layout. My parents spent many years enjoying summer holidays in a house overlooking Bedarieux.

Someone in France has an ebay shop selling old 16mm and 8mm films, including this documentary about French railways: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/274117986083?ul_noapp=true The postage charges seem extortionate but the films look interesting. This link displays the railway films: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=boulevard-du-cine&_armrs=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Film+16%3A+sncf&_sacat=0.

The French publisher La Vie Du Rail publishes a historical magazine called Historail. The latest edition has a variety of articles (in French) including this one on the shipment of champagne by train; https://www.historail.fr/du-champagne-sur-les-rails/ The pictures alone look fascinating.

Dropping that pic of the Villelaure sign into Whatthefont suggests it might be replicated by a font called Coldharbour Gothic: https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/result which cunningly replicates some of the rusty smudges on the lettering.

Get a decent picture (from a photo in a book or somewhere on the internet) and upload it to this website called Whatthefont: https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ It should tell you exactly the font/typeface, or suggest something very similar. My sister, who works in the TV graphics effects industry, uses it so it must be reasonably good. I have used it and it works. Here is a similar website though I haven't used it: https://www.whatfontis.com/

Indeed. Every day in our recent week's holiday, when driving, I had to consult a street map of the city, reconcile it with the actual roads, reconcile the map and roads with the road signs, and then always felt I was on the wrong road or going in the wrong direction; even If I wasn't. Rouen has the most badly designed road system I have ever come across, making a bowl of spaghetti look orderly and streamlined. I know that French road signs are always designed for people who know where they are going, but the ones in Rouen seemed deliberately designed to mislead the unwary into going the wrong way.

The latest edition of the magazine Voie Libre confirms that the next Trainsmania exhibition will be in 2021. I went to both the 2017 and 2019 shows and they were both brilliant; well worth a trip to Lille for a long weekend.

I watched the film on DVD. As mentioned above, some interesting rural and railway views. The film itself is a mixed bag - with some hammy acting (especially Alec Guinness!), stiff dialogue, poor editing, continuity mistakes and a thoroughly bonkers plot. In other words, typical Ealing fare. I quite enjoyed it.

Hell and damnation! I had no idea about Acquigny. Had I known, I would have visited.

Here are some more pics, all taken at Pacy apart from the final pics of narrow gauge steam engines which are parked - seemingly just for decoration - at Breuilpont.

On our recent week in Normandy we visited the preserved railway at Pacy sur Eure which is here, about an hour's drive south east of Rouen: https://www.google.com/maps/place/27120+Pacy-sur-Eure,+France/@49.0218761,1.1181678,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e14ab9a63a6b61:0xcc341d3339aec2ae!8m2!3d49.013679!4d1.381434 Once part of a single track line running from Rouen south to Orleans, it was finally closed in the late 1980s. Then, some of it was bought by the Chemin de Fer de la Vallee de L'Eure (CFVE): https://www.cfve.org/ which was set up in 1993 to run trains on the line again. If you fancy a trip please note that the website does not give accurate information about the time table. You should ring the town's tourist office which is in the station building to find out what is running and when. For instance the website suggested there were no scheduled trips until July, which thankfully turned out to be nonsense. Broadly speaking, two journeys are offered a few times per week: either north from Pacy to Cocherel, or south to Breuilpont. I got the impression that the railway is underfunded and understaffed. For instance, it has accumulated quite a lot of rolling stock, much of which appears to be slowly rotting outdoors. But some is clearly still working, including a restored postal sorting carriage which is, apparently, classified as a national monument, Overall it was a very nice slow trip to Breuilpont through some lovely unspoilt countryside. To protect cars at the unguarded level crossings, two members of staff drive ahead and close the crossings by standing in the road with red flags until the train has gone past. Back to the 1800s! Anyway, here are some pics (sadly the Renault railcar was not operating on the day we went). Our engine for the day. The Renault railcar. Very nice. The first two carriages running that day. The postal sorting office which inside is a museum describing, among other things, the hot, sweaty and dangerous working conditions of the sorting staff. The third carriage with seats of wooden slats. A derelict steam engine. The station building at Pacy, trackside. A seemingly rotting diesel engine. And some sort of diesel draisine (I think). I picked up a leaflet describing all the rolling stock but stupidly threw it away. If anyone wants to see a few more pics (such as some narrow gauge steam engines rotting at Breuilpont) let me know.

BIngo! I have discovered a website that will identify your typeface from a photo if you drop it in. It is called WhatTheFont: https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ It correctly identified La Buvette du Robec as being in Choc, but is having difficulty with Le Mesnil Esnard. It has identified the typeface is this picture below as probably Aldine 721 Std Bold Condensed.

Wikipedia says the town hall was built in 1937. Old postcards show that the building also housed a school, which may explain its size.

I spotted this sign above a bar in Rouen recently. Does anyone know the name of the typeface? To answer my own question, I think it is a variation of the Mistral typeface. Edit: Wikipedia suggests the typeface is called Choc. It was designed by Roger Excoffon in 1955, who had previously designed the Mistral typeface in 1953, of which he was trying to design a bolder version. But what typeface is this, from the town hall of Le Mesnil Esnard?

To partly answer my own question, I have discovered two possible options. This facade from Regions et Compagnies: https://www.regionsetcompagnies.fr/produit/889-magasins-generaux-facade-entrepots-raccordes/ And this façade from Minifer: https://www.minifer.fr/boutique/echelle-ho/batiments-industriels-a-l-echelle-ho/l-entrepot-toulousain.html

Does anyone know of a model (HO scale) of a French wine Co-Op building (a Cave Cooperative)? I can't find one available, though I think Atelier Belle Epoch (ABE) used to make one: http://www.easy-miniatures.com/cave-cooperative-avec-wagon-ree-33115.html Alternatively, can anyone think of a barn style building that could be made to look like a Co-Op building? Thanks in advance.

Speaking to the nice chaps from REE Models at the Trainsmania exhibition in Lille, I learned that their forthcoming model of the Billard A80 railcar will be on sale this winter or next spring. It will be available in DCC with sound too, and in both HOe and HOm gauges. Great news. It will look like this: https://www.facebook.com/reemodeles/posts/cest-en-partenariat-avec-architecture-passion-que-sera-développée-la-future-gamm/1754058564638204/

I went on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Overall I thought it was tremendous and well worth the trip. Not only were the layouts of generally very high quality, the sheer volume and variety of models for sale was remarkable (if expensive). The Saint-Tourbiere layout in particular was wonderful; possibly the best layout I have ever seen. There are some videos of it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=saint-tourbiere&sp=mAEB . I also loved the Chateau Migraine layout based on the old Paris Bercy wine depot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi05t-xaWTg .

There should be no shortage of material as France is littered with disused railways all over the place.

I have just seen an advert for this and it looks good. It's a newly published book of old maps of France and its many railways in 1933: https://trains.lrpresse.com/A-18334-toutes-les-lignes-et-les-gares-de-france-en-cartes.aspx Available from the folk at LR Presse who publish railway magazines. The bad Google translation says: "Although not originally rail, these issues cards "Pouey Collection" are a wealth of information for both the amateur and for the modeller. The 1933 edition lists all main and secondary rail, standard gauge or narrow gauge, the entire French territory, at a time when the railway is at its peak. Thus, more than 11 000 stations are carried on the 89 departments that make up this collection. The texts written by Clive Lamming summarize the history and evolution of all these lines, their origin to the present. 89 colorized maps. "

I love the typefaces of the shop signs. Are there any good books about French typography?

I was enjoying listening to some French accordion music on YouTube and noticed that this track is accompanied by pictures of closed-down shop fronts. You may enjoy it too, in a melancholy sort of way.

I spent a holiday last year in the village of Durban-Corbiers, about an hour's drive south east of Carcassonne. We came across a small museum in the village of Grasse (closer to Carcassonne) which is devoted to vinegar (yes, really) and local history around the end of the 19th century. So what? Well, it has a model railway showing how some of the old metre gauge network linked various local villages. All good fun. Here is a link: https://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/lagrasse-729/museum-1900--34461.htm I have to say, I didn't spot any relics of the old tramway itself.

The overview from Lyndon Davies is one of the most readable and understandable reports I have ever seen from a company, especially one in trouble. There is a splendid lack of managerial guff and opaque euphemisms. Let's hope his strategy actually works.