Gordonwis

The first one 'La Raison du Diesel' (translates as 'Diesel is right' (ie correct!) is superb. Film shows 060DB (later CC65000), o4oDE (later BB63000), C61000 rod drive 060, Y6200, VH railcar, ABJ railcar. The inclusion of the 040DE is probably deliberate as the film is all about the west coast area and the 040DE were built by Brissoneau & Lotz at Aytré (La Rochelle suburb) which is still a railway works (Alstom). All classes of Diesel and diesel railcar featured are now withdrawn except for a odd example of 040DE and Y6200 in special depot-only use

Opher is a hebrew name. The owner is Jewish, hence the shop opens on Sundays and is thus useful for weekend only visits

. Sorry for the late entry into this topic which is of course 'my area of expertise', but have just returned from my summer holiday in Switzerland. I no longer make 'special' trips abroad for French N in shops. Personally, I honestly believe it is now more economical to buy French N gauge on line from France (eg Trains 160), Germany (for the mainstream German made stuff eg Minitrix), Spain or Basar Valira (eg for the Mabar railcars) see Basar Valira in Andorra However, if one is visiting cities for other reasons it is obviously worth a look at the model shops. Transmondia is the 'home' of French N gauge with their own products etc. Back in the days when there were very few French N gauge items (late 70s early 80s) Transmondia was vital to us very few longstanding French N gaugers for their resin kits , but nowadays with 'mainstream' products such as the excellent recent Minitrix and Piko products, they are not necessarily the cheapest option and most of the many many model railway shops in Paris now carry N gauge stuff. .

The Euskotren (once dubbed El Topo and with wizzened wooden poles) is 1500v DC

Hardly off topic IMO as this sort of border crossing is arguably more 'odd' than the subject matter in the previous parts of the discussion. I must admit I don't remember the 'little gate' situation you mention but otherwise, I am certain you are talking about the Wiener Neustadt - Mattersburg - Sopron - Oberpullendorf line. In the 1970s it has already been curtailed from its southern terminus of Oberloisdorf, itself a curtailment of the original line which ran all the way to Rattersdorf and across the border again to the Hungarian town of Koszeg. This can all be seen still on the larger scale maps at ViaMichelin.com. The present service runs only to Mattersburg and Sopron, all other stations AFAIK are served by bus. I visited the area in 1976 to see the Hungarian steam locos (2-6-2 tanks on the Neusidl anm see line and cl.520 Kriegsloks on the 'main' Sopron - Ebenfurth line) of the unique cross-iron-curtain private railway GySEV (ROEE) which crossed into Austria several times daily in order to become freely photographable by enthusiasts! The Sopron area was very borderline Hungarian, and in the communist era I always felt particularly sorry for the residents of the Sopron area as they had voted in the 1920s to be in Hungary not Austria, only to find themselves on the 'wrong side of the wire' for 40 odd years. To see the detail on a current map see this link. The line is in squares U6, V6 and U7, V7 'Corridor' trains like this certainly weren't unusual either. I travelled across a corner of the USSR (Ukraine) on a KGB-guarded Polish train in south east Poland in 1991. Because the whole of Poland 'shunted' westwards after 1945 there was a similar corridor train which ran from southeast GDR through south west Poland. .

This occurs all over France, as SNCF is one of the largest number of electric overhead system borders in the world. I enjoyed the experience a few days ago at Pont de Veyle (near Macon) where Geneva TGVs change from 25kv ac to 1500 dc.

AFAIK - similar 'coasting' arrangements at Domodossola

lots of pictures if you just 'google image' "saut de mouton"

You must be confusing yourself. The Paris - Mulhouse diesel line (via Belfort) is the only trunk route NOT to have a flyover at the Alsace border. It was removed many years ago to simplify operations