Longueville 100th Anniversary 17/18 September

To save hijacking the 241P thread any further, here's one about the event in France in a couple of weeks.

http://ajectathefrenchsteam.unblog.fr/

http://ajectathefrenchsteam.unblog.fr/files/2011/05/steamdays2011andsteamtrainfromtoulouse.pdf

http://www.ajecta.org/HTMtr1/Page_cadr_centenaire.htm

Despite what the links say, 231 G 558 is out for overhaul, so diesel BB 63 832 will be working their train from Sotteville-les-Rouen to Longueville and return. Even so, there should be 3 141 Rs, 231 K 8 and 141 TD 740 arriving on railtours, not to mention the various shuttles over the weekend. 8 steam locos in total should be at the half-roundhouse from Friday to Monday if I've read the gen correctly. Also present will be 3.268, the Nord 4-6-0 compound that was based at the Nene Valley.

 

In addition to the above, on the Sunday there will be double-headed 141Rs on a demonstration freight train formed of hopper wagons between Longueville and Verneuil l'Etang.

 

Sounds good! Shaping up to be a good weekend.

 

Sunday freight is 141.R.420 plus diesel, though it doesn't say if it's double headed or top and tailed. 231.K.8 now not going, nor Cockerill 503.

 

It is SO good to see 3.628 looking cared for again, the Nord 'chocolat' looks pristine! I enjoyed some wonderful times with her at the NVR in the late 70's and early 80's, all sorts of fun and games filming "Secret Army" and a great bunch of blokes dedicated to her care.... it nearly broke my heart to see her become so decrepit.

Foxy

 

I got back from France yesterday, having had a great few days away taking the slow train to Longueville.

As part of Longueville roundhouse's centenary, there were special steam trains organised from Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand to the event. We chose to travel from Toulouse, where we joined 141R 1126 last Wednesday morning. The loco was heading an eclectic mix of stock, including a couple of 1920s wagon-lits restaurant cars and an immaculately-restored 1930s beaux-arts commuter carriage! It was disappointing to have a diesel included in the consist, but understandable given the accident a couple of weeks previous and the potential for delay on such a long journey. I was told the diesel (a BB67300 class) was a preserved example.

From Toulouse 141R 1126 took us to Souillac (after a 2-hour lunch stop in Cahors!) where road coaches were waiting to transport us 10k or so up to a preserved railway called the "Train de Haut Quercy". This line is nothing short of spectacular, clinging to the side of cliffs overlooking the Dordogne while climbing a fearsome gradient! Our train of semi-open coaches were hauled by the only working steam loco, a Polish "USA" tank and boy, was it loud! This line is more of a tourist railway than a proper preserved line, but well worth a visit if you find yourselves in the Dordogne.

After our excursion to Haut-Quercy, we rejoined 141R 1126 at Souillac and continued North to Limoges, where we spent the night. An early start the next day and we headed for Vierzon, where a lunctime stop was made for servicing. Vierzon is a bit like the Swindon of France, a slightly down-at-heel ex railway town but with plenty to interest the enthusiast still! There was a cheerful local railway museum close to the station which was worth a half-hour visit, before getting back on our train and heading fro Orleans.

At Orleans, 141R 1126 came off the train and was replaced by the double-headed combination of 141R 420 and 141R 840. The former had arrived the evening before on a train from Clemont-Ferrand, and the latter is based at Limoges. 141R 1126 followed behind our train with a rake of non-passenger vintage stock, as we headed for Paris. We ran into Paris Bercy alongside the Gare Du Lyon, and then another preserved diesel took us on a loop of the rail equivelent of Paris' Perpherique before arriving into the Gare de l'Est. There was a bit of a faff here as problems with watering the 141s in a yard outside Paris resulted in a three-hour delay. No matter, it was sunny and the Gare de l'Est is a pleasant place for an afternoon's trainspotting!

On Saturday we headed over to Longueville for the gala. There were some shuttle trains running on the main lines from Longueville, with 141R steam from Verneuil l'Etang and Romily-Sur-Seine, and smaller locos (A Mallet and a 2-8-2 tank) on a shuttle over the short line from Provins to Longueville.

The roundhouse at Longueville was absolutely heaving with people! We didn't saty there too long, but watched some turntable demonstrations and saw 141TD 740, a Cockerill Tram loco and a German 0-6-0T in steam, plus the 141s. Then I went off to Paris for a bit of R&R!

I have uploaded some pictures to my flickr account. It's not a good camera, but there's some nice record shorts:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10855010@N08/sets/72157627704131370/detail/

 

Thanks for that. Terrific photos as well.

Foxy

 

The "preserved diesel" is a famous and magnificent CC72000 (able to run at 160 km/, 3400 hp) a,d not a BB 67300!:frog:
regards
Noel

 

Incredibly patient crowds waited for 2 to 3 hours for entry on saturday due to H & S restrictions such is the rarity of an event featurng as much as this in France, plenty of static exhibits including aero train, good to see plenty of UK trade support there too. Full cavalcade of eight coupled locos on saturday evening.

 

Hmm, 141 R 1126 ran back south with 040 DE 835 (63835) in the train yesterday, as well as 141 TD 740. I assume that was on the back coming up from Toulouse on Wednesday last week.

I'm slowly working through my photos. Only got home at 6pm this evening. It's been an interesting weekend. Lack of timings for the run south of Paris on Monday and Tuesday didn't help, along with making a couple of wrong decisions (standing south of Vierzon for 8 hours waiting for 141 R 1126 to appear after seeing something in steam at Vierzon station and assuming it was heading towards Limoges for example!) but all in all a good few days.

A couple or three to be getting on with...