Steam on the national network in France

Hi!

Does anyone know of a website that provides a calendar/overview of steam specials operating in France? There's a Wiki page with links to individual organisations but I'd love an overview. I'm going to be there two weeks in April around Lyon/Grenoble and I want to see what's passing through in that period. Thanks in advance!

 

Sadly nothing like that is available, so the only way to find out generally is to trawl through the various websites. Mainline steam in France is minimal, so not many sites to trawl through!

241.P.17 https://www.train-vapeur.fr/
141.R.840 http://www.141r840.fr
141.R.1126 https://www.trainhistorique-toulouse.com/historique/
231.K.8 (out of traffic at the moment I believe) https://mfpn.fr/
PVC Sotteville (no steam - 231.G.558 still being overhauled) https://pvcasso.fr/2025/01/19/programme-2025/
140.C.27 (April trip is diesel, May is steam) https://www.trainvapeur-auvergne.com/produit/au-coeur-de-laubrac/

Other than that, not a lot of choice. 241.P.17 is the closest and often operates a tour in April, but Les Cruesot is still a couple of hours away from Lyon and it depends which way the tour is heading.

 

Thanks a lot! Looks like nothing going on in April then. I'll just need to go back!

 

From Lyon the Vivarais railway is quite accessible, 1h 15 to the South by train. The Chemin de Fer du Velay is a similar distance but more difficult by public transport. The Vivarais is a polished commercial operation, the Velay a bit more Talyllyn in the days of Tom Rolt.

On the standard gauge the Train Touristique Monts du Lyon is 45 mins from the city, but this is low-key operation with rides in a PW inspection vehicle. The CF du Haut Forez is more interesting, no steam unfortunately but interesting nostalgic DMUs, Picasso Railcars and that sort of thing. It's about 1h 30 SW of Lyon by car.

I haven't checked if any of these are operating in April.

 

Vivarais has been near the top of my bucket list for a long time! I was considering a weekend diversion there (it is running in April) but I think I'll go back for a separate trip later in summer since there are gorgeous hikes through the national parks around there that deserve a bit more time.

I'm also interested in the regular steam specials from Limousin that run over summer.

 

Train a Vapeur des Cevennes was quite interesting a few years ago. SW of Lyon and north of Montellimar. Closed at the moment but appears to be running in the summer. There is also a Velorail to the east on the same original line.

 

The scenery of the Cevennes line looks incredible (also the main line specials in the region). So many viaducts...

Does anybody know if the La Vapeur du Trieux in the north of the country is still operation? The website hasn't updated since 2020.

 

The Paimpol operation (Vapeur du Trieux) has been suspended while the 2-8-2 tank they use (owned by AAATV at Mulhouse) was under overhaul. I think it might be back this year.

The Cevennes Line is spectacular and well worth doing even by modern DMU.