SNCF Archive Trip Report 23-27 August 2011

A line up of classic traction at Creil on 25th August 2011. BB67614 and 67523 wait to work services to Beauvais, while classic Z6100 stainless steel EMU 183 waits to work a commuter service back to Paris. 25.08.2011.

Following on from our enjoyable trip to Poland in January 2011, James and James this time were bound to the somewhat 'less exotic' France; Land of wine, cheese and the SNCF. This was my half of the bargain of our initial foreign trips together. 

CC72157 works the 19:11 Paris - Troyes through
Val de Fontenay. 24.08.2011

Having started to pay some attention to foreign railways I had quickly realised that, actually, one didn't need to travel very far at all to find some very interesting traction. With diesel loco-hauled services in the UK almost non-existent it was quite a revelation to discover that some of the nearest 'proper' diesel loco hauled trains from my address were actually in France, less that 100 miles away as the crow flies- no further away that Birmingham! 

French trains looked to be stylish and full of character with a variety of pleasing liveries keep the photographer happy.

Ancient station pilot BB88517 at the Gare du Lyon. 26.08.2011

As well as the Intercities trains hauled by BB67400 diesels from Boulogne (a route I would visit many times over the following years, as the more recent trip reports here reveal) France was a country where away from the LGV high speed lines there were still many traditional practises and trains. The tides had however already turned and influxes of new multiple units in the 2000's had already made massive dents into the traditional SNCF image- it was definitely time to sample what was left.

Thursday 23rd August 2011

BB8588 works the 18:03 Montparnasse - Chartres with RIO stock on 23.08.2011 seen on the outskirts of Rambouillet.

BB16051 stands aside BB67484 which has arrived from Laon

The journey to Paris was certainly far simpler than the previous trip to Poland. It was a familiar journey which I had taken before by Eurostar-  though this was my first time departing from St Pancras International to Paris gare du Nord following the move of Eurostar from Waterloo. 

Immediately upon stepping off the train it was clear that there was plenty of variety and older liveries to be seen here with a variety of locos on the blocks including a 'multiservice' BB16000 and one of the original blue BB67400's which had arrived with a diesel hauled train from Laon.

BB7274 hauls the 18:48 Montparnasse - Chartres. 23.08.2011.

After dropping our baggs and setting in at a particularly small IBIS hotel we then made our way across the city to Gare Montparnasse. This is not the most attractive of Paris terminals being covered with an office building, but does have a number of loco hauled options. I had a location in mind for the evening peak which involved taking a train to the end of the commuter network at Rambouillet, followed by a walk to open countryside. While the sun wasn't as consistent as would have been ideal a number of pleasing shots were made of BB8500 and BB7200 electrics on the peak services to Charters and Le Mans. Included amongst the haul was BB8588 hauling an 8 car 'RIO' trainset- the only occasion I would see one of these outside of commuter use. These low height 'Rame Inox Omnibus' sets were previously used extensively in France; their light weight construction allowed reduced track wear and fast acceleration while the cab at one end allowed easy push-pull operation with diesel and electric locomotives negating any need to run around. 

Pleased with the first day we found a traditional restaurant in Rambouillet for dinner before heading back to the city and our accommodation.

Wednesday 24th August 2011

'Concrete' livery BB7273 works an Intercities service through Saint-Michelle-sur-Orge. 24.08.2011

BB26015 with an 'Aqualys' service from Tours and Orleans
seen passing Juvisy on 24.08.2011.

Today we headed south of the city in search of more loco hauled passenger and hopefully some freight. Our first port of call was the busy junction station of Juvisy, served by RER commuter trains but also a busy spot for passing Intercities trains from both Gare Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon as well as freight trains, being located south of the busy yard at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. Unfortunately for all it has in quantity of trains it lacks in ease of photography- the many platforms split with the junction making it impossible to cover all of the station, and even then the views were cluttered and none too pleasing. 

Classic Sud-Est TGV 87 on classic lines at Saint-Michelle-sur-Orge. 24.08.2011

Alsthom multi-voltage 'Prima' BB37001 works 
through Saint-Michelle-sur-Orge. 24.08.2011

Much better was our second stop off at Saint-Michelle-sur-Orge where we spent much of the afternoon. While freight levels did not meet our aspirations with just a few trains we were at least rewarded with a regular stream of Intercities services heading to the south hauled by a mix of BB7200 'Nez-Cassis' locos as well as the more modern BB26000 'Sybic's. Regular 'Aqualys' trains passed as well as longer distance Téoz trains towards Toulouse with their brightly coloured Corail stock.

BB26047 speeds through Saint-Michelle-sur-Orge with a Teoz service. 24.08.2011.

Duplex TGV set 723 at Gare de Lyon. 24.08.2011.

After finishing our photography we headed further south to Etamps in order to avoid the lengthy all stations journey back to Paris on the RER. Our aim was to catch one of the few Intercities trains on the route which called here, within the Paris network (and valid on our 'mobilis' ticket). Everything worked well except that the train produced the first modern EMU we had seen on the route all day! Not the loco we had hoped for but it was undeniable that the EMU was comfortable and pleasant to travel on.

CC72141 powers through Rosny Bois Perrier with the 18:41 Paris - Mulhouse. 24.08.2011.

Having spent much of the day watching electric Intercities trains the menu for the evening was the diesel operation from Paris Gare de l'Est towards Troyes and Belfort powered by the large Alsthom 'Nez Casses' (broken nose) CC72100 class. There is a flurry of departures for the evening peak which were enjoyed from the Paris suburbs, the class quickly establishing themselves as a firm favorite of mine.

BB26051 prepares to work an overnight train to Italy (note the Italian stock) at Paris Bercy. 24.08.2011.

BB8640 on shunting duties at Bercy. 24.08.2011.

The final stop of the day was the somewhat unloved terminus at Paris Bercy, effectively an annex to the busy Gare de Lyon. Here we watched the shunting activities in the adjacent car terminal- SNCF operated a 'Motorail' service of sorts where passengers travelled by overnight sleeper train with their cars being transported on seperate Autotrains. One of the sleepers was then seen departing Bercy- perhaps more interesting was the older BB8640 in 'Concrete' livery which had worked the empty stock.

Thursday 25th August 2011

BB67587 waits to be detached from the 15:34 Boulogne - Paris at Amiens for an electric to work forward to Paris Nord on 25th August 2011.

Finally it was time to track down some of those 'local' diesel trains on the Boulogne line. These trains are traditional Intercities services of Corail coaches which are worked between Paris and Amiens with electric traction before switching to diesel haulage at Amiens to take the non-electrified route to Boulogne. 

16007 with the 15:34 Boulogne - Paris at Longeau. 25.08.2011.

We started our journey with BB15035 from Paris which then gave way to blue BB67587 forward. It was particularly pleasing to see one of the original blue locos on our train- this being the livery that these locos were delivered in from 1969. Unfortunately the success was short lived. James left the train at Noyelles while I stayed on to Rué. We were aware that there was a VSOE excursion booked from Calais to Paris that day, and pictures we had seen previously suggested that it would be routed via Amiens with a pair of BB67400's- I had a picture in mind at Rué but could only guess the times. Having found the spot and waited, and waited, and waited it became clear that the train was not coming. Infact, nothing was coming. Back at the station there were a lot less trains advertised than I was expecting- indeed there were precisely none expected before my train back to Paris. We had fallen victim to the SNCF daytime engineering line blocks! There was nothing for it except to abandon the railway and explore the town of Rué, at least enjoying a nice lunch in the process. Back at the station for the next train out of town, and it was BB67487 again on its return from Boulogne. We picked up James at Noyelles who was equally unimpressed with the traffic level (but had at least had some narrow gauge entertainment from the Baie du Somme railway). 

BB15035 will be next stop Paris Nord after departure from Creil. 25.08.2011.

The day needed some rescuing by the time we arrived into Amiens for the loco change. Working forward was one of the outgoing BB16000 class, BB16007 in 'En Voyage' livery which was taken the short hop to Longeau. From here I picked up BB67614 on a local TER service to Creil, pulling a single RRR (Rame Reversible Regionale) while James continued on seperately on the electric service.

Keen to get in a few more of the diesels from the low number I had netted for the day so far, I continued with another blue machine; BB67523 + RRR set on the line to Beauvais- a lovely rural route with mechanical signalling and loco haulage- lovely! At Baeuvais I failed to get any photos as I was met by SNCF security with a rather unfriendly dog who were having none of it - to date this is still virtually the only issue I have ever had with railway photography in France. The journey back to Paris was by way of a new double decker unit.

Friday 26th August 2011

Outgoing BB25259 works empty coaching stock into Lyon Perrache on 26th August 2011 ready to form an evening peak departure.

BB66205 Lyon Perrache. 26.08.2011

Today didn't go to plan. Quite literally, we had a plan to head into Luxembourg to seek out some of the CFL class 1800 'Nohab' derived diesels, but the weather forecast was terrible. In fact it was terrible across the whole of France. The plan was changed, we would attempt to outpace the southbound storm and instead headed by TGV to Lyon to sample the traction in that area. 

Initially this was a good plan. The sun was shining in Lyon upon our arrival, but it didn't last long. By the time we had set up at Lyon Peracche (the smaller, much prettier and more centrally located of the two main stations) the clouds were already rolling in. Still, there were some interesting trains here and the station had some promise (and a big canopy for shelter!). 

BB26187 heads an aggregate train through the rain at Lyon Part-Dieu. 26.08.2011

BB67351 at Lozanne pulling a 6 car RRR, working the
17:33 Lyon Part-Dieux - Roanne.26.08.2011

The Lyon area was home to the last handful of the BB25200 class which were living their dying days on TER services. While we had hoped we might catch the 'heritage' green liveried loco, we were at least able to catch up with one of the class on the very few diagrams they had at this point. After some success here I split from James to go in search of some freight- on my unit to my chosen location the storm well and truly caught up with us with torrential rain, thunder and lightening. 

BB22257 and inclement weather. 26.08.2011

It was no weather to be out looking for freight trains to photograh! My natural response was to consign myself to riding trains instead so I headed back to Lyon Part-Dieu and happened upon a diesel. I didn't really know where BB67375 was going but it's rake of RRR coaches was dry! I took the train to Lozzane (it was headed for Roanne) before taking an AGC unit back to Part-Dieu and then a Sybic to be re-united with James at Lyon Perrache.

Duplex TGV 712 at Lyon Perrache. 26.08.2011

There were a good number of freight trains around Lyon (we had seen very few around Paris) and many here tended to be with older traction- sadly the light simply wasn't up to photographing many of them. All in all not a bad day, if a wet one. I never would see a CFL 1800!

Saturday 27th August 2011

BB15026 and BB26002 stand in the 'Grand Lignes' platforms at Paris St Lazare. The 'Sybic' was one of only a couple to wear the En Voyage livery, most still retaining the original colour scheme at this time. 27.08.2011.

BB64610 leads a collection of small locos through the
classic french station at Chaumont. 27.08.2011. 

It was an early start as I headed out alone to Paris Est. Having been won over by the CC72100 class I really needed to have a ride behind one. These locos don't make any stops within the paris area so it was going to a long distance bash, and with infrequent services the best bet was to take the 07:11 Paris Est - Belfort, which produced CC72145, as far as Chaumont. Here I had almost an hour before CC72141 would take me back to Paris. While not the most exciting thrash from the re-engined locos and within the air conditioned Corail coaches the locos were enjoyable enough to ride behind, the drone of their power being noticable from the front of the trains. These characteristic diesels had certainly become firm favorites of mine- little did I know then that I would end up traveling on the last service train they would work a few years later. 

CC72145  under threatening skies at Chaumont while working the 07:11 Paris Est - Belford. 27.08.2011

17056 Asniers sur Seine 27.08.2011

The remains of our schedule for the day would take in some of the suburban loco hauled operations around Paris. First we headed out of Gare du Nord on the RER to Le Bourget in a final desperate search for some freight. We did see some but the angles were not good. After watching a few BB17000's which did not stop here, it was back into the city and out to the suburban lines from Gare St Lazare. 

BB26013 makes its final approach to Gare St Lazare through Asniers sur Seine. 27.08.2011

373105 with its high speed sisters line up at
Paris Nord,seen from the
Eurostar departure lounge 27.08.2011

St Lazare was a mecca for electric loco haulage with BB15000 and BB26000 'Sybic's working the Grand Lignes into Brittany and Normandy to locations including Rouen, Cherbourg and Le Harve. On the suburban routes it was BB17000's and the modern BB27300's that worked both push/pull single decker 'RIB' stock and high capacity double decker 'VB2N' rakes. From St Lazare the first stop served by the loco hauled trains was Asniers sur Seine, just a few minutes from the terminal. 

We whiled away several hours in this area riding and photographing the trains before, most likely, cutting it fine to get a loco hauled train back into Paris, pick up our bags and head back to the Gare du Nord for our Eurostar home.

Conclusions:

The 18:33 Montparnasse - Nogent le Rotrau is seen west of 
Rambouillet in the hands of BB8591 on 23rd August 2011. 

This was a fairly quick and easy trip and had confirmed, despite some peoples scepticism, that there really was still a lot on offer just across the channel in France. I had particularly enjoyed the variety of liveries on the older locos, which seemed to carry all of their incarnations in roughly equal numbers. It was as if each time a new paint scheme was announced, locos were painted into it at random for a few years until a new one was developed - with many locos simply escaping the paintbrush altogether. 

While not as well known as the 'broken nose' design of locos, many of the older SNCF fleets maintained a stylish look. BB16041 rests at Paris Nord on 26th August 2011.

Loco haulage in France was well in decline by the time of this visit and several classes were seen that would disappear before my next visit. It was never going to be as good again, but this trip was the foundation for almost a decade of very enjoyable, if at times frustrating, trips to France. Hopefully there will be enough interest post Covid for another, before it really is too late.