Last Easter vacation, we spent a family holiday in Coussac-Bonneval, south of Limoges. There weren’t many local trains to watch, but there is some interesting diesel action near Limoges. Inspired by the excellent picture of BramTrains, I made a plan to go after SNCF’s Infrastructure operation to the quarry of Verneuil-sur-Vienne.

I only knew approximately when the first of 2 train pairs would return to Limoges – that’s if it would run that day. To make things more challenging, I was still recovering from surgery, limiting my ability to climb and carry heavy stuff. And on top of that, I decided to take my 10-month old son with me. Parenting, you know. I was hopeful for the trip, but didn’t expect too much. Just some chill time out with my son.

I first went to Aixe-sur-Vienne, so that at least I didn’t need to worry about a photo location. There were still high clouds, and my 2-step ladder was not high enough. As climbing a tree was not an option, I had to settle with a lower view point. After a while, I heard the sound of C. SNCF passed me at the expected time, with a blue BB67400 heading the train. Now I could only hope for the second return trip to ride today.

My son had by now fallen asleep and never even noticed the train. With the sleeping child, I went for a stroll in the gardens of the Chapelle Notre-Dame d’Arliquet. Sitting on top of a bridge, we waited for the train to hopefully come. And yes, a couple of minutes after the passenger train, I heard the sound of the level crossing again. The same couple of BB67400’s was heading an empty train towards the quarry.

In action mode now, I headed towards the quarry. My son was sleeping, again, so I could take the time to look at the shunting movements, brake tests and departure of the filled train to Limoges. It were a few very intense hours, luckily resulting in some pictures. And my son? I don’t think he even noticed a train one moment.