The hunt for nez cassés

Earlier attempts to shoot the famous French nez cassé locomotives on the IC trains between Paris and Maubeuge were rather frustrating, partly due to the very sparse number of trains. That is, until we discovered that there were also loco-hauled trains running between Paris and Saint-Quentin. It turns out you can fill quite a day south of Saint-Quentin chasing these trains, which my friend Eurorailer … Continue reading The hunt for nez cassés

A busy summer day

Wednesday august 10th I went chasing trains along the Antwerp – Aachen freight corridor. Those days off, with nothing to worry about but the photos, are rare, so I wanted to stand along the tracks at sunrise. Which meant waking up really early, but which also meant fluid traffic. Still dozy from the long ride I had to prepare for action quickly as a first … Continue reading A busy summer day

All about parenting

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 … Continue reading All about parenting

All the colors of the rainbow

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time with my son and daughter along the tracks. On a quiet, safe, dirt road, perfect for playing while daddy waits for a train. We had to wait a long time, so got to play a lot, until finally the train came. The sun was also present, casting a beautiful autumn light on the train. Leading my daughter to describe … Continue reading All the colors of the rainbow