It was, again, a very hot day and I didn’t feel like sitting at the pool from early on. I’m sure my son, if he could speak, would have said exactly the same thing. So I took him to Rouffach with the airconditioned car, where we set up gear and a playing blanket under a large umbrella. It was a day in France that felt … Continue reading France with a Belgian sauce
The first week of august was hot, incredibly hot, in the Alsace region. After a short night I decided that it was time to get up early and enjoy the cool morning temperatures along the tracks. Well, a little before 7am I was standing next to the tracks in only a t-shirt. At least temperature was still bearable.Of course I got to see some trains: … Continue reading Cool morning
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
September 5th was a beautiful sunny day with few trains on the nearby Bordeaux – Dax line. The westbound Transfennica shuttle was one of them. In nice evening light it passes Les Argentières, between Marcheprime and Facture Biganos. Continue reading Sunday evening action
This photo was a lot of fun to make. I went to this location with my all terrain bicycle, using mostly paths through the forests. The paths consisted of sand, which made me think that I underestimated the time to get here – only making me work harder to get there on time. I had also underestimated the time it would take the train to … Continue reading Direct train to holiday
A holiday bicycle ride brought me to Biganos, between Bordeaux and Arcachon. The rail line here is straight, for kilometers long. South of Biganos, on the section to Dax, the straight stretch is even more than 30 km long. Must be quite boring as a train driver, but the “Midi” catenary system makes it intersting for railfans. It are still the original constructions, although between … Continue reading Midi
SNCF Fret has started up ballast traffic to the Quenast quarry again. Very likely it’s the last season that SNCF will use BB67400 locomotives for this service, as the Infrabel network is gradually equipped with ETCS. Needless to say that many Belgian rail enthusiasts find opportunities to enjoy these beautiful locomotives while we still can. Now that we can’t cross the borders, it makes it … Continue reading The SNCF logo
Since a couple of years now, Belgian rail freight operator Lineas is building up a network of train services around Tergnier. I’ve wanted to check this out for a while, and on August 7th of 2020 I finally made it there. We left before sunrise and started the day at Couvron-et-Aumencourt, between Tergnier and Laon. Lineas, Europorte and SNCF Infra made for a good start … Continue reading First time around Tergnier
One memory of a warm day in the Tergnier region. Vegetation was freshly removed and we were lucky to be there at this moment, with an unobstructed view on tracks and fields. Continue reading Looking out over the fields
A typical railway scene consisting of lots of different time elements: a 70’s TGV PSE trainset, in a very recent livery, all under the monumental 1864 station hall. The TGV trainset is one of the oldest ones still running around – but for how long will it last? On the way back from Nice, while waiting for the final leg of the trip to Lille … Continue reading Many generations
Railscapes 