Having maintained my plan to abandon systematic Eurobashes in favour of occasional visits to places of interest, 2023 hadn’t delivered anything that I felt justified the effort and expense. In 2024 something of a ‘hybrid’ trip was devised - originally intended as a long weekend encompassing a couple of preservation sites with a beer collection on the way home, it suddenly lengthened when my other half submitted a paper for presentation at an international sports conference at the University of Paris-Nanterre. When I discovered a site in France which combined my interests in railways and 'modern' (20th century) history, another day was added and we ended up with a 1500 mile round trip, unusually by car.
Wednesday 5 June
Very little of railway interest today - we set off from our daughter’s Kentish abode at stupid o’clock, arriving (via a McMuffin pause en route) at Eurotunnel just a couple of minutes ‘late’ for our ‘please arrive at least an hour early check-in’ crossing. The formalities complete, we did Cheriton-Coquelles for the umpteenth time, departing and arriving on time. That completed the day’s track, it remaining only to make a seemingly interminable onward journey to l’Isle d’Adam via an enjoyable sightseeing stop in Beauvais. Our overnight (thank goodness, at one point in the planning it had been three nights) was in a very tired Ibis Budget in which the air conditioning didn’t work (and we had the impression it hadn’t done for a long time) and layers were peeling off the plastic in the very modestly appointed ‘bathroom’. Not recommended, despite the friendly and helpful receptionist. As readers of my grumbles will know I’ve stayed in many of this particular brand before, and generally they vary between ‘well, you get what you pay for’ and ‘surprisingly good’. Not this one. Its proximity to the motorway and the absence of the air con, which necessitated an open window, made for a short night’s sleep.
Thursday 6 June
Away breakfast-less to make sure Mrs EG was safely delivered to Nanterre for the conference starting time of 08:30. So sure, in fact, that we were almost an hour early but nevertheless grateful for the Ibis receptionist’s advice regarding travel time. The journey introduced us, unfamiliar with Parisian ways, to the local habit of keeping to the right of lane 2 on the motorway and the left of lane 3 so as to leave a space for the fearless motorcyclists who tear down between 2 and 3 at anything up to (or over) the motorway speed limit even if the 4-wheeled traffic is crawling or stationary. We and they survived unscathed, and due to suitable research done at home, without getting lost or missing turnings en route.
While m’lady went off to deliver her address I debated how to spend the day and set off to Nanterre-Université station, fortunately discovering that it wasn’t in zone 3 before purchasing a ticket. This necessitated a walk to the next station, Nanterre-Prefecture, and a visit to the booking office to get my ticket, purchased from a machine there, revalidated so that it would open the barriers. That little hurdle overcome, I set off by RER (A) and Metro (7) with a view to visiting the only brewpub I could find in the required area and with noon opening, which was the entirely excellent Paname Brewing Company at the Quai de la Loire on one of the canals leading to the Seine. The Barge du Canal pale ale was duly sampled and much enjoyed.
While at the pub I conceived the idea of sampling a Paris tram so having obtained some brunch I made my way back to to Gare de l’Est on line 7 then walked over to Magenta for RER line to Rosa Parks for a very short (one stop) ride on a T3 tram. Pleasant enough but of course being brand new, very much in the modern idiom so one stop sufficed to tick the box! The return to Nanterre was pressing by then so I made my way back to Nanterre Prefecture and thence on foot to the university to provide IT support for m’lady which, fortunately, she didn’t need. That concluded my brief foray on to the Paris rail system, which I hadn’t seen for quite a number of years (and doubt I’ll ever see again - but never say never). The evening saw us driving the two hours or so over to Laon where a much more salubrious Ibis ‘ordinaire’ awaited us.
Very little of railway interest today - we set off from our daughter’s Kentish abode at stupid o’clock, arriving (via a McMuffin pause en route) at Eurotunnel just a couple of minutes ‘late’ for our ‘please arrive at least an hour early check-in’ crossing. The formalities complete, we did Cheriton-Coquelles for the umpteenth time, departing and arriving on time. That completed the day’s track, it remaining only to make a seemingly interminable onward journey to l’Isle d’Adam via an enjoyable sightseeing stop in Beauvais. Our overnight (thank goodness, at one point in the planning it had been three nights) was in a very tired Ibis Budget in which the air conditioning didn’t work (and we had the impression it hadn’t done for a long time) and layers were peeling off the plastic in the very modestly appointed ‘bathroom’. Not recommended, despite the friendly and helpful receptionist. As readers of my grumbles will know I’ve stayed in many of this particular brand before, and generally they vary between ‘well, you get what you pay for’ and ‘surprisingly good’. Not this one. Its proximity to the motorway and the absence of the air con, which necessitated an open window, made for a short night’s sleep.
Thursday 6 June
Away breakfast-less to make sure Mrs EG was safely delivered to Nanterre for the conference starting time of 08:30. So sure, in fact, that we were almost an hour early but nevertheless grateful for the Ibis receptionist’s advice regarding travel time. The journey introduced us, unfamiliar with Parisian ways, to the local habit of keeping to the right of lane 2 on the motorway and the left of lane 3 so as to leave a space for the fearless motorcyclists who tear down between 2 and 3 at anything up to (or over) the motorway speed limit even if the 4-wheeled traffic is crawling or stationary. We and they survived unscathed, and due to suitable research done at home, without getting lost or missing turnings en route.
While m’lady went off to deliver her address I debated how to spend the day and set off to Nanterre-Université station, fortunately discovering that it wasn’t in zone 3 before purchasing a ticket. This necessitated a walk to the next station, Nanterre-Prefecture, and a visit to the booking office to get my ticket, purchased from a machine there, revalidated so that it would open the barriers. That little hurdle overcome, I set off by RER (A) and Metro (7) with a view to visiting the only brewpub I could find in the required area and with noon opening, which was the entirely excellent Paname Brewing Company at the Quai de la Loire on one of the canals leading to the Seine. The Barge du Canal pale ale was duly sampled and much enjoyed.
While at the pub I conceived the idea of sampling a Paris tram so having obtained some brunch I made my way back to to Gare de l’Est on line 7 then walked over to Magenta for RER line to Rosa Parks for a very short (one stop) ride on a T3 tram. Pleasant enough but of course being brand new, very much in the modern idiom so one stop sufficed to tick the box! The return to Nanterre was pressing by then so I made my way back to Nanterre Prefecture and thence on foot to the university to provide IT support for m’lady which, fortunately, she didn’t need. That concluded my brief foray on to the Paris rail system, which I hadn’t seen for quite a number of years (and doubt I’ll ever see again - but never say never). The evening saw us driving the two hours or so over to Laon where a much more salubrious Ibis ‘ordinaire’ awaited us.
Some of the brewing kit at the Paname Brewing Company |
I must have seen it on earlier visits, but I was impressed enough by the frontage of Paris Gare de l'Est to take another pic. |
A westbound tram on line T3 approaching Porte de La Villette. The tram looks familiar - it's an Alstom Citadis, whose variants are in use, or on order, in many countries in Europe, and much of the rest of the world, so that's hardly surprising. |
Friday 7 June
Nothing to report on the rails - the objective was to get over to Dinant to pick up on the original planned itinerary, which we did after a very pleasant morning’s sightseeing followed by an enjoyable lunch in Laon, the centre of which is a mediaeval fortified town well worth a visit.
Nothing to report on the rails - the objective was to get over to Dinant to pick up on the original planned itinerary, which we did after a very pleasant morning’s sightseeing followed by an enjoyable lunch in Laon, the centre of which is a mediaeval fortified town well worth a visit.
The nearest we got to the railway! This view taken from the old town rampart at Laon shows the station in the middle, with the railway stretching left (west) to the junction of the Laon-Amiens and Laon Paris lines. To the right is the line to Reims with the line to Hirson diverging just under the road bridge. The freight only branch to Montcornet diverges from the Reims line further east, off the photo. The viaduct which can be seen curving to the south east behind the pedestrians and the car carried the short lived (1989-2016) 'Pomo 2000' cable driven people mover.
Saturday 8 June
Back to more serious trackbashing, with a long awaited visit to the Tramway Touristique de l’Aisne, reopened in mid-2023 after a long closure occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and lengthened by the need for extensive repair to flood damaged infrastructure. It’s a lovely line, virtually inaccessible by public transport on Saturdays if, as I did, you want to do the whole length of the line. Only the last of the three services on a normal Saturday covers the 2015 extension from Forge à la Plez to Lamormenil. It might perhaps be feasible on a peak season Wednesday, when the first service in the morning goes to Lamormenil, though as the whole visit had been originally planned for a weekend I didn’t investigate this.
We took advantage of the wait to get some lunch and take some pics of the earlier workings. Unfortunately the on-site museum at Pont d’Érezée was closed for unknown reasons - following my 2022 visit to Thuin I’d like to have seen what was there. I was mystified by the appearance of an ex-TEC civil engineer’s loco which worked down to the station from the TTA depot a short way up the line, immediately before the returning railcar from Forge à la Plez. It didn’t seem to have anything much to do at Pont d’Érezée, the railcar being able to run round its trailers by itself. Unfortunately the combined linguistic abilities of me and the TTA office manager didn’t add up to enough for me to find out the answer!
In due course we were able to take our places on the well filled 16:30 to Lamormenil which had forsaken the open-sided trailer used for the two earlier three-car workings and just had a single trailer. It’s certainly a lovely run through the Aisne valley albeit with only the briefest of roadside sections, and the diesel unit very sociably took us almost to the buffer stop at Lamormenil (50°15'0.28"N, 5°38'25.76"E, some 600 metres south of the eponymous hamlet) before setting back a few metres so that the trailer was clear of the points and the power car could run round. Luckily we were still on board.
We enjoyed an excellent meal with the equally excellent Karmeliet Tripel at a nearby hostelry before making our way down through Luxembourg to our hastily booked Ibis in Thionville. I had previously booked us in at the Mercure in the centre of town but after Tuesday night’s experience I had read some reviews suggesting that this might not be a good thing, so had cancelled with 15 minutes to spare while we were at Dinant and rebooked at the Ibis which was fine and had free car parking, vis à vis €15/night in the city centre!
Ex-SNCV Brussels Baume & Marpent-built (1935) diesel autorail AR133 was the haulage for our visit. Here AR133 is picking its way through the undergrowth between the TTA depot and the main station at Érezée. |
AR 133 leaving Érezée on a working to Forge à la Plez |
AR133 running round its trailer at Lamormenil on the last working of the day |
Sunday 9 June
A sound Ibis breakfast and away back to Luxembourg to visit Train 1900 at Fond de Gras, near Pétange in south west Luxembourg. Little did we know… We arrived to find barriers blocking the lane leading down to the site with signs inviting us to park in the adjacent field. Being good little soldiers, this we did. We walked down to the site only to find that there were in fact two small parking areas right by the station where ‘British’ cars could park. To cut a long story short it turned out that this was a ‘British day’ with Union Jacks everywhere and Brits and their cars being made particularly welcome. British cars, in the shape of an E-type Jaguar, a Morgan and two Marcoses (if that’s the correct plural) were on display, along with a Routemaster bus. There was a fish and chip van provided by Celtic Fish and Chips (https://celticfishandchips.lu/), based to the east of Luxembourg near the German border and seemingly run by British expats. Roving entertainment was provided by a bagpipe and drum duo, the piper seemingly very competent, and two busby-topped, scarlet uniform-clad ‘British soldiers’ whose command of English was severely limited but what they shouted, they shouted in style!
Meanwhile, to the trains. Train 1900 operate a former industrial branch from the CFL system at Pétange (where they have a separate platform and run round loop immediately west of CFL’s Pétange station, so unfortunately you don’t get to do the physical connection on to CFL metals.) The run up to Fond de Gras, which is a former iron ore mining site now the centrepiece of Minett Park, an open air industrial museum covering several sites, similar in concept to the UK’s Beamish or Ironbridge Gorge museums. The line is just under 6 km long, following a winding route up the valley which, as the crow flies, is a mere 2.4 km. At Fond de Gras, now a terminus, a shorter branch, 1.4 km long diverges to Bois de Rodange. This is worked on a fairly informal push-pull basis, there being no run round at the end of the line in the Bois de Rodange. There is an intermediate halt at Dolhi which is also served by a narrow gauge mining line running roughly parallel to the standard gauge but a little way to the south.
As this was a special event day (your day rover cost an extra €2) a variety of haulage was in use. We started out being hauled to, and propelled back from, Bois de Rodange by Cockerill 0-4-0 BVT 503, one of a number of examples of this once numerous (nearly 900) type of small shunting/tram locos. Built in 1920, it worked until the early 1960s at a factory in Manage, near Charleroi. For the trip down to Pétange we passed up the opportunity to ride on the ex-CFL Uerdingen railbus and travelled with ‘Energie 507’, an immaculately restored 0-6-0T built in 1946 by Energie Marcinelle in Belgium to a German wartime Kriegslok design. This loco took us first to Bois de Rodange, returning to Fond de Gras to reverse and continue down the ‘main line’ to Pétange, accompanied by the ubiquitous piper and his colleague, who took the opportunity to serenade us on the platform at Pétange. We also visited several of the non-railway exhibits, including the bar of course (Bofferding, never mind). All of this took up most of our time, to the extent that we hadn’t time to do the narrow gauge line before setting off back down to Thionville for a second night at the Ibis.
A sound Ibis breakfast and away back to Luxembourg to visit Train 1900 at Fond de Gras, near Pétange in south west Luxembourg. Little did we know… We arrived to find barriers blocking the lane leading down to the site with signs inviting us to park in the adjacent field. Being good little soldiers, this we did. We walked down to the site only to find that there were in fact two small parking areas right by the station where ‘British’ cars could park. To cut a long story short it turned out that this was a ‘British day’ with Union Jacks everywhere and Brits and their cars being made particularly welcome. British cars, in the shape of an E-type Jaguar, a Morgan and two Marcoses (if that’s the correct plural) were on display, along with a Routemaster bus. There was a fish and chip van provided by Celtic Fish and Chips (https://celticfishandchips.lu/), based to the east of Luxembourg near the German border and seemingly run by British expats. Roving entertainment was provided by a bagpipe and drum duo, the piper seemingly very competent, and two busby-topped, scarlet uniform-clad ‘British soldiers’ whose command of English was severely limited but what they shouted, they shouted in style!
Meanwhile, to the trains. Train 1900 operate a former industrial branch from the CFL system at Pétange (where they have a separate platform and run round loop immediately west of CFL’s Pétange station, so unfortunately you don’t get to do the physical connection on to CFL metals.) The run up to Fond de Gras, which is a former iron ore mining site now the centrepiece of Minett Park, an open air industrial museum covering several sites, similar in concept to the UK’s Beamish or Ironbridge Gorge museums. The line is just under 6 km long, following a winding route up the valley which, as the crow flies, is a mere 2.4 km. At Fond de Gras, now a terminus, a shorter branch, 1.4 km long diverges to Bois de Rodange. This is worked on a fairly informal push-pull basis, there being no run round at the end of the line in the Bois de Rodange. There is an intermediate halt at Dolhi which is also served by a narrow gauge mining line running roughly parallel to the standard gauge but a little way to the south.
As this was a special event day (your day rover cost an extra €2) a variety of haulage was in use. We started out being hauled to, and propelled back from, Bois de Rodange by Cockerill 0-4-0 BVT 503, one of a number of examples of this once numerous (nearly 900) type of small shunting/tram locos. Built in 1920, it worked until the early 1960s at a factory in Manage, near Charleroi. For the trip down to Pétange we passed up the opportunity to ride on the ex-CFL Uerdingen railbus and travelled with ‘Energie 507’, an immaculately restored 0-6-0T built in 1946 by Energie Marcinelle in Belgium to a German wartime Kriegslok design. This loco took us first to Bois de Rodange, returning to Fond de Gras to reverse and continue down the ‘main line’ to Pétange, accompanied by the ubiquitous piper and his colleague, who took the opportunity to serenade us on the platform at Pétange. We also visited several of the non-railway exhibits, including the bar of course (Bofferding, never mind). All of this took up most of our time, to the extent that we hadn’t time to do the narrow gauge line before setting off back down to Thionville for a second night at the Ibis.
The Fond de Gras station area. The Uerdingen railbus is standing at the platform to the left. A Routemaster bus can be seen just in front of the loco shed. |
Two "British soldiers" were on hand to ensure order at Fond de Gras. Their busbies were an interesting variant on the equally strange British ones! |
Two locos were in steam - surprisingly neither is moving in this photo. On the left is 'Energie 507' Energie Marcinelle 1946) and on the right 1920-built vertical boiler Cockerill 503, with trains to Pétange and Bois de Rodange respectively |
503 at Bois de Rodange. There is no loop here and loco hauled trains are propelled the 1.4km back to Fond de Gras, which presumably explains the red disc attached to the coupling as this will be the rear of the return working |
The end of the line at Bois de Rodange, taken from the same spot. Further extension seems unlikely! |
507 pauses at Fuusbesch, the only intermediate station on the way up from Pétange to fond de Gras |
Monday 10 June
A fairly lazy start including a shopping visit to the huge Thionville Carrefour store before we made our way out to Veckring, 20 km away from the Ibis, to the east of Thionville. The purpose of this venture was to visit the Maginot Line fort, Ouvrage du Hackenberg, which lies underground near the top of the Hackenberg hill from which it takes its name.
This was a ‘bucket list’ project which I’d been wanting to do for a long time because of my interest in 20th century history, but enhanced by the discovery that for this particular fort, the travel between the various gun emplacements is by means of the 60cm gauge line installed to carry ammunition, supplies and gun crews from the main magazine and living accommodation, near the southern entrance, to the guns. A fascinating experience, which I’m very pleased to have had - not to mention a mile or so of new (underground) track!
Unfortunately the 2h 30m guided tour, booked to start at 14:30, started late due to awaiting the arrival of an American party by coach, and took longer than expected, with the net result that we didn’t leave until 18:00, for a journey to Kortrijk which with a meal stop for the world’s biggest schnitzel, took some 4h 30m and resulted in two very tired travellers. Perhaps 75 is a bit old for this sort of thing if you’re not used to it…
A fairly lazy start including a shopping visit to the huge Thionville Carrefour store before we made our way out to Veckring, 20 km away from the Ibis, to the east of Thionville. The purpose of this venture was to visit the Maginot Line fort, Ouvrage du Hackenberg, which lies underground near the top of the Hackenberg hill from which it takes its name.
This was a ‘bucket list’ project which I’d been wanting to do for a long time because of my interest in 20th century history, but enhanced by the discovery that for this particular fort, the travel between the various gun emplacements is by means of the 60cm gauge line installed to carry ammunition, supplies and gun crews from the main magazine and living accommodation, near the southern entrance, to the guns. A fascinating experience, which I’m very pleased to have had - not to mention a mile or so of new (underground) track!
Unfortunately the 2h 30m guided tour, booked to start at 14:30, started late due to awaiting the arrival of an American party by coach, and took longer than expected, with the net result that we didn’t leave until 18:00, for a journey to Kortrijk which with a meal stop for the world’s biggest schnitzel, took some 4h 30m and resulted in two very tired travellers. Perhaps 75 is a bit old for this sort of thing if you’re not used to it…
Inside the tunnels at Fort Hackenberg. The passenger accommodation is fairly basic.
Tuesday and Wednesday, 11th and 12th June
Again no railway content save for the Channel Tunnel - we arrived there early following a beer collection visit to St Sixtus at Westvleteren (and a swift ‘alf for the passenger at In de Vrede across the road - well done Mrs EG for ‘volunteering’ to drive the Westvleteren-Orpington stretch!). Our reward for this effort was a place on a half hour earlier working than our booked one, all of which was dispelled by a huge queue for the Customs and Immigration checks at Coquelles, resulting in us ending up on the booked departure.
Home on the Wednesday via Tilbury Fort, for more interesting military history but in this case dating from Charles II’s time and sadly, without track.
After this exhausting but enjoyable expedition, time to think up the next venture, hopefully with a lot less (preferably no) driving and including some extra interesting track. The bucket list keeps extending...
Again no railway content save for the Channel Tunnel - we arrived there early following a beer collection visit to St Sixtus at Westvleteren (and a swift ‘alf for the passenger at In de Vrede across the road - well done Mrs EG for ‘volunteering’ to drive the Westvleteren-Orpington stretch!). Our reward for this effort was a place on a half hour earlier working than our booked one, all of which was dispelled by a huge queue for the Customs and Immigration checks at Coquelles, resulting in us ending up on the booked departure.
Home on the Wednesday via Tilbury Fort, for more interesting military history but in this case dating from Charles II’s time and sadly, without track.
After this exhausting but enjoyable expedition, time to think up the next venture, hopefully with a lot less (preferably no) driving and including some extra interesting track. The bucket list keeps extending...
