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hide options panel103 Strasbourg - Sarrebourg
16 photos
updated : 2020-12-17
The Strasbourg - Sarrebourg line is a reasonably busy double-track railway, electrified at 25kV AC. It crosses the Vosges via the Saverne Gap, the narrow twisting valley of the River Zorn that provides a relatively easy route through the mountains for the railway and the parallel Rhine - Marne Canal.
171-2 Paris - Belfort
6 photos
updated : 2020-12-17
The Paris - Belfort line was one of the few places in Europe where you could still see big diesels on fast passenger trains in 2013 but you had to be patient as there were very long gaps between workings. The CC72100 diesels didn't last much longer and the last loco hauled passengers ran in early 2017.
545 Narbonne - Cerbere
27 photos
updated : 2020-12-17
This line runs along the Cote Vermielle (or Vermillion Coast), squeezed between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea, just north of the Spanish border, and is electrified at 1500V DC. There are numerous excellent photo positions but loco hauled trains were few and far between during my 2008 and 2011 visits.
Although France is Britain's nearest neighbour, French railways haven't featured on many of my trips. Infrequent trains, erratic timetables and the total foreignness of the place made visits hard work in a way that other European countries weren't. A great shame as many of the locos were superb.
These pictures were taken on visits to the superbly scenic but lightly trafficked main line along the Mediterranean coast, north of the Spanish border, on the trunk route through the Saverne Gap west of Strasbourg and on the long cross-country Paris - Belfort route, before DMUs took over long distance passenger traffic from the CC72100 diesels . All the photos were taken on trips since 2008.
