From the (digital) archives - The Garabit Viaduct

Following on from my last post, a short distance south from St Flour - Chaude Aigues on the ligne des Causses is the Garabit Viaduct that spans the Truyère River.

The Garabit Viaduct, 14/9/07

Constructed between 1882 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1885 the viaduct was, when built, the highest in the world at 122m (400ft). With a length of 565m (1,853ft) and a principal arch of 165m (541ft) it is a very impressive sight, one that can be enjoyed from a rest stop (Aire de Repos de Garabit) alongside La Méridienne, the A75 autoroute linking Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers.

After an overnight stay in St Flour breakfast was a picnic overlooking the viaduct (in very dull weather) and we were just about to continue on our journey when a train rumbled into view with a pair of FRET-liveried SNCF class BB 67400 diesels in charge, 467467 and 467448.

SNCF class BB 67400s 467467 and 467448 head north across the Garabit Viaduct, 14/9/07

The train consisted of empty steel wagons returning to Clermont-Ferrand from the Arcelor Mittal plant at Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, the loaded trains, even double-headed by two 2,367hp locos, run south in two portions due to the severe gradients on the line.

One fact that always pops up whenever the Garabit Viaduct is mentioned (and I'm not going to miss the opportunity to mention it myself) is that it was used in the 1976 film The Cassandra Crossing that starred Sophia Loren, Richard Harris and Burt Lancaster but was universally panned by critics and audiences alike.

Signalbox Safari - St. Flour - Chaudes Aigues

A signalbox from a bit further afield today…

Poste 1, La gare de St Flour - Chaude Aigues, 13/9/07

'Poste 1' is at the eastern end of La gare de St Flour - Chaude Aigues (St Flour station for those with even less of a grasp of French than I have) on the ligne des Causses that links Béziers in southern France with Neussargues in the Massif Central area.

I spent an hour in the station area on the day I took these photos back in 2007 and apart from a couple of bogie wagons carrying steel coils parked in a siding to the north of the station I saw nothing else on the rails… What I didn't realise at the time was that most of the passenger services in the area are by bus, indeed the current timetable for the line shows a service calling at the station every couple of hours but only two of them per day are trains!

La gare de St Flour - Chaude Aigues, 13/9/07

For anybody with even the slightest interest in French railways I would recommend becoming a member of The SNCF Society, their website and journals are an absolute goldmine of information about every aspect of railways in France, standard and narrow gauge, prototype and model alike.

Industrial Action - An unsympathetic rebuild…

I.C.I. Ltd's 1960 rebuild of Avonside Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0ST RS8 (works no.1913 of 1923), 1/3/14

This monstrosity, displayed at the National Stone Centre in Wirksworth started out as an 0-4-0ST built by the Avonside Engine Co Ltd of Bristol in 1923 as works no.1913.

The rear view…

The Avonside name cast into one of the buffers.

As far as I am aware it spent the majority of its working life at Tunstead Quarry in Derbyshire where it carried the number RS8. When steam working at the quarry ceased in 1960 it was converted to diesel power with hydraulic transmission (making it an 0-4-0DH) at the I.C.I. Ltd's South Central Workshops at Tunstead and continued to work there until 1974 when it entered preservation with the Bahamas Locomotive Society at the Dinting Railway Centre.

Upon Dinting's closure it was put on display in the car park of the National Stone Centre beside of the trackbed of the Cromford & High Peak Railway, now known as the High Peak Trail.

I've been unable to track down a photo of RS8 before it suffered its rebuild but would imagine that it bore more than a passing resemblance to this…

Avonside Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0ST DORA (works no.1973 of 1927) at the Rutland Railway Museum, 29/8/99

A brand new loco!

On our way home from the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society's members' day at the North Norfolk Railway last month Joy and I popped into Wells-next-the-Sea for a bite to eat by the harbour and half way through my sandwich the sound of a diesel horn drew my attention to this…

Alan Keef Ltd 0-6-0DH THE DUKE approaches the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

The Wells Harbour Railway is a 10.25in gauge line linking the harbour (where else?) with the Pinewoods Holiday Park at the seaward end of the line, a distance of roughly 1200 yards.

Although I'd seen the line in operation before I hadn't seen this particular loco and a closer inspection revealed that it had been built this year by Alan Keef Ltd of Ross-on-Wye.

Alan Keef Ltd 0-6-0DH THE DUKE stands at the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

Alan Keef Ltd works plate on 10.25in gauge 0-6-0DH THE DUKE on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

An 0-6-0DH (diesel engine, hydraulic transmission) 'THE DUKE' is the third loco to be built by Alan Keef Ltd for the WHR (DENSIL b.1998 and HOWARD b.2005 are the others) and is the first that hasn't been made to resemble a steam engine.

Alan Keef Ltd steam outline 0-6-0DH HOWARD (complete with dummy saddle tank and chimney) arrives at the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 9/7/10

A unique piece of history at the K&ESR

This unassuming railway van, photographed at Rolvenden station on the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 2009 actually holds a unique place in history.

SE&CR PMV 132 at Rolvenden, K&ESR, 8/9/09

Built at the South Eastern & Chatham Railway's Ashford Works in 1919 No.132 was the prototype Parcels and Miscellaneous Van, the design of which continued to be built by the SE&CR's successor the Southern Railway and also by British Railways as late as 1951 and as a result most, if not all heritage railways are home to at least one preserved example.

But this particular specimen is unique… It carried three bodies from Dover to London after the end of World War One.

The first was Edith Cavell in May 1919. Trained as a nurse, during 1914-15 she helped more than 200 allied Prisoners of War to escape from German-occupied Belgium before she was arrested and subsequently executed. Her body was repatriated and a state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey before her burial at Norwich Cathedral.

The second was Charles Algernon Fryatt, captain of the SS Brussels. In March 1915 his ship was ordered to stop by the German submarine U-33 but Fryatt attempted to ram the U-boat which crash-dived and escaped. In June 1916 Fryatt's ship was captured by the Germans and he was Court Martialled and later executed. His body was repatriated in July 1919.

The third body was that of The Unknown Warrior, his body was carried to London on 10 November 1920, prior to the funeral service at Westminster Abbey the following day.

Since the above photograph was taken the van has been fully restored following an appeal to raise £35,000 and was unveiled on the 90th anniversary of the carriage of the body of The Unknown Warrior.

Furness Railway Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station

I can't find the right words for this post, the pictures say it all…

World War One Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station, 10/7/14

World War One Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station, 10/7/14

Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

With this Wednesday being 'Guy Fawkes Night' I thought I'd post a photo of something I spotted at Llanuwchllyn station on the Bala Lake Railway a couple of months ago.

Gunpowder Wagon at Llanuwchllyn station on the Bala Lake Railway, 15/8/14

This 2ft gauge gunpowder wagon was originally used for transporting explosives around the Oakeley Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog when blasting for slate and had arrived from the Llanberis Lake Railway for restoration a few months earlier.

Whilst the metalwork needs some attention, the interior protective wooden panelling (presumably used to prevent the quarrymen's hob-nailed boots from striking sparks) is to be completely replaced by the BLR's Carriage and Wagon Department.

Despite constant disputes over the rates for slate shipment the Oakley Quarry sent slate over the Ffestiniog Railway until the railway closed in August 1946 but also had a connection to the London & North Western Railway exchange yard in Blaenau Ffestiniog and large tonnages of slate were sent out via this connection until the closure of the quarry in 1970.