European Railroad Discussion > Maisons-Lafitte 1980

Couple of shots taken June 13,1980 at Maisons-Lafitte station to the west of Paris on the line out of Gare St Lazare.   This was in the very early years of the RER, and I don't think any of the suburban lines pictured here had yet been incorporated into the RER. 

1)  Eastbound Class Z6400 EMU
2)  Eastbound DMU
3)  Eastbound freight behind a Class 25500 electric
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/21 08:58 by dwatry.

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4)  Class 17000 on an eastbound suburban train with double-deck stock.
5)  Z6400 EMU westbound with a turbo train way in the background. Too bad I don’t think I could find a slide of that.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/21 08:59 by dwatry.

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Nice flashbacks.  The freight train is also interesting for its consist -- Continental freight trains don't look like this any more.

Gordon

Gordon - yes, looks like loose car railroading!

Duncan

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/21 05:58 by dwatry.

-  You're quite right, the RER Line A was not extended through here until 1988 -- just a little more than 145 years after the line first opened.  The line was widened to four tracks as a consequence.

-  This is AC country, so I believe the electric on the freight is a later-version [ 25588 up ] bi voltage BB 25500.  The large Acheres freight yard is just to the west, as this station is also on the outer belt around Paris, and the yard was the "interchange point" for freight to/from the west.  I note the two leading vehicles are the two major variants of the four-panel all sliding door EVS vans.

-  In the same vein, I think the electric on the double deck push pull is a BB 17000.  They, the 8500's, and the 25500's all shared a common design platform for AC, DC, and bivoltage versions.

Great photos, from when France was still France.  More, please !

Best regards, SZ

SZ  -  thanks for the help on the loco class IDs - I've made edits.  My knowledge of SNCF classes is limited and I've found few good resources online.   Better find that old Platform 5 book....

Found it!

Duncan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/21 19:17 by dwatry.

Very nice series--I'll bet it's waaayyy different now. Thanks!

That freight train is extraordinary, particularly the two axle box cars.

86235 Wrote:
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> That freight train is extraordinary, particularly
> the two axle box cars.

What do you find extraordinary about it ?
  -  It is not the boom years of the early '70's for SNCF freight, but there was still a ways to go before going over the cliff edge.
  -  The two sliding door vans up front ?  These date from the late '60's;  many were used by the auto industry [ similar to Ford in the UK ], so perhaps these are coming from the Peugeot factory just to the west.  BR built vans of this type through the early '80's, though I would think the EVS ones had a more rational business case.  BR were even putting air brakes on swb 12T vans for Speedlink  in 1980, and could have assembled a service very similar to at least the first half of this consist.
   -  I admit I can't identify the vehicles towards the rear, to the right of the signal in the photograph.  I want to think they are bi-level auto carriers, but....
   -  Looking through VF's for freight train photos taken in 1980 suggests this was a typical train for a non-block train working, especially on non-electrified main lines, and SNCF still ran plenty of both types.

Best, SZ