European Railroad Discussion > Languedoc, SW France last week

Took off to Béziers for a few days last week in search of French loco haulage.

The Marseille to Bordeaux services remain loco hauled, although replacement EMUs are on order. Truth to tell the Corail loco hauled stock is looking its age, I remember travelling from Toulon to Paris in Corail stock when it was almost new in 1979.

Plenty of freight traffic, mostly intermodal heading towards Port Bou on the border with Spain, including modalohr trailer trains which link Le Boulou with Calais and Bettembourg (in Luxembourg). At one time there was talk of these trailer trains coming as far as Ripple Lane on the outskirts of London, but the illegal immigrant issue made the costs of policing such trains through the Channel Tunnel prohibitive, so they've never been beyond Calais.

Weather was as ordered, wall to wall sunshine, although fairly chilly, temperatures by day never getting higher than 12C.

Some pictures
1: On Monday Feb 3rd the arrival in Béziers at 07:15 of the FSuO ICN Paris Austerlitz to Port Bou, 1st & 2nd class couchettes and chair cars.
2: Later that morning at grade crossing PN273 between Narbonne and Béziers, a mixed freight to Miramas (a yard near Marseille) behind a Sybic BB26000. The all over grey livery is rather dull.
3: Later in the day I was west of Narbonne on the line to Carcassonne and Toulouse, this is Intercités no.4762 running 30 minutes late, it had been delayed by an unruly passenger at Narbonne requiring 'police action'. Knowing French police that probably involved a baton charge, tear gas and extreme violence.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/25 14:44 by 86235.

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4: There's plenty of MU activity such as these Alstom Regiolis class Z54900 on a Narbonne to Toulouse liO TER service. liO is the brand name for SNCF's regional train service across the L'Occitane region.
5: On Tuesday, near Béziers IC4655 Bordeaux to Marseille. I'm assuming My Last Train was painted to commemorate the retirement of a conducteur de train (engineer).
6: South of Narbonne the line skirts the Étang de Bages-Sigean, a large salt water lagoon, crossing the entrance at Port-la-Nouvelle. This Portbou bound train of Peugeot SUVs is hauled by an SNCF Fret BB27038 an Alstom Prima.

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7: Nearer Narbonne at level crossing PN405 another BB27000 Prima on a Le Boulou bound intermodal / modalohr trailer train. Modalohr is a type of intermodal trailer for full size truck trailers developed by Lohr Industries. A cheery wave from le conducteur.
8: On Wednesday morning an ECR (Euro Cargo Rail) liveried class E 185 on a southbound trailer train, crossing the Orb at Béziers. ECR was the brand name of Wisconsin Central's EWS European operation, which today is Deutsch Bahn Cargo France.
9: North of Béziers, between Agde and Sète, the railway and road run parallel along a narrow spit of land between the Étang de Thau and the Mediterranean. Heading south from Sète BB22280 (the BB22200 are dual voltage versions of the BB7200) on IC4760 from Marseille.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/25 23:50 by 86235.

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10: South of Béziers the railway burrows through a low ridge separating the Orb and Aude valleys. Built in the 1850s it's a remarkable tunnel in that it passes underneath an even older tunnel, the Malpas Tunnel of the Canal du Midi, built in 1680. This BB27000 is on another intermodal service to LeBoulou.
11: Spain's RENFE run AVE high speed services into France, this is no.9743 from Lyon Part Dieu to Barcelona
12: On Thursday morning I had to be back at Montpellier Airport for my flight home. I followed the railway via Sète, stopping for this northbound intermodal of primarily tank containers, from Port Bou to Ludwigshafen. This is a BB37000, a tri current version of a BB27000, owned by leasing company Akiem, albeit in SNCF Fret livery



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/25 14:46 by 86235.

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Finally a short video

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Beautiful set of photo. Amazing variety of trains. Thank you for the detailed captions. 

Really nice coverage and variety. I love the distinctive, older French passenger locomotives. And I had never seen the Fret locomotive scheme. #8 is a particular winner.

Great set of photos. Particularly like #8!

Posted from iPhone

Beautiful photos and a great video !!
Thanks

When I see a posting from you I always have a look and it is all ways well worth it...:):):)

Excellent images!

Terrific bunch, I was never much into Euro railways until I started seeing some of the pics posted here. Love the freight action especially, and noticed the French freight trains are longer than other places in Europe, as seen by that autorack train. Keep posting please...

JG

Thanks everyone, glad you liked them.

A fine set, Nick - thanks. Always a treat to see some SNCF nez casse motors in service.

MC

That overhead seems to be designed to deliver a lot of amplerage.

joemagruder Wrote:
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> That overhead seems to be designed to deliver a
> lot of amplerage.

Yep it has to, this is 1500v DC territory with twin contact wires. Lots of amps required to ensure the locos can deliver sufficient power.

Great photos, video and coverage with lots of variety of equipment.

Rich

PasadenaSub Wrote:
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> Great photos, video and coverage with lots of
> variety of equipment.
>
> Rich

Thanks