DECCRIBED – When the nice days arrive, the old trains take tourists on small picturesque lines or amidst the TER and TGV traffic. The result of the conservation work carried out by around a hundred associations of railway enthusiasts.
Their whistle still resonates in the fields, in the valley bottom or on the mountainsides. Steam locomotives, Pullman carriages, Picassos, Micheline railcars… Every spring, these relics of the golden age of railways come out of their storage after months of hibernation, pampered by railway enthusiasts. The Iron Railway of Many the Somme on the Picardy coast, the Vapeur du Trieux in Brittany the Pignes train in Alta Provence…In France, almost a hundred associations give new life to sometimes centuries-old material to circulate for a few weeks or months a year. Enough to delight tourists who indulge in the pleasure of a low-speed journey aboard a vintage train for around ten euros.
These associations are almost all grouped within the Unecto the French Union of Tourist Railway Operators, bicycle tracks and railway museums. “They are divided into two categories: those, the majority, who have their own network and those who use the national railway network.“, i.e. the same paths as the trains of SNCF passengers, summarizes Henri Barbier, director of the tourist and historic trains of the Once upon a time there was a train (Ouat), an association that promotes train travel. All operate primarily with volunteers who maintain the tracks and equipment, as well as train driving, ticketing and on-board entertainment.
Trains saved from landfill in the 1970s
Frédéric Leonardi / Somme Tourism
It was at the turn of the 70s that these railway associations arose throughout the territory. Until then, for regulatory reasons, private passenger trains were not allowed to run on the national railway network. The relaxation of the rules has allowed groups to acquire abandoned or scrapped locomotives and wagons from the SNCF to circulate them for tourism purposes. And sometimes with a small fee. “Our association purchased its first locomotive in 1974 for the symbolic sum of 1,000 francs», recalls Henri Barbier, also president of the Auvergne steam train. Such transactions are difficult to achieve today. SNCF is reluctant to sell or give away its equipment, particularly to comply with European asbestos legislation.
«In addition to preserving these trains, the associations also aim to safeguard intangible heritage by perpetuating know-how» adds Henri Barbier. “Maintenance and restoration require rare professions, such as that of the turner and the milling machine, capable of creating metal parts dedicated exclusively to our equipment and produced nowhere else», underlines Line Brunner, operations director of Somme Bay RailwayFrance’s main tourist train with almost 215,000 passengers carried in 2023.
The associations also appeal to the know-how of older people for driving the trains. “In Île-de-France, the last steam locomotives ran until 1969 on the Bastille line (ancestor of one of the eastern branches of the RER A, ed.). It is their former drivers who trained our volunteers. One of the missions of associations like ours is to pass on these skills from generation to generation.», underlines Pascal Berger, administrator of theAjectaassociation which also manages the Living Railway Museum in Longueville (Seine-et-Marne).
A second life also for decommissioned lines
Once the trains have entered the collections, it will still be necessary to find the tracks on which to run them. Very often these are portions of decommissioned lines acquired by the Department or by the associations themselves. The Baie de Somme railways thus use the ancient private Bains de Mer network, in operation from 1887 to 1972, now owned by the Somme department. THE The Pigni train travels on the line Cute – Digne-des-Bains, managed by the PACA region, while the Vendée Railwaybetween Mortagne sur Sèvre and Les Herbiers, it runs on an old stretch of the national network.
«For associations that rent or own their own network, the circulation authorization is issued by the Prefecture, more precisely by its Technical Service for Ski Lifts and Guided Transport (STRMTG)», recalls Henri Barbier. But everything becomes complicated when these trains have to run on the national network together with passenger and freight trains. “In this case the associations will have to book a track (traffic range, ed.) at least three months before the desired departure date. Then charge to SNCF Réseau timetables integrate this train into other transports while ensuring that the train meets the characteristics of the tracks used, for example in terms of mass or traction power», continues Pascal Berger.
«Our trains then circulate under the SNCF safety certificate which defines the specifications to be respected. The presence of an SNCF traction chassis is mandatory in our locomotives next to the driver and mechanic“, He adds. Many rules to respect to show your collection to as many curious people as possible. Thus, on May 22nd and June 25th, travelers at the Gare du Nord in Paris will be surprised to see the old trains of the association National Heritage Railway Equipment (MFPN). Parked in the center of the TER and TGV trains, they will depart towards Le Tréport and Boulogne-sur-Mer with hundreds of enthusiasts on board sitting on imitation leather benches. When the ancient meets the modern.