Railways

Here's the same loco in a warmer environment ! Arrived at Felletin with the 14:05 Thursday only service from Guèret, which operates during July and August. Taken with the rarest camera I have ever owned, a Komaflex S - a 4x4 single lens reflex, using 127 roll film. Only a few thousand were made, a beautiful miniature, like a tiny Hasselblad, but the difficulty of cutting down 120 films, plus the limited range of commercial 127 films, meant it had to go !! Komaflex-S. Efke 100 in Caffenol C

Retired SNCF diesel railcar No X2900 stands rather forlornly in the yard at Guèret on a cold February day. Restored and operated by a group of enthusiasts, it operates a series of special trains during summer. Minolta Dynax 600si. Rollie R100 in Caffenol C.

Hot air balloon, out of gas, about to land on railway line !! (Actually, it just about made it across the tracks and into the field beyond, but a close run thing !!) Canon Digital Ixus 960is

Once a busy station, this imposing building now handles very few trains each day, and the central freight track was lifted some years ago. This photo was developed in Caffenol - although I enjoy messing around with different developers, I sometimes return to using coffee as a developer - I simply like the novelty of it !! 1950's Ensign Selfix 16-20, f3.5/75mm Ross Xpres lens, x2 yellow filter. Foma 100@200 in Caffenol, 14mins @21C. Scanned @ 1200dpi on Epson V500

Ready to leave Gueret while en route from Limoges to Montluçon. Restored by a group of enthusiasts in Limoges, the locomotive was built in England, by the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, in 1919. A total of 340 of this class of heavy freight loco were ordered by the Chemin de fer de l'État, and the first 70 engines were built in France, variously by SACM (Belfort), Schneider et Cie, and Fives-Lille, during 1913, but when war was declared production was transferred to Britain. Between 1914 & 1918, 235 almost identical locos were built by both the North British Locomotive Company, of Glasgow, and Nasmyth, Wilson & Company, of Manchester, and the Vulcan Foundry completed the final 35 locos between 1919 and 1920. Six engines were lost at sea on 30 April 1918, when the cargo ship transporting them, the SS Saint Chamond was torpedoed off the Cornish coast, 14 miles north of St Ives Head. A number of these 140-C class locos have survived, and are preserved, either as static displays or, like this one, used for hauling special excursion trains. Historical data from: Davies, John (August 2001). Chemins de fer de l'État Locomotive List 1878–1938. Woodbridge, Queensland: Dr. John Davies. pp. 85–90. ISBN 0-7316-8442-7. Canon Ixus 960is, and photofinished in Gimp.

Had to be a train photo in this little set! Taken with a 1952 Welmy Six, - another regrettable sale - which had a wonderful Terionar lens, a triplet of remarkable sharpness. This locomotive has now left the area for more northern parts of France, but I enjoyed several trips behind it when it was based in Limoges. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

This was the end of the last stage of this little steam excursion, up into the western slopes of the Massif Central, to the town of Commentry, and the train was hauled from Montluçon by two of these American built locomotives, one at each end. It's a steep gradient from Montluçon, and the sound of the exhaust of the two locomotives reverberating off the rock faces as they climbed was truly spectacular! Over a thousand of these locos were built in America and Canada at the end of WW2, to replace French locomotives destroyed during the war, this one was built by Alco in Schenectady, NewYork in 1945, and is one of only four still serviceable. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

To continue this "excursion in reverse," this is where I joined the train. Taken six years ago, here is TD 141 740 arriving in Guèret station from Limoges, ready for the run up to Montluçon. Notice that there is no diesel back up locomotive, which it seems is now mandatory for steam locomotive hauled trains on public lines in France, but not when this photo was taken. I used a Welmy Six folding camera, which I have since sold, and regret doing so, - it was a delightful little camera, made in Japan - an excellent copy of a Zeiss Ikonta. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

To get to Parsac-Gouzon the line must first cross the deep, densely wooded valley of the river Creuse, and it does so on this spectacular structure. Opened to traffic in 1863, the steel girder viaduct carries the line from the junction at Saint Sulpice Laurière to Montluçon, and onwards across the Massif Central towards Lyon. Built by the Paris Orleans Railway, the total span is 339m (1,112ft), and the height above the river Creuse is 56.5m (185ft). Local people often understandably attribute this work to Gustave Eiffel, but it was actually designed by another eminent civil engineer, and contemporary of Eiffel, Wilhelm Nördling. When it was built it had two tracks, but one of these has now been lifted. Taken with a 1948 Kodak Tourist 620, converted to 120 film. f4.5/105mm coated Kodak Anaston, X2 yellow filter, Rollei RPX400 @800 in Caffenol C + iodized salt, 20-20-6-6 Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500