This site was first created in 2001.
After seven years of travel along many, but by no means all, of the rural railways of France, it is clear to me that, more than ever, rural rail sites are disappearing very quickly. Many old stations have been abandoned and destroyed, or, if acquired as private homes, have been altered, often losing their historical integrity. New green wire fences have been introduced, which divide and segregate, obstruct and protect the sites
The typical old red & cream or blue autorails which were to be found on these country lines have nearly all been withdrawn, now in 2007, at best , being replaced by modern types offering more comfort, though not necessarily with more character, at worst, some rural lines have been closed, ( Lapeyrouse - Volvic November 2007,
Montluçon - Eygurande-Merlines, March 2008). Proper track maintenance along these rural lines has not been applied, and as a result, speed restrictions have been imposed. As usual, the more infrequent the service and the slower the trains become the fewer are the passengers and revenue, thus making it less and less possible to repair the line.
Another sad tendancy is that, in order to keep the rural lines open, even with only two or three trains a day, many stations are no longer attended. Such stations are inevitably more vulnerable to vandalism and decay.
So the quest is more and more difficult to discover those rare places where the rail heritage remains intact.
For this and other reasons the rate of publication of new pages on the site has slowed compared to its peak in prior years. There are still places to visit and discover but they tend to be further and further away from my place of residence. This was a short explanation for those faithful visitors who follow the web site closely. Thanks for your interest.
All photos have been taken by the webmaster unless acknowledged to other contributors, to whom grateful thanks.
I recommend the link to the associated website devoted to
the historic photos of steam in action by D Michel Costes.
All comments, questions, corrections - e-mail address: (anti-spam procedure) :
Thank you all for your interest in this site.
Graham Skinner, The Webmaster
September 2008
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