VFV

This is an autorail Billard type A80D; No 313, originally built in 1937, and put back into service in 2001, after 2,500 hours of renovation spread over five years by members of the Association Voies Ferrees du Velay (VFV). This type of diesel railcar could be found on many of the secondary railways which linked small towns and villages all over France between the mid 1930's and the mid 1960's

If you think that this little autorail has character and charm, well, so do I, and until recently it had been my ambition to ride on one. Ambition achieved on September 7th 2002, when the opportunity arose to celebrate the centenary of the Dunieres-St Agreve metre gauge line. .

This is a double autorail Billard, type A150D2, No 222, originally built in 1937, the only survivor of a series of four. The motor is in the centre of the autorail, and the gear change is mechanical and more than tricky !

There are two passenger compartments with a total of 56 seats. VFV has completed a lengthy renovation and repainting of this vehicle and in July 2004, No 222 emerged for an official presentation decorated with the "Arrows" of the "Flêche des Cevennes" a short lived experiment in narrow gauge luxury travel in 1950. The railcar provides a thrilling evocation of the sensations of secondary rail travel 40 - 70 years ago. It is a listed "monument", seen here at Tence on July 3rd 2004.

The DUNIERES - ST AGREVE heritage line is one of two sections of the metre gauge network of the Vivarais which has been saved following complete closure of the network in 1968. The other section saved is the better known Tournon-Lamastre line which had the good fortune to be converted immediately to "tourist" use and is one of the busiest heritage lines in France.

Both these lines were once linked with others to total 201km of narrow gauge lines, completely opened in 1902, to form a successful rail network, ferrying passengers and freight between different points of the hilly and relatively inaccessible departments of the Ardeche and Haute Loire.

The surviving line from DUNIERES, Haute Loire at 760m ascends for 37km along picturesque valleys, through forests and up to highland pastures via TENCE, to ST AGREVE, Ardeche at 1,040m.

Conservation of the line has been difficult during the years since closure. For fifteen years from 1970, the line was operated by a specially formed heritage company, but in the mid 1980's that concession ended and the line closed since the only solution was to purchase the track bed.. A new association, Voies Ferrees du Velay, was formed on 1984 and following their efforts, a Syndicat of local communes purchased the track. After some 8 years of closure, the line was partly reopened in 1994..

VFV was given operating responsibility for the line. The whole line was opened in 2002 after much work on the track and infrastructure. It is clearly in excellent condition today.

DUNIERES is only 40 km from Saint Etienne which has good rail connections, including by TGV to Paris. Details of timetables etc can be found on the web site of the association: www.asso-vfv.net/ .