Today, I will continue my journey along La Transversale Nord-Est even though I will only have the chance to see the train in the morning and the afternoon.
When in France, the most affordable way to stay overnight is at Ibis hotels, which are located almost everywhere.
The message in French about the limited services throughout the day
But in the morning, at Fourmies station, there are still some trains
I can see some preparations for the closure
E 37 531 from EPF - Europorte France SAS
Now it's red until late afternoon
At nearby Hirson station it's all dead too
Mohon
Here, it is not even possible to get to the platforms
So, what to do now... I decided to go to nearby Belgium and spot some trains there
Nearby is about a 30-minute drive to Bertrix station
Looks like there are closures here as well, but not until 30/7
At Bertrix station, there are two lines: Line 166 Dinant-Bertrix and Line 165 Athus-Libramont. Here is a train arriving from Libramont
This Belgian version of Siemens Desiro has the certificate to operate in Belgium and Luxembourg.
The L166 line between Athus and Namur runs parallel with L162 (located a bit further north), but the latter is intended for Intercity passenger trains. At the same time, the L166 is used primarily by freight and some local passenger trains. Here is a freight arriving from Dinant direction.
1312 is the Alstom HLE13
It has country codes: B, L, F
The line is called Athus-Meuse and it was electrified with 25kV at the end of the 90's
Sibelit SA (Société pour l’itinéraire Belgique, Lorraine-Luxembourg, Italie SA) - was a company created by B-Cargo, CFL Cargo, and Fret SNCF to operate cargo trains from the ports in Belgium (Antwerpen, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam) with Italy (through Basel)
1345 with CLdN Cargo
A little bit to the northwest is the station Paliseul
The line here is indeed packed with freight trains, which was a bit of a surprise for me
186 215
1313
Volvo cars from Gent factory
1310
1337
1338
It's time to go back to France.
There are not many roads here between Belgium and France through the forests of Ardenne, but this one, E46 (French N58), is relatively fast.
I'm back at La Transversale Nord-Est, Donchery station
No freight trains yet, only the local passenger services between Sedan and Champagne-Ardenne TGV
A freight train is parked at Sedan
Sedan
Vrigne-Meuse
Something is happening
This railway was the first French line to be electrified at 25kV 50 Hz during 1954-1955.
The first freight train this afternoon in the northwest direction
427023
427035
427018M
186 192
27117, VFLI SA
1313
186 173
BB 12087 at Nouvion-sur-Meuse
The SNCF Class BB 12000 were electric locomotives operated by SNCF, the French railway operator. The first examples arrived on the railway in 1953, operating on the 25 kV 50 Hz line to the coal mines of the Houillères de Lorraine in the north-east of France. (Wikipedia)
At Lumes, I can spot this one
Class BB 22000 is not a regular locomotive here
It is the new RER NG train manufactured by the former Bombardier (now Alstom) factory in Crespin (near Valenciennes)
186 189
TGV from Paris to Sedan
1328
427080
Arriving at my hotel in Charleville-Mezieres
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