Heilly, Miraumont, Dourges, Montigny-en-Ostrevent, Lourches, Le Quesnoy, Fourmies

I have one more week of continuous trainspotting. This time, I am in the Hauts-de-France and Grand Est regions, spending most of the time in the Ardennes and Lorraine regions. I will also make short visits to Belgium and Luxembourg.

Starting at the Paris-Nord to Lille railway, just north of Amiens, I'm visiting Heilly station.

At Longeau, the railway connects the south of France, Le Havre, the busiest port in France, and the railways to the north and northeast.

EMD Class 66, 66231

This locomotive has country codes GB and F and the label "English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd., Doncaster." Today it is used by Euro Cargo Rail (DB Cargo France)

SNCF Class B82500 is a dual-mode multi-system EMU

SNCF Class Z 24500

A short stop at Buire Sur Ancre

There are many WW1 cemeteries here

Miraumont

Here comes a freight train

186 314 and 186 320, Euro Cargo Rail, aka DB Cargo France

Courcelles-le-Comte

I'm continuing on the Paris Lille railway, here is Roeux Pas de Calais

Pizza Futur

The region of Nord Pas de Calais has remains from the coal mining age - the slag heaps can be found here and there; here is one near Dourges

Dourges station is located on the short railway from Lens to Ostricourt, there is a large container terminal nearby, so there must be some freight trains activity

Here are the Class 186 from SNCF Fret

It is same 186 used by Euro Cargo Rail, but I have not seen it anywhere else in France except here

186 194 

This one is a more common in whole France, Alstom Prima

427034

There are many railways in this region

Somain has one of the largest freight yards in France, so I'm heading there

Nearby is the LGV Nord, with former Thalys trains

And Eurostar to/from London

Montigny-en-Ostrevent

The station is located at the line Douai to Blanc-Misseron

Here is a freight train

186 184

Now I'm at Busigny - Somain line, station Lourches. The time is 16:03 - the next train is at 17:15, not many trains outside of rush hours

427042 on route from Somain

Now, I'm at the railway, which was the main reason for my coming here—La Transversale Nord-Est, between Lille and Thionville—the main freight line from the northern to eastern regions of France. The station Le Quesnoy is located at the stretch of Fives (Lille) and Hirson.

On this stretch, there are passenger services

And the freight

186 189

I visited this line in June 2023 but did not see any freight trains then. It will turn out that it is the same situation now, as there are railworks during the daytime, which involves maintaining the catenary. On the other hand, all freight trains are released after about 4PM, so all will come simultaneously.

I'm on my way to Fourmies, where I'll stay in a hotel; I'm passing by the Paris-Jeumont railway, which is the classic line between Paris and Brussels

Hachette station

Alstom Regio 2N train

186 260

I've arrived at Fourmies, and the trains are just coming one after another

75010 and 75013

Lineas (former B-Cargo) is now the largest private freight rail operator in Europe

1339 and 1341, also from Lineas

427084 and 427049

I quickly started to be suspicious of this number of trains; something was not quite right. The question now is, what will I do tomorrow during the daytime...

27174M

427036

427008M

427035

Next to my hotel is a sort of recreation area with forest and lakes

Here it is, what I was looking for. The railway crossing is closed between 22nd of July and 1st of August only from 8-17