Brittany - journey to Cherbourg
A French journey
6 / 7 August 1992
In August 1992 I paid a brief visit to
southern Brittany. I had been picked up
from Cherbourg on the outward journey
- to return, I would make the cross-
country journey by rail - and a most
interesting trip it was.
On the day before my return, I paid a visit to Questembert, and
spent an hour or so on the station, on the basis of "let's see
what's going on". Despite being an electrified main line - the
route to Lorient and Quimper - traffic is in fact fairly sparse -
but when the trains arrive or pass, they are substantial trains...
My afternoon was made much more pleasant by the SNCF staff,
who, after enquiring politely about my activities with the
camera, asked "vous aimez le café?", and invited me into their
bothy to drink strong black coffee (from a wine glass) while
discussing the relative merits (with some
difficulty on my part - and theirs, come to
think of it) of British and French railways,
alcohol etc.
The following day, I was delivered to
Redon at a seriously early hour in the
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
morning, and began my journey. Firstly, a
diesel-hauled (loco no. 72066) train to
Rennes (and the chance of a few photos),
thence by DMU via such places as Dol-de-
Bretagne, Avranches, Countances and St
Lô to Lison, on the main line from Paris to
Cherbourg. I should mention that the DMU was a most
comfortable vehicle, with bay-type seating offering plenty of
leg-room, and windows arranged so that the passenger can
watch the very pleasant scenery pass by. While lacking the
acceleration of a modern British unit, this was clearly design by
railwayman rather than accountant...
I had plenty of time at Lison to
photograph a few passing trains, including
the gas-turbine powered unit which
hurtled through, and to grab a drink at the
nearby cafe, before boarding my
Cherbourg train, once again diesel-hauled,
this time by a pair of locomotives, led by
no. 67509 (the line has since been electrified). On arrival at
Cherbourg, I grabbed one or two more photographs before
walking to the ferry (I had plenty of time) for the journey back
to Portsmouth.
