© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2011 29 May: Steve had managed to obtain a cheap crossing for our trip, this time on the now- discontinued hovercraft service from Dover - a bit quicker than the ferry, to put it mildly! We drove south-east to the town of Hazebrouck - a major junction where the lines from Calais and Dunquerque join, to diverge again immediately east of the station for Lille and Lens. We had reckoned it ought to be busy, although photographic locations were a little tricky. We started at the level crossing just west of the station, where we obtained the shots of BB22303 on an eastbound freight, an eastbound double-deck unit no 92062 (which appeared to be brand-new, possibly on test) and a westbound push-pull passenger, in the hands of BB66402. Moving on to the station, a footbridge enabled us to take one or two pictures - BB22229 passed on a tunnel-bound freight off the Lens line, then a southbound TGV paused at the platform. In both pictures, BB16552 waits in the background on a push-pull set. The pictorial possibilities were somewhat limited here, and we moved back towards the coast. A year previously, the yard at Grande Synthe, near Dunquerque, had proved to be an interesting spot, so we went back for more. In the pictures below are BB64067 indulging in a spot of shunting, and BB16767 seen arriving with a train of flats for the steelworks. Our day was gradually drawing to a close, and it was time to head towards Calais again. There was time for a peep at the tunnel, where a tourist shuttle is seen heading for Folkestone, and then a quick look at Frethun yard. BB66304 is seen passing with a freight while in the yard were several locomotives, mostly of the same type as BB66304, but also a "Sybic" electric and (in the distance, not really visible in this view) a UK class 92. Last of all came our greatest prize - one of the few remaining old centre-cab electrics, no. BB12064 on a short freight. And that was it - just time for a quick trip to the hypermarket, before returning to the port for a very fast and smooth return trip on the "Princess Anne" and the long drive home