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Steam on Les Voies Ferrées du Velay (VFV), 2011 |
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Les Voies Ferrées du Velay (VFV) is a historic French metre gauge line in
the Départements of Haute-Loire and l'Ardèche. The line is some 37km long
running between Dunières and Saint-Agrève on the Velay Plateau reaching
some 1000 metres above sea level.
Although the line has been running trains for tourists for some time, regular steam services were only inaugurated on the weekend of May 21st/22nd 2011. Fabrice Lanoue was there to record the action... The four locomotives shown below are: 0-4-0T Corpet Louvet Nr 11 was built for the engineering firm Paul Frot
in 1921 came from Bas-Berry 0-6-0T Nr 36 was built for Chemins de Fer des Côtes du Nord in 1925. This Corpet Louvet nicknamed "Lulu" came from MTVS (Musée des Tramways à Vapeur et des Chemins de Fer Secondaires Français) at Butry in the Paris area. 0-8-0T Nr 22 Corpet Louvet built for the engineering firm Paul Frot in 1923. Saved by FACS (Fédération des Amis des Chemin de Fer Secondaires) in the 1970s, it was at the “Chemin de Fer du Vivarais” displayed as a monument in a highway car park until 2004, when it was removed to Tence for restoration by the ”Voies Ferrées du Velay”. 6 years later, it was serviceable for the heritage days in September 2010 and from June 2011 it will operate on the Dunières - Saint-Agrève line. Blanc - Misseron Mallet 0-4-4-0 Nr 101 (from the former P.O.C) has been restored by CITEV in St Jean du Gard and did its first test runs some days before this event. Like Nr 11 and 22 it belongs to the FACS. It is planned to operate it here from autumn 2011. Saturday May 21st
Sunday May 22nd
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Rob Dickinson
Email: webmaster@internationalsteam.co.uk