Trains - France: Books - Rail Routes by Region

Majorca and Corsica Narrow Gauge - Scenic Journeys on Two Mediterranean Islands

These Spanish and French islands in the Mediterranean Sea both possess extensive narrow gauge railway systems. Following a period of decline and threats of closure, they are now enjoying a renaissance with modern equipment and much modernisation of the infrastructure. By complete contrast Majorca is also home to an electrified scenic railway that still uses the same motive power that it has relied on for over 80 years.
This album records the changing fortunes of the railway systems of these attractive islands including many vintage views in addition to the contemporary scene.

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Au fil du Rhône en train

From the Swiss glaciers to the Camargue, the Rhône, initially a torrent, became a powerful river whose course has now been tamed.
Thanks to the furrow it dug in Switzerland and France, the railway was able to penetrate first into the heart of the Alps, then open up the path to the gates of the Mediterranean and the Orient in the northern regions of France.

The book presents this magnificent waterway and the railway lines that accompany it for almost its entire journey to the sea, with trains only leaving it to reach Marseille in the Bouches du Rhône department.
So, be careful when setting off on a train journey along the Rhône, in the Alps, on the shores of Lake Geneva, between the Massif Central and the Pre-Alps, and in the Provence.

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La côte d'Azur - Balade en bord de mer 1955-1985

This volume XIX of "Images de trains" invites you to browse an album of railway memories of the Côte d'Azur, between La Ciotat and Vintimille: from the sailors of Toulon to the flamboyant Estérel massif, from the Croisette to the Baie des Anges and from the radiant Principality of Monaco to the Italian border where the Alps taste of the Mediterranean, you will discover the diversity of landscapes and atmospheres that were offered to travelers as far as the Riviera...

The authors stopped at the "Mistral years". The Mistral, undoubtedly the most prestigious train of the SNCF, always at the forefront of technical developments in the areas of comfort and speed, linked Nice to Paris between 1952 and 1982.

To illustrate these rich hours, they drew on the photographic collection of the famous weekly La Vie du Rail and selected the best color shots.
Contemplating with them the Côte d'Azur in the colors of the Mistral is to witness the changes in the landscapes and the railway universe of a region that is still as attractive as ever.

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Le chemin de fer de la Baie de Somme

On December 31, 1972, the last departmental network open to travelers in the Somme Bay area disappeared.
However, when one story ends, another begins thanks to a group of young railway enthusiasts who embarked on the takeover of the two Noyelles-Cayeux and Noyelles-Le Crotoy lines in a tourist form.

The only associative structure that manages a tourist railway of this importance in France, the Baie de Somme railway has become a major tourist structure on the Picardy coast, welcoming nearly 130,000 travelers each year on 27 kilometers of rail network.
Tracing this railway epic, the book will also allow the reader to discover the history, geography, biodiversity and heritage of the Baie de Somme throughout the pages and during the journey. In collaboration with the CFBS.

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Les petits trains de Ch'Nord - Histoire des voies ferrées d'intérêt local du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais

The most complete work on the secondary metre-gauge lines of Anvin-Calais, Aire-Berck and the Compagnie des chemins de fer des Flandres. Many unpublished photographs, plans of equipment and installations.

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Paris-Strasbourg - De la Compagnie de l'Est au TGV

A strategic issue and theatre of conflicts between France and Germany from 1870 to 1945, no other major line has had such a unique and too often dramatic history. Departing from the Gare de l'Est, we speed along at the rhythm of steam towards the Marne, the lands of Champagne, Lorraine and Alsace.
Perhaps you will be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the famous and unforgettable Mountain locomotives of the Compagnie de l'Est...

Jean-Pierre Rigouard is a tireless cartophile. Passionate about the history of the French railway, he could not miss the railway event of 2007: the opening of the high-speed line between Paris and Strasbourg.
The author draws up a panorama that is both historical and technical of the route, stations and machines.

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Sur les rails de Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur

This splendid album explores all aspects of the Provençal railway scene, from the major routes of the Rhone Valley, the Côte d'Azur and the TGV Méditerranée to the most daring mountain lines that rush towards Dauphiné and neighbouring Piedmont.
The region also had a large number of secondary railways including the legendary "Train des Pignes".

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Valenciennes-Thionville - La route du fer et du charbon

If there is a legendary line when we talk about freight traffic, Valenciennes - Thionville immediately stands out. A true umbilical cord of French heavy industry, linking two cradles of mining and steelmaking - the North and Lorraine - it has long been the artery carrying the largest tonnage of all French lines, not to mention the few transversal passenger trains such as the famous Calais - Basel.

Georges Marlier tells us about the adventures of this railway, from its construction to the end of steam, without forgetting the two wars where the line found itself in the foreground due to its location near the border.
He reviews the installations (stations, marshalling yards, depots, etc.) as well as the equipment, both from the Northern and Eastern companies and from the SNCF. The work ends with the electrification of the line in the mid-1950s, the first "large-scale" application of single-phase current at industrial frequency that would become the world reference.

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