Focalplane
Western Thunderer
After I left Texas I started working for companies who were investing in Africa and found myself needing a place for R&R and eventually retirement. Southern France was our choice for several reasons, the climate, ease of getting to Francophone West Africa via Paris, scenery that reminded us of parts of Texas and, naturellement, good food and wines!
Initially we stayed in a holiday apartment when we could, starting in 2004, but in 2009 we decided to rent an apartment in the same village while we searched for a suitable home, a search that lasted nearly 9 years. The apartment served us well but the village wasn't what we were looking for, so we became quite desperate until we found a new block of apartments being built and bought one as a stop gap measure. The apartment served us well for five years but only a year ago did we find a house to our liking, the one with a home cinema that is now the railway room with Moor Street Station slowly taking shape.
Meantime I started photographing the trains that serve the region. One of my favourite locations was near Nissan lès Ensérune which is between Béziers and Narbonne on the Midi Main Line. Today this area includes TGVs, Grandes Lignes, freight and local passenger trains with good variety. In years passed we also had Spanish Talgos and Italian couchettas. I also traveled by train to work, and with a Senior Card and huge discounts the accountants never complained. Béziers to Charles de Gaulle airport used to be easy, the Perpignan to Bruxelles direct route. (Along came Marseilles as the cultural capital of Europe and the train ran there from Bruxelles, requiring a 1+ hour layover in Lyons which somewhat defeats the purpose of high speed trains.) Anyway, after this wordy introduction, a few early photos from my collection.
While visiting Montpellier we popped into Gare St. Roch to see what was going on. The first train on the UP line platform 1 was a Duplex TGV of the early series:
The next one was a bit of a surprise, a Class 66 "Shed":
Later sighting of these locos included rooftop air-conditioning units, hardly a luxury in the south!
Initially we stayed in a holiday apartment when we could, starting in 2004, but in 2009 we decided to rent an apartment in the same village while we searched for a suitable home, a search that lasted nearly 9 years. The apartment served us well but the village wasn't what we were looking for, so we became quite desperate until we found a new block of apartments being built and bought one as a stop gap measure. The apartment served us well for five years but only a year ago did we find a house to our liking, the one with a home cinema that is now the railway room with Moor Street Station slowly taking shape.
Meantime I started photographing the trains that serve the region. One of my favourite locations was near Nissan lès Ensérune which is between Béziers and Narbonne on the Midi Main Line. Today this area includes TGVs, Grandes Lignes, freight and local passenger trains with good variety. In years passed we also had Spanish Talgos and Italian couchettas. I also traveled by train to work, and with a Senior Card and huge discounts the accountants never complained. Béziers to Charles de Gaulle airport used to be easy, the Perpignan to Bruxelles direct route. (Along came Marseilles as the cultural capital of Europe and the train ran there from Bruxelles, requiring a 1+ hour layover in Lyons which somewhat defeats the purpose of high speed trains.) Anyway, after this wordy introduction, a few early photos from my collection.
While visiting Montpellier we popped into Gare St. Roch to see what was going on. The first train on the UP line platform 1 was a Duplex TGV of the early series:
The next one was a bit of a surprise, a Class 66 "Shed":
Later sighting of these locos included rooftop air-conditioning units, hardly a luxury in the south!