When down in
the south of France, I also made a tour on what is named “Le Train Jaune” (The
Yellow Train) in the Pyrenees area. This spectacular line raises from 427m (1400
ft) at Villfranche-de-Conflent to 1492 m (4895 ft) at Bolquère-Eyne (the
highest French railway station), before going slightly downhill to (almost)
reach the Spanish border at Latour-de Carol. The line opened in 1909-10,
already then electrified (by a third rail). Some of the original units are
still in operation. The gauge is different from the “standard”. The total
length of the line is 63 km (39 miles). There are some 19 tunnels and a large
number of spectacular bridges, including the Viaduc Séjourné and the suspension
bridge Pont Gisclard.
Today the roads in the area are quite good and the train
is rather a tourist attraction. I joined it (back and forth) only for the more
spectacular part from Villefranche to Odeillo-Font Romeu, a well-known ski
resort, close to the highest point. The trip (one-way), some 38 km (24 miles), takes
about 1 hour 50 minutes = some 25 km/hour (15 miles/hour). It’s slow, but that’s
good – you have the time to watch.
Sitting in
the train, it’s hardly possible to take any good photos of the spectacular
bridges, so I “stole” two from Wikipedia.
The starting
point is thus Villefranche-de-Conflent, a Unesco World Heritage site,
completely circled by walls from the 17th century (Vauban), when the
area became French.
Climbing the
valleys and mountains…
… you reach the
top (Bolquère-Eyne) and a broad high valley, the little village Odeillo and
the close-by Font-Romeu, which was developed to a major resort in the 1920’s.
Today it’s especially popular for skiing and is also a place where sport teams –
athletics, soccer, rugby… - make altitude training.
The little
village Odeillo is especially known for its solar furnace from 1970 – the world’s
largest (?). The temperature at the
central point can reach 3,500 °C (6,330 °F). It’s generating one megawatt. (The largest nuclear power stations produce 5 or 6,000 times more.)
The flora is
different when you reach a little altitude.
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8 comments:
Tu as trouvé que le voyage était trop long ? J'imagine que tu n'as atteint tes points de départ et d'arrivée ni en avion ni en bateau pourtant...
Je ne vois pas expliqué comment est produite l'électricité nécessaire. Heureusement qu'Alain l'a fait dans un de ses blogs (quoique j'aurais besoin d'une piqûre de rappel)
Errata, dans un de ses messages même si Alain a eu beaucoup de blogs successifs.
Je vais te mettre les commentaires de Pat en les tapant de mes petits doigts
Ben il fait tout son message en anglais !
Il aurait dû dire que c'est une voie métrique
Ces deux ponts sont très connus, le pont pas suspendu est un bel ouvrage d'art
Le four solaire c'est un vieux truc qui n'a eu la rentabilité espérée.....
......
......
Sacré Peter ! Quel message !
(Et puis il ne le dit pas mais il y a une vue de Font Romeu que l'on reconnait bien)
J’avais écouté avec délice des petits bouts d’émissions a propos du petit train jaune sur France Culture et j’ai bien l’intention de monter à bord un de ces quatre.
Merci pour la piqure de rappel…
How wonderful to ride on that lovely train! I love trains. Especially travelling through such beautiful countryside. The solar furnace is fascinating!
Ce doit être une super balade que celle -ci. Suis un peu comme Thérèse, j'aimerais bien la faire.
That yellow train looks like something out of a storybook.
What a wonderful post! The photos...and that landscape!
I'm so glad you had such a great time.
Mil gracias.
Maria.
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