10 May - Lyon Perrache to Dijon Ville with 141R 1199

After the fairly non-stop programme it was nice to have a more relaxed day planned. In the morning there was an option to take a river cruise around Lyon or have the time free. We opted for the free time so we could have a look around Lyon at our own pace, concentrating on what we wanted to look at. The old quarter came highly recommended and turned out to be an excellent way to spend the morning, before it started to get too warm to be bothered with walking around and before the crowds appeared!

A view up the Saône looking towards the old quarter of Lyon.

We followed a route from our hotel on to the east bank of the Saône, under the railway and up to the Bonaparte bridge where we crossed the river to the old quarter. Walking through the narrow streets we ended up at Saint-Jean Cathedral, some parts of which date from the twelfth century. Overlooking the old quarter is a very steep hill. On top of this hill are several attractions worth seeing. Fortunately there are two funicular routes, which form part of the Lyon public transport network, to the top of the hill. Both seemed to be attracting the attention of fellow 'Le Mistral' passengers. We took the line to Fourvière station. This station is conveniently positioned close to the somewhat gaudy and over the top Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière.

Alongside the Saône were signs of the old tram network which at this point was dual gauge.

In the foreground is the Saint-Jean Cathedral and on the hill, to the left, is the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière and on the right the Tour métallique de Fourvière.

A typical old quarter street, but minus the normal hordes of people - it pays to get out early! © Brian Bane

The rose window in the Saint-Jean Cathedral.

Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière is ornate on the outside and totally over the top on the inside. © Brian Bane

As would be expected from such an ornate basilica the stained glass windows are intricate in the extreme.

The inside of the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière is rather over the top and gaudy. No such thing as restraint here! © Brian Bane

The amphitheatres are surrounded by a lot of unrestored remains and a museum which we did not visit. From here we walked back down to river level talking one of the many steep streets followed by an even steeper set of steps. Once back at river level it was back across the Bonaparte bridge and into the city centre, via the large Place Bellecour.

There are two Roman amphitheatres in Lyon, which are on the same hill as the Basilica, overlooking the town. This is the larger of the two.

The reason we took the funicular up the hill should be obvious from this photo! Saint-Jean cathedral towers over the surrounding area.

In Place Bellecour there is a monument to Louis XIV - The Sun King. It can be nicely lined up for a photo with the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the Tour métallique de Fourvière.

By now time was moving on and the temperature was rising. Needing a break from walking around we found a cafe for an early lunch and a rest! After more excellent French food we took a leisurely walk down through some of Lyon's main shopping streets back towards Perrache station and the hotel. Here we collected our luggage before walking the short distance back to the station to wait for the train.

Trams pass in Lyon viewed from the steps up to Perrache station.

The train arrived at Lyon Perrache from the north, with the 141R running tender first, meaning it had to run-round before we could get away. Again we were away late. Unfortunately, as we were to find out, confusion within SNCF saw the loco limited to 80kph for the day which played absolute havoc with time keeping. It was rumoured SNCF were confusing the 100kph limit on the 141R with the genuine 80kph limit on the 241P. It reminded me of my trip on 'Lé Parisien' where 231K8 was also limited to 80kph due to incompetence somewhere in the chain of command. I believe the highest speed registered all day was 85kph, the traction inspector must have been looking the other way at the time.... Time keeping was further dented by an out of course stop someway south of Mâcon , possibly due to a tripped hot box detector. The delays meant we were about an hour late in Mâcon Ville where a two hour stop was booked for visits to a number of local vineyards. We opted to sit this out , have a look around the town and generally take it easy in the heat of the afternoon. Apparently the temperature was in the high twenties (°C).

Electrics on southbound services at Mâcon Ville.

Having found an ice cream in the centre of Mâcon we wandered back to the station to watch goings on. Shortly after our return rumours circulated SNCF wanted us away on time and that vineyard participants would have to catch up by service train. In the event this, thankfully, did not happen. However some participants did return to Mâcon by service train instead of coach as originally planned. I believe this was due to the coaches having to leave for the local school run. In the end we were away from Mâcon about an hour down. With the loco still limited to 80kph we headed north as fast as we were allowed, loosing time all the way. At least there was no further need to take water, rather the stops made were purely for pathing.

141R 1199 at the head of 'Le Mistral' during the short stop at Chalon-sur-Saône.

Every 150km or so the tubes on the 141R are sanded. That is sand is poured into the firebox and sucked along the tubes by the action of the draught. The purpose is to clean the tubes of soot deposits, soot being produced as a consequence of incomplete fuel oil combustion. A similar sort of problem occurs with coal fired locos but goes unnoticed as carryover of fine particle of coal from the firebed gives a continuous scouring action on the tubes. But, as can be appreciated, with oil firing there are no small abrasive particles to do the job, hence he use of sand.

The procedure on the footplate is to close the damper, open the throttle fully then pour in the measured amount of sand, in the case of the 141R this looked to be between two and three kilogrammes, via the inspection hole. As we travelled north towards Dijon the procedure was carried out. As normal a huge amount of black smoke was emitted from the chimney for the 20 seconds or so of tube cleaning. On this occasion, in the very still evening, the black pawl of smoke hung in the air for a very long time. Fifteen minutes later, moving at 80kph for most of the time, it was still possible to clearly see the smoke in the distance. Locals unaware of the 141Rs procedure must have wondered what had been on fire.

Originally Dijon had been the destination for the day but there was a problem! The following morning engineering work in the 4100m long summit tunnel at Blaisy Bas meant single line working would be in operation, but worse than this SNCF were refusing to allow steam through the tunnel. It was felt the time it would take for the exhaust gases to clear would be too much of an inconvenience to the work schedule. So the steam had to be through the tunnel the night before or after the work was finished. With a Friday afternoon arrival in Paris a must for those making the onward Eurostar connection it was agreed the 141R and train would continue to Les Laumes Alésia, after servicing at Dijon. 'Le Mistral' passengers would then take a service train the next morning from Dijon to catch it up. However the offer was made, to anyone who wanted it, that travel on to Les Laumes with the 141R was possible with a coach being laid on back to Dijon. Apparently finding any transport firm willing to do this top was very hard work, but eventually one was found. The schedule allowed almost two hours to get booked in to hotels etc in Dijon before needing to be back on the train. However it did not quite work out like that!

At Beaume we were stopped in the platform road to allow a service following close behind to overtake, the headlights of which can be seen in the centre background. In the other direction a TGV passed unusually slowly.

Arrival at Dijon was at about 20:50, ninety four or so minutes late. Those wishing to travel to Les Laumes and staying in the Mercure hotel were advised to stay aboard due to lack to time to get there and back. All others could head to their hotels but had to be back in time for the booked departure onwards for Les Laumes at 21:08. However word spread that the train would be held until 21:40, so we had a bit of breathing space - or so we thought! Hot footing it over to the Ibis Hotel opposite the station we were into our room and out again by just after 21:00. When we had entered the hotel the loco was being watered but when we came out the hoses were gone. Most likely enough water to get to the destination was all that was taken. Walking quickly down the road I turned to see the signal had gone to green and was followed by whistling! Moving faster now we were half way up the steps on to the platform as the open drain cocks could be heard and off went the train, spot on time at 21:08..... Other than those who had stayed onboard we were about the first people to make it back to the station, with one of the tour staff only a minute or so behind us. There was no doubt this was not a shunting move - the 141R departed making a heck of a lot of noise and could be heard accelerated away up Blaisy Bas bank for quite some time. Those who did manage to ride the train report it took 20 minutes to cover the 26km to Blaisy Bas summit and that it was thrash all the way - as the numbers suggest.

The climb up from Dijon to Blaisy Bas summit is at 1 in 125, not step but it requires a high continuous effort to surmount at any respectable speed.

Well such is life, we missed it. Next time! Some people were not so philosophical and it did seem odd that the train went when presumably the crew knew they were meant to be taking a quite a few passengers with them. In hindsight a member of train staff should have stayed with the train and prevented (if possible!) departure but, as ever, it is easy to say that after the event. It did mean that an earlier night than would otherwise have been got was possible, a distinct advantage as we had to be on the 07:00 service train the next day!

The "serious" side of Blaisy Bas bank is faced by trains running out of Paris. It was on this bank that many of the performance records which still stands today were set. One such notable record was a Chapelon 240P sustaining 3600dbhp, which gave a yet to be beaten 31.1hp per ton of locomotive.

On to 11 May

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