Day 3 - Côte Bleue, Etoile d'Aix and Ste. Baume Express
This third and last day - 2 October 2010 - of the tour presented three legs
- Côte Bleue - Late morning train from Marseille to Miramas, with stops at intermediate stations.
- Etoile d'Aix - Miramas to Marseille, via Rognac, Aix-en-Provence, Gardanne, with no stop, except for traffic control reasons.
- Ste. Baume Express - Marseille to Carnoules, via Gardanne, with short stops at a few of the stations on the Gardanne to Carnoules line.
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| Marseille seen from St Charles station |
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| St Charles exterior |
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| St Charles interior - shopping area |
Côte Bleue - The Blue Coast train
We left Saint Charles at 10.00 in the morning on the third day, Saturday, heading for Miramas via the Blue Coast.
The trip along the coast would offer a fantastic view of the Mediteranian in the morning sun and mist, and of the villages along the coast. This was then to be followed by interesting views of the industrial areas west of the Etang de Berre lagoon. Oil refineries, dozens of mooring oil tankers, as well as the air field in Istres (where is located the longest airstrip in Europe) would be visible out of the railcar windows.
We first went at low speed NW from St Charles through a maze of tracks until L'Estaque, where we made a short stop.
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| L'Estaque |
The line from L'Estaque along the coast is very picturesque, with its large number of masonry bridges and tunnels, but we didn't have much opportunity to enjoy that. And, the tight time schedule only allowed us a short stop at each station. However the view from the train was simply breathtaking. It's understandable why this area is so popular. The Blue coast really offers beautiful views in the morning sunlight.
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| Blue coast |
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| Blue coast |
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| Blue coast |
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| Blue coast |
We made 3 mins stops at L'Estaque, La Redonne - Ensues, Carry-le-Rouët, Susset-les-Pins, La Couronne - Carro, Ponteaux St.Pierre, Martigues, Croix Sainte and Port-de-Bouc.
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| Carry-le-Rouet |
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| La Redonne-Ensues |
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| Sausset-les-Pins |
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| La Couronne-Carro |
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| Ponteau-St-Pierre |
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| Martigues station |
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| Port-de-Bouc |
We could also se the EDF power station, and on the sea numerous tankers waiting for their turn to empty their oil contents, as well as oil refinerys.
After only 1.5 hours we arrive in Miramas, a major railway town since the mid 19th century.
Entering the town of Miramas, we have on our left side the Circuit of Miramas, an early 20th century motorsport race track, now owned by BMW and by them used as a vehicle test track.
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| Miramas |
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| Miramas |
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| Mural painting opposite railway station entrance |
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| Alternative |
Etoile d'Aix
After the stop for lunch in Miramas our journey continues via Rognac, Aix-en-Provence and Gardanne back to Saint Charles, which we reached in the middle of the afternoon. The line from Rognac to Aix-en-Provence is today only used for freight traffic. In Rognac we have to wait for quite a while for permission to continue.
Down to Rognac we view the busy industrial area in and around Berre, with oil refineries and automobil storage areas.
The highlight of this part of the journey was perhaps the passing through a nice valley and under the impressive Aqueduc de Roquefavour, which is part of the system that provides Marseille with drinking water from the river Durance.
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| Roquefavour-Ventrabren station |
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| Aqueduct of Roquefavour |
The view of the aqueduct at Roquefavour - the world's largest stone aqueduct - constructed 1842-1847 to transport water from the river Durance to Marseille. With three tiers of arches it is 400 meter long and 83 meter high. It was no doubt the highlight of this leg. A pity that we could not stop or pass at low speed, to get a closer view.
After some waiting in Aix-en-Provence, we go directly to Marseille St.Charles.
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| Aix-en-Provence station |
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| Bridge south of Aix-en-Provence |
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| Back at Marseille St Charles |
Sainte Baume Express
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| Train crew prior to leaving Saint Charles |
After an hour at St.Charles, the final leg of our three day journey starts. Direct train to Gardanne and then heading back to Carnoules (in comfortable speed).
After the two days and after the tour around Etang de Berre this day, the return to Carnoules may not have been felt that exciting.The "regional" to Gardanne was without stops at intermediate stations. Then we had to wait in Gardanne before we got permission to enter the "low-speed" section, the Gardanne to Carnoules line.
We had the same nice views, heard the same noise from tree and bush branches swiping the sides of the Caravelle. Quite a few people cheering and waving when we passed - this time some sitting with their evening coffee in their backyards or on their porches in the Saturday afternoon sun.
We hardly made any stop at stations this time. And, after Tourves is was too dark for photos, anyway. So the word "express" became more relevant ...
After Tourves stopping road traffic at level crossings hadto be given with light signals. In Brignoles was it completely dark.
We returned to the ATTCV depot in Besse at 21.30, a bit in advance of the schedule. It was really dark in Besse. But the temperature was nice, when we descended to our parked cars, after the fairly warm October day. Even if we were somewhat tired after three days on rails, we had good memories to digest when we headed north towards the motorway, or south, back home.
Conclusion
This was a very interesting journey, from many points of view. To travel long distance in the comfort of the 1950- to 60-ies; to see a large number of stations, at various levels of age and maintenance; to have the opportunity to for periods sitting beside the driver and watch signs and signals, meeting trains, etc. as he sees it. The list can be made very long. It's not only a transport from A to B, as it otherwise is. It's a very different experience.With this "tour", ATTCV proved that it has the capability (professional personnel and a high maintenance level of the historic equipment) to safely and reliably undertake excursions, not only on the Carnoules-Gardanne line but also on the public rail network under normal operational conditions.
From a technical point of view a very successful trip. Commercially the result was maybe not so good, but the ATTCV can feel proud and satisfied of that now the SNCF (state railways), as well as the general public along the Carnoules-Gardanne line, have been made aware that ATTCV has these capabilities.
The Caravelle got noticed! People cheering, waving, taking photos, or simply silently watching our passing.
For all of us who undertook parts of or the whole journey, one conclusion is very clear:
This was really great fun!
Read all parts:
- Tour de Provence with X-4567 - Part 1 - Day 1
- Tour de Provence with X-4567 - Part 2 - Day 2
- Tour de Provence with X-4567 - Part 3 - Day 3
#trainducentrevar
[This is an edited version of an article on the now closed web site railtrain.org/attcv/]
