 Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Here is my favourite railway station in Paris (West side) were I grew up. It used to be Paris's busiest, until some of its traffic was diverted to new underground RER lines and until TGV and international traffic gave Paris Gare du nord a big push (now Europe busiest). It was the very first railway station in France in 1837 much smaller and different at the time for the first line Paris to Saint-Germain. First video here is Saint Lazare in 1957 with old suburban, 750 V electric trains with lateral power rail from 1925. Here are the major works (almost total reconstruction) completed in 2012 and here it is in 2020 Still no TGVs from this station (no need for Normandy and boat trains are a thing of the past Another reason I love this station: when I was a kid (in the 50s) there use to be the "passage du havre", sort of large corridor / shopping center which was the train Mecca with fantastic train shops. Hope you like it Jean |
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 14 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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marklinist5999, michelvr, TrainIride, Eurobahnfan, Gmac, kimballthurlow, Mark5, 1borna, rmsailor, river6109, David Dewar, sidblack, bph, Gilbert_Ives
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 Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC) Posts: 3,945 Location: Michigan, Troy
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Thanls Jean! The Renault island has been redeveloped?
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 Joined: 10/09/2019(UTC) Posts: 151 Location: England, Chichester
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB  Hi
Here is my favourite railway station in Paris (West side) were I grew up.
Another reason I love this station: when I was a kid (in the 50s) there use to be the "passage du havre", sort of large corridor / shopping center which was the train Mecca with fantastic train shops.
Hope you like it
Jean Whenever I visit Paris (usually on a member's excursion from UK with the French Railways' Society), I always visit the Gare St Lazare. As well as being a wonderful station, the amazing railway bookshop, La Vie du Rail, used to be on the station concourse. It has now relocated about 300 metres away in the Rue de Clichy. Well worth a visit for any enthusiasts of French railways. Keith |
Marklin - "The train set I never had as a child."
Keith Bowman |
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Yes the "Ile Seguin" now looks like this Renault factories have been constructed elsewhere and modernized Cheers Jean |
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2 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC) Posts: 3,945 Location: Michigan, Troy
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Oh wow! What is the globe structure? I wondered what Seguin Texas was named for.
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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The Ile Seguin in Boulogne Billancourt close to Paris was the first industrial site of Louis Renault
Later the factory was closed and Bernard Arnault (LVMH) invested 158 m€ for a cultural center: "La fondation Louis Vuitton"
Not sure about Seguin in Texas, but In France, one Marc Seguin 1786-1875 was an engineer & inventor. He patented the tubular steam boiler in 1827 for boats and in 1829 the same for locomotives (with heating tubes). He was born in Annonay France where the first hot air balloon in the world took off ("Montgolfière" by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783). First steps of man in the air.
Jean |
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4 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 23/10/2010(UTC) Posts: 2,061 Location: FRANCE
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi
Here is my favourite railway station in Paris ...
Jean Hi Jean, Thank you for sharing  . The "rue d'Amsterdam" is not so far with the "Au Pullman" shop, in which I always find nice things... and also a bit further "rue de Douai" with lots of musical instrument shops and some other model railroad shops... We often park to to the "Paris Rome Batignolles" parking lot, this way I can admire the tracks of the station standing on the bridge... Best Regards Joël |
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3 users liked this useful post by TrainIride
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Joined: 05/07/2020(UTC) Posts: 326 Location: Mississippi, Vancleave
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Here is my favourite railway station in Paris (West side) were I grew up. It used to be Paris's busiest, until some of its traffic was diverted to new underground RER lines and until TGV and international traffic gave Paris Gare du nord a big push (now Europe busiest). It was the very first railway station in France in 1837 much smaller and different at the time for the first line Paris to Saint-Germain. First video here is Saint Lazare in 1957 with old suburban, 750 V electric trains with lateral power rail from 1925. Here are the major works (almost total reconstruction) completed in 2012 and here it is in 2020 Still no TGVs from this station (no need for Normandy and boat trains are a thing of the past Another reason I love this station: when I was a kid (in the 50s) there use to be the "passage du havre", sort of large corridor / shopping center which was the train Mecca with fantastic train shops. Hope you like it Jean .Thank you Jean for the nice videos. I studied French (a beautiful language) when I was in high school, but that was a very long time ago.
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Joined: 06/01/2017(UTC) Posts: 149 Location: Ile-de-France, Paris
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Here is my favourite railway station in Paris (West side) were I grew up. It used to be Paris's busiest, until some of its traffic was diverted to new underground RER lines and until TGV and international traffic gave Paris Gare du nord a big push (now Europe busiest). It was the very first railway station in France in 1837 much smaller and different at the time for the first line Paris to Saint-Germain. First video here is Saint Lazare in 1957 with old suburban, 750 V electric trains with lateral power rail from 1925. Here are the major works (almost total reconstruction) completed in 2012 and here it is in 2020 Still no TGVs from this station (no need for Normandy and boat trains are a thing of the past Another reason I love this station: when I was a kid (in the 50s) there use to be the "passage du havre", sort of large corridor / shopping center which was the train Mecca with fantastic train shops. Hope you like it Jean Mon cher Jean, Ravi de voir que mon terrain de travail quotidien est une source de bons souvenirs ! Dear John, Glad to see my working area is a source of nice souvenirs for you! A.
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1 user liked this useful post by AntoinePrt
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Antoine
Yes I have a passion for trains and in the second half of my work, I ended-up working on Eurostar, Los Angeles Light (Red, Blue and Green lines) rail, Nanjing Metro, Beijing Metro (L1, 2 and 8), for NS in the Netherlands, on a bus system in South Africa (working for Dassault, Thales and Cubic Transportation Systems).
Do you work for SNCF?
Cheers
Jean |
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2 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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 Joined: 18/03/2007(UTC) Posts: 6,764 Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Hello,
Thanks for an interesting history and childhood reminiscences.
Is St Lazare the station the start for the boat train journey to Le Havre?
I think it featured in the famous 1938 film La Béte Humaine.
Kimball |
HO Scale - Märklin (ep II-III and VI, C Track, digital) - 2 rail HO (Queensland Australia, UK, USA) - 3 rail OO (English Hornby Dublo) - old clockwork O gauge - Live Steam 90mm (3.1/2 inch) gauge. |
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Kimball Yes, Saint Lazare used to have "boat trains" to sail to the UK, the US and to south America , via Le Havre and Cherbourg. You may see this in the first video from 8:18 into it. Yes the movie La Bête Humaine was filmed on the Paris Le Havre line using the Etat 231-592 from Saint Lazare station Here is an extract and 2:11 into it, the loco is scooping water from a reservoir located between the rails. I like it! Fascinating old technology, also used in the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPCm3uNgHlYCheers Jean |
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4 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 06/01/2017(UTC) Posts: 149 Location: Ile-de-France, Paris
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Antoine
Yes I have a passion for trains and in the second half of my work, I ended-up working on Eurostar, Los Angeles Light (Red, Blue and Green lines) rail, Nanjing Metro, Beijing Metro (L1, 2 and 8), for NS in the Netherlands, on a bus system in South Africa (working for Dassault, Thales and Cubic Transportation Systems).
Do you work for SNCF?
Cheers
Jean Hello Jean, Yes working for SNCF Réseau. Between Saint-Lazare ans Mantes-la-Jolie. For our fellow English readers, SNCF Réseau is the infrastructure manager in France. Cheers. A.
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2 users liked this useful post by AntoinePrt
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Antoine
That a great job. So you must know Saint Lazare inside out I guess.
Cheers
Jean
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 Joined: 29/01/2012(UTC) Posts: 1,422 Location: Montreal, Canada
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It was really a pleasure to see the Gare St Lazare film, I am still not bored with Era 3! My wife indulged me as we went through it very slowly, stopping to make sure we got everything that was said; seeing all the images that could inspire some modelling (she helps me with French, you Latins are so good at language!)... and it reminded me that I always wanted to get a couple more of the Marklin green passenger cars of that era. What is the Marklin number of this car? (photo shadows are odd, its really not that beat up)  This SNCF video that came up right after it is also quite extraordinary: The movie "La Bête Humaine" is probably the absolute best "movie" of the steam era that I know of. Certainly of French Steam that I have encountered. The ending seems a rather irrational twist though (no more spoilers). The camera angles and the framing are pure art and perfectly use black and white as a medium. imho. |
DB DR FS NS SNCF c. 1950-65, fan of station architecture esp. from 1920-70.
In single point perspective, where do track lines meet?
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3 users liked this useful post by Mark5
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Mark
I am glad you enjoyed the film on the Gare Saint Lazare. It is my childhood and I liked to be surrounded by the white steam, the perfume and all the noises.
I was afraid some would be disappointed by the long introduction into the 1957 movie with a lot of talking
The SNCF passenger car you show is in the 1969 catalogue under the ref 4065. It was released also with the "Capitole" car that, at the time was the first train to run at 200 km/h. The capitole was the grandfather of the TGV.
The movie La Bête humaine was from a book by Emile Zola in 1890 so it has a definite tragic turn (Drama) and yes, from the purely rail viewpoint, a typical "Roman noir" that the great Jean Renoir film director shot two birds with the same stone: a faithful interpretation of E Zola's drama and a dive into the railroad life of 1938 up to be assigned one specific loco (La Lison) and be allowed to shoot many scenes on the Paris-Le Havre line.
Cheers
Jean |
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3 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 18/03/2007(UTC) Posts: 6,764 Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Originally Posted by: Mark5 ...
The movie "La Bête Humaine" is probably the absolute best "movie" of the steam era that I know of. Certainly of French Steam that I have encountered. The ending seems a rather irrational twist though (no more spoilers). The camera angles and the framing are pure art and perfectly use black and white as a medium. imho. Hello Mark and Jean, I agree about the artistry of this film. It is evocative. Is there more than one ending extant? Sometimes film-makers make different endings for different audiences. Kimball |
HO Scale - Märklin (ep II-III and VI, C Track, digital) - 2 rail HO (Queensland Australia, UK, USA) - 3 rail OO (English Hornby Dublo) - old clockwork O gauge - Live Steam 90mm (3.1/2 inch) gauge. |
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Kimball
To my knowledge, there is only one ending of "la bête humaine" for 2 reasons I think:
- to be faithful to the Emile Zola and his book
- because alternate endings appeared in France around 1955 with "les grandes manoeuvres" and was far from being common practice in 1938 in France.
Cheers
Jean |
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1 user liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 18/03/2007(UTC) Posts: 6,764 Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Hello Jean, I know this has nothing to do with the current topic, but I would buy an SNCF (or NORD, ETAT, EST, PLM etc) 231 if Märklin made one. Lately Märklin always make BIG engines like 4-8-2 etc which do not suit most model railroads. But which 231?? Märklin made the 231A (models 3083 and 3317) but these were Bavarian locomotives given to France by the Armistice Treaty of 1918. Personally I like the 231H of which a model was made by Antal/Bascou in the 1950s and I think had a version for AC Märklin. The wide firebox remind us of the English LNER (like the Flying Scotsman 4472).  As an incentive for Märklin here is a 231H preserved at Cité du Train, the museum at Mulhouse. https://www.citedutrain.com/ Kimball |
HO Scale - Märklin (ep II-III and VI, C Track, digital) - 2 rail HO (Queensland Australia, UK, USA) - 3 rail OO (English Hornby Dublo) - old clockwork O gauge - Live Steam 90mm (3.1/2 inch) gauge. |
3 users liked this useful post by kimballthurlow
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,571 Location: Paris, France
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Hi Kimball You have listed pretty much all the historic French manufacturers with the exception of la maison des trains (50s and 60s) You may want to look at this list of Bronze casted locos http://www.train-jouet.com/Mais...s/Maison-des-trains.htmlMore recently REE modeles produce excellent steam locos, mostly in 2 rails DCC with pulsed steam They produced 231D, 231E and 231K SNCF locos Here is a 231K in action. A real beauty if you ask me Cheers Jean |
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2 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
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Joined: 18/03/2007(UTC) Posts: 6,764 Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Kimball
....
Here is a 231K in action. A real beauty if you ask me....
Cheers
Jean
Hello Jean, For a mass-produced article, that is really nicely done. Thanks. Kimball |
HO Scale - Märklin (ep II-III and VI, C Track, digital) - 2 rail HO (Queensland Australia, UK, USA) - 3 rail OO (English Hornby Dublo) - old clockwork O gauge - Live Steam 90mm (3.1/2 inch) gauge. |
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