- Petit train d'Artouste
The Petit train d'Artouste is a
narrow gauge tourist railway situated in the FrenchPyrenees close to the Spanish border and some convert|55|km|abbr=on south of the town of Pau. The line runs high above the headwaters of theGave d'Ossau , and provides access to theLac d'Ossau , a artifical lake in the mountains at an altitude of over convert|2000|m|abbr=on.cite web | title = Petit train d'Artouste | publisher = Wikipedia France | url = http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Petit_train_d%27Artouste&oldid=31088137 | date = 2008-06-28 | accessdate = 2008-08-06] cite news | first = Mike | last = Bent | coauthors = Leleu, Thierry | title = Artouste - a metro in the Pyrenees | work = Today's Railways | publisher = Platform 5 Publishing Ltd | pages = 36-41 | date = August 2008]The petit train is reached by a "télécabine" from a lower station at
Artouste-Fabrèges , on theLac de Fabrèges in the valley of theGave du Brousset . This lower station is at an altitude of convert|1240|m|abbr=on and accessible by road. The "télécabine" climbs to an upper station (known as "Ossau2000") at an altitude of convert|1920|m|abbr=on, where passengers change to the petit train. After leaving "Ossau2000", the line runs through a convert|315|m|abbr=on tunnel, crossing under the ridge to reach a point high above the valley of theGave de Soussouéou , another of the Gave d'Ossau's tributaries. From here the line runs along a twisting and vertiginous ledge above that valley until it reaches the dam of the Lac d'Artouste.cite web | title = Petit train d'Artouste | publisher = Wikipedia France | url = http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Petit_train_d%27Artouste&oldid=31088137 | date = 2008-06-28 | accessdate = 2008-08-06] cite news | first = Mike | last = Bent | coauthors = Leleu, Thierry | title = Artouste - a metro in the Pyrenees | work = Today's Railways | publisher = Platform 5 Publishing Ltd | pages = 36-41 | date = August 2008]The line is convert|10|km|abbr=on long and is built to gauge of convert|500|mm|abbr=on. Trains consist of 6 12-seat carriages pulled by a
diesel locomotive , and operate from late May or early July until the end of September or early October. They are subject to a maximum speed of convert|15|km/h|abbr=on and the end to end journey takes just under one hour. On busy days, up to 10 trains are used providing 3 departures per hour, whilst at other times departures are hourly. Trains depart from 08.30 until 14:30 or later in the high season.cite news | first = Mike | last = Bent | coauthors = Leleu, Thierry | title = Artouste - a metro in the Pyrenees | work = Today's Railways | publisher = Platform 5 Publishing Ltd | pages = 36-41 | date = August 2008] cite web | title = Informations utiles | publisher = Le Petit train d'Artouste | url = http://www.train-artouste.com/index.php?id=47 | accessdate = 2008-08-07]The line was originally constructed for the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi (CFM), the then main line railway operator in the area to the north of the Pyrenees. As part of a program of electrifying these lines, the CFM constructed a series of hydro-electric
power station s in the valley of the Ossau between the years 1920 and 1932. Significant civil engineering works were required in order to provide access to these works, and included the line now used by the petit train. Once this work was finished, the CFM recognised the tourist potential of the line, and the first tourist trains were run.cite web | title = Petit train d'Artouste | publisher = Wikipedia France | url = http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Petit_train_d%27Artouste&oldid=31088137 | date = 2008-06-28 | accessdate = 2008-08-06] cite news | first = Mike | last = Bent | coauthors = Leleu, Thierry | title = Artouste - a metro in the Pyrenees | work = Today's Railways | publisher = Platform 5 Publishing Ltd | pages = 36-41 | date = August 2008] cite web | title = Historique | publisher = Le Petit train d'Artouste | url = http://www.train-artouste.com/index.php?id=54 | accessdate = 2008-08-06]References
External links
* [http://www.train-artouste.com/ Official web site of the Petit train d'Artouste] (in French)
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