Froggy55:
A pity I didn’t know you were at less that 10 miles from my house when in Sancerre, Eddie; otherwise, you would have been welcome for an apéritif or a good French beer!
The Poids de Fer takes its name from the fact that iron from local furnaces was loaded on barges on the Loire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Iron ore was mined in the area until the 1880s.
Thanks for the info Froggy, I’ve often wondered how it came to have that particular name, and now, thanks to you, I’m a better informed person.
I must apologise at this point for straying so far from the subject matter of the thread, but malheureusement, I have very little else to offer, as the sum total of my knowledge relating to French trucks lies somewhere between minimal and non-existent, with the emphasis being on the latter…( other than the fact that a few of the aforementioned trucks appear hideous to my philistine eyes …but we won’t go there again…eh? )
I obviously never knew John ( Saviem ), but I have read his posts and have consequently formed a deep respect for both the man’s knowledge of transport related matters and his affection for France.
I could never even begin to attain the man’s level of knowledge regarding trucks, but I would respectfully suggest that when it comes to the love of France, we could quite possibly have ended up being on equal terms.
Having made my apologies, I’m intrigued Froggy… As you live in close proximity to Sancerre, you may well be connaissant with the former abandoned railway station just below the town, and if that’s the case, then you may recall that there is, or at least there was, a sort of night club affair in one of the old station buildings. The place may have been called Le Locomotive, or something of that nature, as it actually had an old French diesel/electric loco jutting out from the main building, used quite possibly as a dining area.
I have a photograph of it here…
Oh! bloody Nora, it’s gone to the top of the friggin’ page once again…eh bien, ça ne fait rien.
I couldn’t say what species of loco it is, as my knowledge of French railway locomotives is even worse than my knowledge of French camions…( I know,…hardly seems possible does it ? )
What I can say though is that there is another one , exactly like it , ( or there was ), parked outside the workshops of the SNCF depot which lies adjacent to the canal de bourgogne, a mile or so south of Dijon.
The one at Sancerre had disappeared in 2010, probably been sold and carted off for restoration most likely. But how they managed it, God only knows , given the width of the roads in the area.
So that’s probably it for now. Apolologies once more for injecting mere trivia into a seriously truck oriented forum. I promise not to do it again…honest…although I have been known to tell fibs and break promises in the past if I’m being totally honest.
On the subject of trivia though, the town of Pouilly, a few clicks up the Loire on the opposite bank, marks the halfway point along the longest river in France, from its source at Gerbier de Jonc in the Massif Central to its terminus at Saint-Nazaire…but you already knew that…didn’t you ?
Just one more thing before I bugger off to fire up the frites français… I’m more than a little curious as to how the town of La Machine, a little farther up the Loire valley came to be so named…any offers?
Sorry, but I can no longer access Wikipedia on my steam powered iPad.
Regards.
Edouard le Philistine.
The same in 2009 with the railcar when both the restaurant and night-club were thriving.
