AMTP in Pithiviers, France

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hi follks !
 Today I'm going to tell you about the museum of the AMTP that means Association du MUSEE des Transports de Pithiviers.The museum is as old as the association (1966). It is located close to Pithiviers station in the  disused  frieghtcar repair shop of the T.P.T.  The museum is rather large, it comprises three bays fit with  standart, three- foot and two foot- gauge tracks. At the back of it there is a large room that was the shop forge and the forge with its implements is still  there. The exhibits are steam locomotives and freight cars of course but quite a lot  of railroad artifacts as well, such as lanterns, caps, uniforms model steam locomotives etc . The museum was not exclusively  dedicated to the two footers let alone the TPT.  Over the past decades you could admire two electric streetcars  a three- foot gauge steam locomotive and loungecar  and a  three foot gauge railcar too . When I started out as a volunteer in 1973 there were even a old bus and a steamroller!    Still there were a few two- foot gauge steam locomotives. In the early 2017 a new and young leadershhip was voted an since then  things  has been changing a lot in the museum that little by little will be dedicated  to the two foot gauge and the TPT history. You can see a few vews of the museum on the AMTP website and fb. CU soon .

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hi Folks !
 Just posted on my fb page  an interesting  but kind of long ( I think so...) video about Bellébat site, lost in the French Midwest and the forth coming event" Bellébat en Fête" and the AMTP annual  Steam Festival . Just posted as well  an invitation on  a trip down" AMTP memory line".  Through  a digitized selection of my slides, I'm gonna show you the  AMTP story from 1973 on. And no biggie ! Most of my pic captions and explanations are both in French and English. By the way ,sorry for my yesterday, today and tomorrow English mistakes. Remember my fb page is Alain Delassus  aka Uncle Scrooge. CU soon!

[Mike Fox]

Alain, don't worry about the mistakes. Some of us have spoken the language all our lives and still can't go without the mistakes. Thank you for sharing.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Thank you Mike it's kind of you.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hi you all !

      Funnily enough, there are two mechanical signals on the AMTP although there was none on the TPT neither on the other French two-footers, I think. Only  three-footers got a few of them. The first one is a danger signal that has been salvage from a  well known French three-footer the chemin de fer du Blanc- Argent that still partly exists nowadays. It's located at the  far end of Pithiviers station and concerns the westbound trains to Bellébat. It is intended to avoid a " cornfield meet" with an on coming eastbound train. When that signal is "on" you can see a square iron plate painted in white and red check that is at right angles to the track. It means STOP and it's an absolute signal of course . When the signal is "off" the iron plate is parallel to the track and  you can't see the painted face and then it means proceed if the go- ahead signal has been  given by the Pithivers station agent. At night the danger signal shows  two red lights when it is "on" and a green one when it is"off". In French such a signal is called "un carré" a square.  I'm going to tell you about the other mechanical signal,  a round one, later on.

      By the way go visit my fb page, every week I post AMTP photos, hopefully you can see those signals,  and follow me  on  the AMTP trip down memory line. Explanations and pic captions  are in English too. See you soon !

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hi folks ! I think it's high time I posted news from the AMTP. The operating season ended September 30th and this year  the AMTP has still made it big with a 5884 ridership, 478 more riders than in 2017. But this year there won't be any Santa's trains because the line is closed thru Easter due to important trackworks  carried out by the Departement du Loiret that owns the ROW. There were major events during the season. Easter egg hunting trains were an unheard-of sucsess with 714 riders. In May during a weekend a large model train exhibition was held in the museum but wasn't the hoped-for succsess. In June during  the  Steam Festival a long freight train was put on with a 7 freight car consist, the longest one in the AMTP history. And to finish with, in September for the French Heritage Weekend a standard- gauge train powered by a vintage diesel engine came in Pithiviers SNCF station with quite a lot of riders. Two steam powered trains plus the railcar took them and many other riders to Bellébat the end station.The only operating season flight in the ointment  was a minor crash between  a heavy loaded train and a truck  at the grade crossing located in Pithiviers at the foot of a  0.17 % incline. At this very grade crossing located at an intersection the train must stop and doesn't have the right to cross the road until all the intersection traffic lights have flipped to red. The engine man was unable to stop because of a sudden last moment locking of the locomotive wheels brought about by  greasy rails. I'll tell you about that hasardous grade crossing soon. By for now!   

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hello everybody ! I'am going to tell you the AMTP track maintenance story 1966- 2019.

As I wrote it  in a recent reply on this forum I think track maintenance  is of paramount importance. A well kept track means safety, comfort and mitigates the rolling stock wear and tear. Despite the great atmosphere that  usually rules in a trackcrew, trackworks are gruelling and time consumming so they need to be mechanized as much as possible and the WW&F is right to do it.
 In Pithiviers when I joined the trackcrew in 1977 the track maintenance was all about oil of elbow. We used a hand auger to drill the ties and a kind of T shaped tool to screw the coach screw that fix the rail to the tie, no spikes in France. That tool called for two volunteers to be turn efficiently. Of course forks and shovels to stuff the ballast under and around the tie and a heavy special mattock to damp it. Fortunately, in those days there were a lot of young volunteers in the trackcrew and nobody had arthrosis or back condition.
In the late eighties and in the nineties the AMTP had to renew long streches of track and it baught a second hand gas engine powered machine to screw the coach screws and a power generator  to operate a big electric drill but volunteers went on using the  damping mattock.
At the turn of the century, there were far less volunteers on the AMTP and thus less volunteers in the trackcrew and they were not getting any younger at that. So when it came to doing over  or even repairing  a long strech of track the  AMTP BOD decided to call on external roadworks contractors. But it costed an arm and a leg and the track was not properly damped if any. So once more we had to grab the mattocks  to finish off the work or else the train was like running on a roller coaster in places.

To be continued...

[James Patten]

"oil of elbow" - Alain, I think you meant "elbow grease". 

[Bill Baskerville]

"oil of elbow" - Alain, I think you meant "elbow grease". 

tomayto, tomahto
potato Potahto

I think it is cute.  But then I am a closet Francophile since my wife and I were married in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  to celebrate our anniversary we are going back again in five months.

[Steve Smith]

As elbows age and develop arthritis, oil is probably better than grease anyway. I vote for elbow oil.

[John McNamara]

As elbows age and develop arthritis, oil is probably better than grease anyway. I vote for elbow oil.

Of course, you would vote for elbow oil since your nickname is "oily" from your journal lubrication work.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

 GREASE sure enough ! I should 've known it given that in the US you stuff the  connecting rod bearings with a lot of grease. As you can compare a  connecting rod to an arm and the bearings and journals to  the elbow or wrist joint it makes sense you say elbowgrease. Plus when you have an elbow tendinitis you can use  ketoprofen ointment to grease and ease it unless there is a fly in it.
Bill, tell me please when you are both coming to Paris, if you feel like going  over to Pithiviers and if  I'm not of course on vacation, it would be a treat for me to show you around the AMTP museum, facilities and of course take you for a ride on the train.

[Wayne Laepple]

Steve, you must have gotten up oily to think of that one! 

[Bill Baskerville]

Bill, tell me please when you are both coming to Paris, if you feel like going  over to Pithiviers and if  I'm not of course on vacation, it would be a treat for me to show you around the AMTP museum, facilities and of course take you for a ride on the train.

Alain,  Thank you for a wonderful offer.  Alas, this trip is primarily to take a couple of my wife's relatives a canal trip on the Midi east of Toulouse and our schedule is tight.  Perhaps our next visit.  As you know, France has over two thousand miles of operable canals and most of them have boat rentals available.  We have really come to enjoy 'life in the slow lane" on French canals.

I did google map your trackage and you have a great Museum in what appears to be a very nice town.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Bill, too bad, next time you'll come in France .In France there are quite a lot of disused canals that are fortunately become tourist attractions, Canal du Midi of course but Canal de Bourgone too and I live close to the canal d'Orleans that is still under repair.