Heritage route
Le Mastrou (Vivarais)
Tournon-sur-Rhône → Lamastre · France
A metre-gauge steam survivor climbing the granite gorge of the Doux from the Rhône at Tournon to the chestnut country of Lamastre, hauled by 1903 Mallet engines.
How this line was checked
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 24 m from it
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
Questions and answers
How long is the Le Mastrou (Vivarais)?
The Le Mastrou (Vivarais) runs 33 km from Tournon-sur-Rhône to Lamastre.
How long does the Le Mastrou (Vivarais) take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h for the 33 km. That is an average of 17 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 30 km/h.
Who runs the Le Mastrou (Vivarais)?
Chemin de fer du Vivarais, with 1903 Mallet steam, metre-gauge coaches.
How old is the Le Mastrou (Vivarais)?
The line has been in service since 1891. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More heritage routes
- Durango & Silverton
1882 gold-rush narrow gauge: steam-hauled ever since, on the Highline ledge blasted 120 m above the Animas River gorge.
Wikipedia ↗ - La Trochita
Theroux’s Old Patagonian Express: 750 mm gauge, 1922 steam locomotives and wood-stove-heated wooden coaches across the steppe.
Wikipedia ↗ - Sagano Scenic Railway
A retired JR alignment above the Hozugawa rapids: twenty-five slow minutes of maples and gorge that the modern main line skips through tunnels.
Wikipedia ↗ - SL Gunma
Restored D51 498 “Degoichi” and C61 20 haul retro coaches up the Joetsu Line on weekends: steam echoing off the Tone gorge under Tanigawa’s wall.
Wikipedia (JA) ↗
More train routes in France.