Keeping this one as a general thread due to its brevity.
Background:
Paris Metro Line 7 is just one of 16 lines on the intricate Parisian metro system, with its first station opening to the public in March 1910.
The line would then progressively be extended at varying points in the early 20th century, with one extension being the Place d'italie to Port de Choisy extension, opening in 1930, which would be the area of the metro we'd go onto dip into.
Tobliac was initially part of Line 10 when its doors first opened to passengers but would go on to be integrated into Line 7 after the completion of the under-Seine crossing.
Today, Tobliac stands at the 157th position of metro stations for its attendance.
Into the network:
During a long weekend away on a trip that was primarily focused on the catacombs, myself and @Conrad decided to spend one night making a go at getting some track under our belts (after all, it would've been criminal not to).
As I am sure many of you are aware, being in Paris you're somewhat spoilt for choice in terms of UE, especially when it comes to track-related jaunts. That being said, and with the allowance of just one night to focus our attention elsewhere, we settled on a reasonably simplistic spot that we had a good chance of pulling off.
This was to be a small section of Line 7, from Tobliac to Porte d'italie which incorporates a siding, presenting an opportunity from train shots.
We'd agreed to head into the network with a non-member for 03:00, allowing plenty of time for the potential shunting of trains to stop (better safe than sorry!).
Once in the Tobliac area and successfully executing our planned access, we stepped with caution on the approach to track level...
Into the lay-up
The sound of automatic points switching admittedly kept us on our toes, but barring that, and with the apparent absence of workers, we did let our guard down a bit.
Fortunately not to the extent where we wouldn't notice the box camera at the Place d'italie end of the lay-up...
Having now clocked it in good time, we soon backed up and retraced our steps back towards Tobliac.
Checking the time, only 3 quarters of an hour had passed, and so we decided to push up in the opposite direction towards Mansion Blanche in search of other photo opportunities.
Apart from one junction, little else was to be found on this stretch, so we upped the pace and proceeded to run the platform at Masion Blanche into our final length of track for the evening.
Exchange room ~
In realisation of the time being 04:50, and content with what we'd achieved in one night's work, we decided to bail out at Port d'italie. After all, it wouldn't be long before drivers would inevitably begin moving trains from the lay-ups ready for service.
To put it into perspective, this was the equivalent of a paddle in the Mariana Trench, and a trip to re-visit the network across several nights will certainly be in the pipeline I'd imagine.
However for me at least in terms of exclusively Paris metro, our brief dip into the system is just enough of a taster to entice me back, having personally only explored this bit plus the odd vent shaft during service on a previous trip.
Granted, this thread is at the shorter end compared to other write-ups I've done, but still thought it was worth sharing!
Until next time ~
Background:
Paris Metro Line 7 is just one of 16 lines on the intricate Parisian metro system, with its first station opening to the public in March 1910.
The line would then progressively be extended at varying points in the early 20th century, with one extension being the Place d'italie to Port de Choisy extension, opening in 1930, which would be the area of the metro we'd go onto dip into.
Tobliac was initially part of Line 10 when its doors first opened to passengers but would go on to be integrated into Line 7 after the completion of the under-Seine crossing.
Today, Tobliac stands at the 157th position of metro stations for its attendance.
Into the network:
During a long weekend away on a trip that was primarily focused on the catacombs, myself and @Conrad decided to spend one night making a go at getting some track under our belts (after all, it would've been criminal not to).
As I am sure many of you are aware, being in Paris you're somewhat spoilt for choice in terms of UE, especially when it comes to track-related jaunts. That being said, and with the allowance of just one night to focus our attention elsewhere, we settled on a reasonably simplistic spot that we had a good chance of pulling off.
This was to be a small section of Line 7, from Tobliac to Porte d'italie which incorporates a siding, presenting an opportunity from train shots.
We'd agreed to head into the network with a non-member for 03:00, allowing plenty of time for the potential shunting of trains to stop (better safe than sorry!).
Once in the Tobliac area and successfully executing our planned access, we stepped with caution on the approach to track level...
Into the lay-up
The sound of automatic points switching admittedly kept us on our toes, but barring that, and with the apparent absence of workers, we did let our guard down a bit.
Fortunately not to the extent where we wouldn't notice the box camera at the Place d'italie end of the lay-up...
Having now clocked it in good time, we soon backed up and retraced our steps back towards Tobliac.
Checking the time, only 3 quarters of an hour had passed, and so we decided to push up in the opposite direction towards Mansion Blanche in search of other photo opportunities.
Apart from one junction, little else was to be found on this stretch, so we upped the pace and proceeded to run the platform at Masion Blanche into our final length of track for the evening.
Exchange room ~
In realisation of the time being 04:50, and content with what we'd achieved in one night's work, we decided to bail out at Port d'italie. After all, it wouldn't be long before drivers would inevitably begin moving trains from the lay-ups ready for service.
To put it into perspective, this was the equivalent of a paddle in the Mariana Trench, and a trip to re-visit the network across several nights will certainly be in the pipeline I'd imagine.
However for me at least in terms of exclusively Paris metro, our brief dip into the system is just enough of a taster to entice me back, having personally only explored this bit plus the odd vent shaft during service on a previous trip.
Granted, this thread is at the shorter end compared to other write-ups I've done, but still thought it was worth sharing!
Until next time ~
