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If
you would like to make sure the "train à vapeur" is
running, before you drive 700 miles from the UK, or would like to
enquire about special occasion, or group bookings, then you can
phone them on: 00 33 (0)5 65 37 35 81
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Called "Le Truffadou", because the main cargo the line
carried was Martel truffles.
Clinging to the cliff face some 80m above the river Dordogne, the
Martel Steam Train - "Chemin de fer touristique du Haut
Quercy" to be correct, was completed in 1889.
Come 1917 and the insatiable demand of the First World War for
iron and the track was ripped up and sent north to make into shells.
Today, the railway still runs on the American rails that replaced
them in 1919. The line ceased to operate commercialy in 1980 and
reopened in its present guise in 1997, thanks to enthusiasts.
The steam train runs from Martel to St.
Denis Martel and back again, a journey of about 1.5hrs. Sundays
and Holidays at 14.30 and 16.00hrs, April to September and every
Wednesday as well, in July and August. You can also book the whole
train for special occasions. Try it... it's fun. Promise. But don't
wear anything white!
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A gite near Martel?: Pomie |
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