Limoges said to be the grandest station in France - and I was there early for a coffee and croissant, catching the 07:32 (Saturday) train to Felletin. A single carriage modern train from platform J (love how some stations use letters for platforms).

We pulled out on time - a sprinkling of passengers, no more, past weed strewn tracks and dusty, graffiti covered other trains; hard to tell in the half light whether they're out of use or not. The first part of the line is double tracked, fast, and my train manager comes round, checks my ticket, and checks where I am really headed - this has not been a typical tourist trip, though my rail map of ~Europe shows it as being a scenic line.

07:45 - I think that must have been Ambazac we just called at - low platforms, brief halt, and as far as I could tell no-one joining or leaving us. And we're off again ... working a/c, plenty of room, and an altogether more pleasant experience in second class than first class expresses were yesterday. But that's another essay! And we have just passed, without stopping, another station - so perhaps this is not quite the "all stations" service, or perhaps some are request stops. And perhaps that's why the train manager carefully enquired as to where I was headed.

One passenger joined us at St Sulpice Lauriere, 6 minutes here and the train reverses. Another single carriage train arrived too - almost certainly off the line that we're about to take as we head onto the single track, and now without electrification. There are 4 of us in the 16 seats in this section of the train - three ladies each on their own and myself. Glimpses of rolling countryside through the trees but impossible for the most part to capture on camera. A feeling of being moved from side to side as we round corners but otherwise very smooth, modern, no longer any "clickety clack" from train wheels passing over rail joints. This section reeks of investment.

One off at Marsac. Then there were three. Old station yard at Marsac - weed infested, untracked and now behind a fence - but an old loading gauge and goods shed give clue as to former use. Vielleville; Another abandoned good shed. Another passenger off. Montaigut - just a bare platform in the countryside, no-one off or on, and (!) a funfair set up it what I presume used to be the goods yard. The map shows the line twisting and turning and wheels squeal around corners.

Past scattered cottages and hamlets. No apparent reason as to which still have stations and which don't. And now I hear the familiar rhythm of a jointed track.

Guertet - a town, a loop, a statin building, a yard of tracks. Perhaps a dozen off from the rest of the carriage, my final company leaves but another chap joins. No other trains around at all - but at least some polished rails suggest there has been recent traffic in the yard - and we are on our way aagin.

Another "null passengers" at Busset, another loop, the most spectacular of viaduct views and a branch off that we have taken towards Felletin, one of just 2 trains a day. The riding is immediately less smooth though we still move at a fair pace.

Walked through the carriage - just 6 of us - all men - left on the train. No-one else interested in what we are passing though - about their daily business? First station on the branch - another zero on, zero off, and a former goods shed and yard - this time razed of tracks. We are in flatter countryside now, having descended into the valley and left the hills behind us. Fields of crops, trees, hedges, the odd old farmhouse. Clatter of the wheels over joints. Station at Forneaux closed completely - we passed as if it wasn't there and another abandoned shed. And scenery. valley agian.

Following alongside a river ... beautiful stream ... and to a sudden halt. Announcement "security reasons" Crew (lady driver) opens door, gets out, walks back. Wondering if we have hit an animal ... no-one else seems bothered; train manager standing at open door - presumably to stop the rest of us getting off. Ah - overdramatic (phew!) - a fallen branch getting jammed in the wheel arch. 09:36 - under way again, though running slow.

A couple of passengers off at the final intermediate station, with just three of us remaining into Felletin ... 20 minutes late at 09:54.

Felletin is a gem of an old mid-french town. Reminds me of time, 55 years ago, spent with the Thevenon family. Six weeks in the summer on an archaeological dig at Vagnas in the Ardeche, with visits to the nearby town of Barjac. Away from the hustle and bustle of the roads and traffic, the dry, dusty, hot countryside at the end of the track to the dig. The company of other teenagers, the swimming in the streams and a favourite pool.

And so at 11:10 I am on the return train. My European Railway Map says "limited service" and indeed there are just two a day. Timings are such that Saturday is really the only day to have a short exploratory visit. Hoping - for the railway's sake - there are more people on the return trip but sadly we have started with just three.

The information I have is that this service will be withdrawn at the end of August due to huge amounts of money that need to be spent on tunnels/cuttings to bring them up to modern safety standards. But seeing the engineering works along the way, that huge amount is just a pin-prick compared to what has already been spent over decades getting the line into place.

There's a tourist information office in the town. I popped it and the bloke behind the counter looked at me as if I was an alien when I said I was catching the train. No-one else other than myself riding "for the line" and precious few riders for any other reasons. No "save our lines" sign or any indication locally of any desires to do so. Feels given up.

I can appreciate that spending hundreds of thousands of Euros for the sake of perhaps 20 passengers a day (and that is generous) does not have a business case. I do wonder about generating more traffic - but I don't know the French / Felletin / Regional case to answer the question about what if anything could be done. I do see something of great beauty, on which vast amount have been spent over hundreds of years, being lost probably for ever. And no-one as far as I am aware (but with a slim and distant view) has looked at growing the traffic; not sure about saving costs as it's just one train, one crew.

Digressing wider than Felletin - this one came to my attention but there are so many lines lost in France already, many bustituted most or all of the time, and probably others holding on by the tips of their proverbial fingers. Perhaps it's only Felletin that I'm writing about because if happened to make my social media feed a few weeks ago - "will close at the end of August, barring a miracle".
And perhaps I'm only seeing Felletin as a terminus because the line beyond has already been lost - looks like a former through station to me.

I see no signs of that miracle but I still hope for one ... I would love to come back here by train at a future date ... Read more