Musée des tramways à vapeur et des chemins de fer secondaires français
The Musée des tramways à vapeur et des chemins de fer secondaires français (Museum of French steam tramways and secondary railways — MTVS) is located alongside Valmondois railway station, in the small town of Butry-sur-Oise in the departement of Val-d'Oise, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Paris.
The museum houses a collection of railway vehicles from the former French departmental railways, preserved, restored and rebuilt by the members of an association. During the season, short trips can be made on some of the exhibits, along a metre gauge (1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)) line, one kilometre (0.62 miles) in length, nicknamed the "Impressionists' railway".
  MTVS | |
| Established | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Location | Butry-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise |
| Coordinates | 49.0904833°N 2.20098611°E |
| Type | Railway museum |
| Collection size | 10 steam engines 5 Diesel locotractors 27 passenger cars |
| Visitors | 5000 |
| President | Olivier Janneau |
| Website | MTVS museum |
History
Established in 1976 on the site of the former railway line from Valmondois to the town of Marines, the 'Association of the Transportation Museum of the Sausseron Valley' patiently assembled an important collection of railway vehicles from the old regional French networks. The collection has become the most important in France on the theme of secondary railways using the one metre gauge.
In 1999, the association changed its name to the Musée des Tramways à Vapeur et des chemins de fer Secondaires français.
In October 2006, the association celebrated its thirtieth anniversary.
It was once planned for the museum to be moved further northwest, to the Vexin region, where it would have had larger storage space and a longer railway line to use for its train journeys, but the project was abandoned in March 2009.[1]
During the winter of 2007-08, the terminus of the small passenger line became inaccessible when large rocks fell onto the track.[2] Journeys were restricted to the Rue de Parmain.
Since 2013 a project is under way to transfer the museum to Crèvecœur-le-Grand.
Collection
It operates :
- 10 steam engines including :
- Tramway de la Sarthe Nº 60, an 0-6-0 steam tram locomotive by the Ateliers du Nord de la France, Blanc-Misseron (Nº 213 of 1898), the first railway vehicle classified as a Monument historique
- Chemin de Fer des Côtes-du-Nord Nº 36, an 0-6-0T by Corpet-Louvet (Nº 1679 of 1925), classified as a Monument historique
- 5 diesel locotractors
- 1 electric railcar (automotrice électrique)
- 3 diesel railcars (autorail)
- 27 passenger cars; among which :
- 3 come from the Tramways d'Ille et Vilaine (bodies of the cars TIV B34, B 37 and B 73, circulating on the platforms of flatbed wagons)
- 3 luggage cars
- about 30 freight cars
Thirty vehicles of the collection are Monuments Historiques and 2 are inscribed in the supplementary inventory of the Monuments historiques.
Steam engines
| MTVS No. | Name | Wheel type | Builder | Works No. | Year Built | Empty weight | Status | Origin | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nº 4 | Pierre Jansen | 0-4-0T | SLM, Winterthur | 1891 | 1909 | 13.5 t | On display | Mont Blanc Tramway | ||
| Nº 2 | Venus | 0-4-0T | Corpet-Louvet | 710 | 1898 | 8 t | Restoration under way | Company Piketty (sand pits) | Distribution "Brown system" - Engine in restoration in the Steamrail.net program - Monument historique | |
| Nº 26 | 0-4-0T | Corpet-Louvet | 1673 | 1927 | 14.8 t |  | In storage | Company « Paul Frot » (public works) | ||
| Nº 1 | Le Coucou | 0-4-0T | John Cockerill | 2691 | 1908 | 12 t | In storage | Forges de Gueugnon | Vertical boiler | |
| Nº 16 | St Denis d'Orques | 0-6-0T | Ateliers du Nord de la France, Blanc-Misseron | 19 | 1882 | 11 t |  | In storage | Tramways de la Sarthe | |
| Nº 60 | La Ferté Bernard | 0-6-0T | Ateliers du Nord de la France, Blanc-Misseron | 213 | 1898 | 12.8 t |  Blanc-Misseron 0-6-0T n°60 | In operation | Tramways de la Sarthe | Monument historique |
| Nº 75 | 0-6-0T | Corpet-Louvet | 1234 | 1909 |  | In operation | Tramways d'Ille-et-Vilaine | Monument historique | ||
| Nº 36 | Lulu | 0-6-0T | Corpet-Louvet | 1679 | 1925 | 20.5 t |  Corpet-Louvet 0-6-0T n°36 | In operation | Chemin de Fer des Côtes-du-Nord | Monument historique. On loan to GECP to run as a tourist train on the line of Chemins de Fer de Provence. |
| Nº 13 | 2-6-0T | SACM | 7381 | 1924 |  SACM 2-6-0T n°13 | On display | Ligne Berck-Plage - Paris-Plage (B.P.) | Ex. VFIL Pas-de-Calais, Ex. VFIL Oise. Monument historique | ||
| E96 | 2-6-0T | Orenstein & Koppel | 5755 | 1913 | 23 t |  | On display | Linha do Vouga Nº 6, Portugal | Built for Decauville; identical to the engines 121 to 124 of CFD Charentes and Deux-Sèvres. Monument historique. | |
The Corpet and Louvet families in front of Lulu at the MTVS (2000)
The descendants of Lucien Corpet and Lulu at the MTVS (2000)
Numberplate of Chemin de fer des Côtes-du-Nord Nº 36 Lulu
Timetable
The museum is open from the beginning of May to the first weekend in October from 14:30 to 18:00 on Sundays.
A yearly festival is organized during the first weekend of October.
Address
Musée des Tramways à Vapeur et des chemins de fer Secondaires français
Mairie de Butry
95430 Butry-sur-Oise
References
- March 18, 2009: End of the project of removal in Vexin Archived June 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Web site of MTVS
- March 16, 2008: Railway line blocked because of a landslide Archived June 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Web site of MTVS
External links
- Museum web site (in English)