Hello and salut !
It is December 2021,
it is the last weekend before Christmas,
and I thought we’d go on a little trip to Versailles.
Now I’m sure you most of you have heard of Versailles.
Literal millions of tourists come here every year,
which begs the question,
what are WE doing in a place like this?
Well!
In my last video we began the story of the legendary Aerotrain,
the experimental 1960s hovertrain
that broke the world speed record for a rail vehicle twice.
And we went to visit the old abandoned test track
where the record-breaking runs took place.
(And next year I’ll do a video about the second part of that story.)
But a few of you in the comments were asking:
"do the 2 vehicles themselves still exist?"
Well they do!
And after a bit of Googling in French, I think I’ve tracked them down
to an old warehouse
on an industrial estate
just outside Versailles.
And today, we’re going to try and find them!
This is Versailles,
home to the world-famous Palace of Versailles,
And of course, we’re here to see an industrial estate.
So we’re taking the number 429 bus
and getting off on the edge of town
just past junction 4 of the N12.
The two historic Aerotrain vehicles belong to an association called
"The Friends of Jean Bertin".
He was the engineer behind the idea,
and they are the same people who very kindly gave me permission
to use their incredible archive footage in the last video
– in fact the man who answered my email was one of the test drivers himself!
I’ll link their website below if you want to see more photos
and find out more about what they do
to keep the memories of the Aerotrain alive.
But because the association doesn’t have any facilities of their own,
the two machines are currently stored in a warehouse
that belongs to a completely different association
called UNIVEM.
They’re a group of volunteers who look after a collection of historic military vehicles,
and in a stroke of luck
they had a bit of space at the back of their building
which has provided a temporary home for the Aerotrains
for the last 25 years.
Now although they call this a museum,
it’s really just a group of volunteer enthusiasts with a warehouse,
and they don’t sell tickets online or anything like that.
All I know is that it is supposed to be open on Saturdays
(when the volunteers come down and work here)
and according to their website you can just push the door and come in.
Which is not quite what that notice says!
But luckily at this point someone emerges from the front door,
he turns out to be a friendly volunteer called Yannick,
and he takes me to see something under a cover at the back of the building.
And there's no mistaking what THAT is.
♫ yes that's right, it's an excuse for me to make yet another cover of a Gerry Anderson theme for the soundtrack ♫
This is Aerotrain No. 2
which reached 422kmh in 1969.
It’s honestly amazing to see it in real life, right in front of me,
it still looks incredible,
and it’s such a unique piece of transport history,
there’s nothing else like it on earth.
Apart from the vehicle right next to it.
This is of course Aerotrain No. 1,
and you can really see the difference here between the two machines;
No. 1 was much closer to being an actual train,
with a big cab at the front for the driver
and enough space in the back for 3 or 4 passengers to sit very comfortably,
whereas No. 2 was basically a fighter jet on rails
and was built purely to test just how fast they could go.
I’m still finding it hard to believe that these two pioneering record breakers
have spent most of the last 25 years hidden under a cover at the back of a warehouse.
But then Yannick tells me there is one more little hidden treasure here.
This autonomous vehicle is technically an aerotrain too;
it's a later project that Jean Bertin moved on to in the 1970s
which used the same principles,
but reimagined the original jet-powered high-speed hovertrain
as a lightweight low-speed electric pod vehicle.
And they are restoring it to working order for an exhibition in February in Paris
where there will be a 20m long track
and you’ll be able to ride on it.
I mean obviously any events happening in Paris in February
are very much still to be confirmed at the moment
but I’ll put a link in the description if you’re an optimist and you want to buy tickets.
And there we are,
there’s not a lot else I can tell you about these machines
that we didn’t already talk about in the last video,
so do check that out if you haven’t seen it yet.
But if you’d like to visit UNIVEM
with their fantastic collection of historic military vehicles
AND AEROTRAINS
it’s a half hour ride from central Paris to Versailles Rive Gauche
followed by 10 minutes on the 429 bus.
Facilities at the site are very basic;
there’s a portakabin toilet
and... that’s about it.
But entry is completely free,
just turn up on a Saturday and say hello.
And it’s relatively accessible -
there’s no steps anywhere.
(Apart from, unfortunately, the toilet.)
Meanwhile this is my last video before Christmas,
so best wishes to everyone whatever you’re celebrating,
and especially if you’re working,
thank you all for watching,
and I will see you soon.