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Tramways and Tramroads in Provence/Cote d'Azur - the TAM and the TNL

Discussion in 'International Heritage Railways/Tramways' started by Roger Farnworth, Mar 30, 2018.

  1. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    In our many trips to Nice and Les Alpes Maritimes, my wife and I have seen a significant amount of engineering works, bridges, viaducts and tunnels all on lines which were neither part of the PLM network of standard gauge railways, nor part of the general metre-gauge network. It turns out that there were a significant numbe of line operated by tow main tramway companies in Provence, Tramways de les Alpes Maritime (TAM) and tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL).

    These tramways ran on metre-gauge tracks but had a loading gauge not much wider than the track-gauge. In many places they ran alongside roads or withing the highway itself, but often they deviated away from the highway or their own formation.

    The one which first drew our attention was the Sospel to Menton Tramway which was operated by the TNL. This is the story:

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...amway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51
     
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  2. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    A picture of The Viaduc du Caramel or something like it was published in The Railway Modeller (late 70's?) as a prototype of a feature often used on Continental models of a curved viaduct coming out from a hillside
     
  3. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    Hi John

    I have not come across that article before. The Viaduct is impressive but abandoned and fenced off for safety. I understand that it was built not out of necessity but because the military insisted on having a structure on the line which could be destroyed easily to restrict the ease of enemy access in the event of war.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2018
  4. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  5. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  6. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    Grasse was at one stage full of different rail transport. Two TAM tramways, one from Cagnes-sur-Mer and one from Cannes approached the town from the south. A PLM branchline also linked Grasse to Cannes. There was a funicular railway linking the PLM (SNCF) railway station to the town centre, and there was the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France Central Var line crossing the town on its way between Nice and Meyrargues.

    This next post covers the first part of the story of the TAM tramway between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Grasse:

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...s-sur-mer-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-20

    And this post is the remainder of that story:

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...s-sur-mer-part-2-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-21
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2018
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  7. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

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    Does anyone know anything about the line that served St Tropez? I think it was metre guage and I've walked part of the trackbed to La Croix Valmer where the station site is now a car park for the small shopping centre.
     
  8. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  9. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

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  10. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  11. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    I have recently completed a two part story of the Nice to Levens Tramway which was rub by the TNL. These are the links to that story .........

    The TNL built a line from Nice to Levens, it extended the urban line that went from Nice to Saint-André-de-la-Roche. The first post covers the length from Nice to Tourrette-Levens.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com...de-provence-54

    The second post covers the length of the tramway from Tourrette-Levens to Levens. It requires some imagination and also demands careful reading as the first part relates to the probable route of the tramway if other factors (such as cost) did not become important. .....

    As part of the blog, I have used modellers license ... the freedom to use our imagination.

    The first half of the blog follows the tramway that might have been built via Aspremont and Saint-Blaise to Levens. It was certainly planned.

    The second half of the blog focuses on the current route along the M19.

    I hope you like it!

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com...de-provence-56
     
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  12. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    I have already posted this elsewhere, but for the sake of completeness, this post was written when thinking about the coastal line leaving Toulon for Saint-Raphael.

    It relevance here is that it focusses on the tramway system in Toulon. A further post about Toulon will be required at some stage to complete the story of the whole network.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...oulon-and-hyeres-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-38
     
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  13. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  14. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    Reading a book in French by Jose Banuado, I have discovered more about the Sospel to Menton tramway.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61

    This post builds on previous ones, particularly ...

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51
     
  15. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    It is a while since I posted about the tramways in Nice. I have been concentrating on a series of posts about the metre-gauge lines in Kenya and Uganda. That series of posts is now complete and I can focus once again on the South of France metre-gauge tramways and railways.

    The TNL grew in size in the years before the first world war but had great difficulty in getting new lines authorised and built

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-tnl-at-its-height-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-62

     
  16. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    This post covers another short-lived tramway which provided a service up the valley of l'Esteron from Pont Charles Albert over the River Var to Roquesteron, a distance of more than 20 kilometres.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/tam-tramway-in-the-valley-of-the-river-esteron-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-66

     
  17. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    Another of the branch tramways left the Nice to Digne line close to La Mescla Station and travelled up the valley of La Tinee.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/tam-tramway-from-la-mescla-to-saint-sauveur-sur-tinee-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-67

    The available imagery from the time of the tramway is limited in extent and is supplemented by images from later dates.
     
  18. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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    New territory for me. The now removed TAM tramway from Pont de Gueydan to Guillaumes up Les Gorges de Daluis .....

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/tam-tramway-from-le-pont-de-gueydan-to-guillaumes-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-69

    One of the bridges on this route has the distinction of being one of the earliest reinforced concrete arch structures in France.
     
  19. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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  20. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Member

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