Funicular Railways and Rack Railways in France

I don't know what interest there might be on this Forum for this topic. There were a lot of Funicular railways in France, and a few Rack Railways as well. Someone pointed out to me that the closed Funicular in Cannes still has all the track and structures in place, just waiting for resurrection!

I have done a bit of research about one Funicular and one Cogwheel/Rack Railway, both in Provence.

The first of these is the old Funicular in Grasse.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ailway-in-grasse-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-23

The second is the Rack Railway between Monte Carlo (Monaco) and La Turbie in the South of France:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ie-rack-railway-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-15

What do folks make of these? Is this a worthwhile theme?

The Monte Carlo -- La Turbie rack line has always intrigued me: very interesting linked item, and the reproduced old postcards are delightful -- thanks. This line has the unusual distinction (involving the way in which I first learned of its existence) of being mentioned in a book in of the "Biggles" boys' adventure fiction series: Squadron Leader Bigglesworth and his chums are on a World War II secret mission in German-dominated France, and find themselves at La Turbie, following on foot the track of the old rack line, abandoned in 1932 but -- at least for the purposes of the book -- not yet dismantled a decade later.

A far cry from the Riviera: but two defunct French rack lines which I've always found fascinating (never visited either first-hand, alas) are the short ones way further north in France, linking SNCF station "down below" and town "up on a hill"; at Laon (departement Aisne), and Langres (departement Haute-Marne). Opened respectively 1899 (electric from the start) and 1887 (steam until electrified in 1935); both metre gauge, both closed, reckoned worn-out, in 1971. The Laon line was succeeded by a modern people-carrier set-up from 1989 to 2016, when it was closed as uneconomic.

There is the Pic du Jer at Lourdes; the view from the top is quite good - here's a short clip I filmed from up there in 2013 on a rather winmdy day. For some reason I didn't think to film one of the trains ( *sound of slapped wrist* ) but at 16 seconds in you can at least see part of the track!

Thank you, Calthrop and Peter Mugridge.

One of the lines of the Lyon metro has a rack section- it's the one that takes you out from the city centre to Croix-Rousse and on to the north-west.

Quite an interesting network as there are also a couple of funiculars and another metro line has orange driverless units which are reminiscent of the Glasgow Subway.

This is the promised post about the funicular between Cannes and Super-Cannes in the South of France.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/the-funicular-railway-in-cannes

The only one I have personal experience of is "Le Petit Train de La Rhune", on the northern end of the Pyrenees in the Basque country. An usual electric heritage railway- the three phase electric locos used are from the 1920s, with wooden bodies. Unusual open sided carriages with a four wheel bogie at one end and a fixed single axle at the other end. Took it on a beautiful summer's day without a cloud in the sky. The line winds up to the top of the mountain, where you get views along the mountains, along the north Spanish coast and up the western french coast.

jopsuk said:

The only one I have personal experience of is "Le Petit Train de La Rhune", on the northern end of the Pyrenees in the Basque country. An usual electric heritage railway- the three phase electric locos used are from the 1920s, with wooden bodies. Unusual open sided carriages with a four wheel bogie at one end and a fixed single axle at the other end. Took it on a beautiful summer's day without a cloud in the sky. The line winds up to the top of the mountain, where you get views along the mountains, along the north Spanish coast and up the western french coast.

Click to expand...

Wonderful railway. Highly recommend it.