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Historic Metre-Gauge Railways in Provence

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Our journey along the Nice to Digne line recommences at Annot. We are halfway between Nice and Digne. My memory of travelling on the line is that Annot was touted as being an excellent destination when travelling from Nice, to allow access to mountain walking. A little research shows that to be the case. The map below is a copy of the hiking route map which includes an extensive range of walks. The ".pdf" from which it is taken can be accessed by following the link in the references at the bottom of this post. [1] The train we travelled on through Annot to Digne in 2001 was full of hikers who left the train at Annot.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...not-to-meailles-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-71

We are close to the highest point on the route by the time we complete this section of the journey. Soon, after a long tunnel we will be on a downward ruling grade.
 
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This is an aside from the string of posts about the Nice to Digne Line. The valley of the River Var has been prone to flooding over many years. A friend mentioned landslips which occurred at Annot in 1994 and 1996 as a result of heavy rains. The 1994 incident was part of a much wider catastrophic event affecting the whole River Var catchment area. The link below provides some details of the 1994 floods:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...-and-landslides-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-72

On 5th November 1994 an extreme flood event caused the lowest and the second-lowest dams on the Var to collapse. The flood wave inundated parts of Nice, including Nice’s international airport which is situated near the river mouth. It was out of service for several days. The airport lost the business of 50,000 passengers, with damages running up to an estimated 4.5 to 6 million euro. Elsewhere roads like the RN202 were cut, power and telephone lines were interrupted, and three people died and four disappeared. This estimate of lives lost is low compared with some, for instance HydroEurope say that 70 people were estimated to be killed, with large scale infrastructure damage and economical losses from the closure of the airport. The economic damage is estimated at 550 – 800 million Euros. Of the three most recent flood events the flows of 1994 were an order of magnitude higher than the others - 1994 (3680 m3/s), 2011 (1330 m3/s), 2016 (1280 m3/s).

The volumes of water involved in the 1994 floods were unbelieveable!
 
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The next stage of our journey takes us out of the catchment of the River Var and into the Valley of the River Verdon. ....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...o-thorame-haute-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-73

The centre piece of this section of the line is the 3.5 kilometre long tunnel which links the valleys of the Verdon and the Vaire together - the Tunnel de la Colle Saint Michel.

The railway line between Meailles and Thorame-Haute was on the last stretch of the line from Nice to Digne to be built. The length involved was that between Saint-André-de-Méouilles and Puget-Théniers.

Work began in January 1900 on the final 27km of the line. The tunnel boring took a number of years to complete. Steady progress was made on the tunnel. The project had a significant setback when, in April 1909 part of the land mass above the proposed location of the station at Thorame-Haute collapsed onto the site of the station engulfing the part built buildings and platforms. Stabilisation of the mountain required the construction of a 114 metre long, 33 metre high retaining wall. The wall was 1.5 metres thick and reinforced by 7 buttresses. [22]

The station was opened to travellers on 3rd July 1911 [23] with the inauguration of the full line taking place on 6th August 1911. The station at Thorame-Haute quickly became a significant tourist destination providing access to some high quality hotels in the upper reaches of the Verdon valley. A wealthy clientele travelled from the Côte d'Azur to access such hotels as the Alp'hôtel de Beauvezer, and the Fontgaillarde in Thorame-Haute.
 
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Its been highlighted to me that in my last post in this series I did not provide details of Thorame-Haute Viaduct. In that post, I provided rail-level images and then rushed on to the site of Thorame-Haute Station. This short blog is an attempt to rectify that mistake! I guess you could also see it as a bonus for patiently bearing with me as I meander along the line between Nice and Digne-les-Bains!

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...e-haute-viaduct-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-74
 
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This next post focusses first on the Station and buildings close to it at Thorame-Haute. It highlights a local festival and the importance of the chapel adjacent to the railway station.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...andre-les-alpes-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-75

The blog then takes us on from Thorame-Haute to Saint Andre les Alpes.

In a number of these posts I have been picking up some images from 'www.railsim-fr.com' as there is now a rail simulator version of the Nice to Digne line.
 
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The next step along the Nice to Digne railway line takes us from Saint-Andre-les-Alpes into the next valley - the valley of L'Asse.

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/...lpes-to-barreme-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-76

Our journey recommences in Saint-Andre-les-Alpes. The feature image shows the village with the station in the foreground. The image immediately below gives a panoramic view of the village from the north, showing the first of the lakes in the Verdon valley behind the village, as well as the railway station in the bottom-right.
 
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The next post in the series on the line from Nice to Digne covers the length of the route from Barreme to the station at Mezel.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/1...arreme-to-mezel-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-77

As an interesting aside, research on line suggests that the final location of Barreme station was not the location originally intended. I have found a sequence of drawings which seem to locate the station to the north-west of the present location further along the Nice -Digne line, beyond the bridge in the village centre. It is possible that I have misunderstood the drawings, but it seems that there was another location planned and that the station would have had larger facilities if the original plans went ahead.

Barreme Station has been used as the source for a model by Aubertrain (http://aubertrain.com/modules.html). The diorama is 602 x 400 x 250 mm in size and costs 875 euros.
 
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This is the final post covering the length of the Nice to Digne line. I hope to cover the motive power and rolling stock on the line in one or more additional posts.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/2...-mezel-to-digne-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-78

Traffic on the metre-gauge line is hampered by that fact that the standard-gauge connection to Digne has been cut. There has been talk of a possible metre-gauge line extension to meet the SNCF mainline at Château-Arnoux Saint-Auban, however, this is probably beyond the resources of the Chemins de Fer de Provence.

In looking for plans of the Station Site at Digne les Bains, I noticed reference to a 'Project de Tram Train Digne Manosque'. It can bee seen on Openstreetmap as a dotted line which runs from Digne to Château-Arnoux Saint-Auban.

The project is intended to use the old standard-gauge formation and its line into Château-Arnoux Saint-Auban. The project now has a website:

http://transport-provence-alpes.centerblog.net/12-projet-multimodal-digne-sisteron-manosque.

Is the scheme feasible? There are some questions about this which appear in the comments on the website.

How likely is this scheme, does anyone know?
 
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In November 2018, my wife and I visited a number of the perched villages in the area around Fayence. As a result, I have updated one or two posts on my blog which relate to parts of the Central Var metre-gauge line. The changes to the post below relate to a visit to the perched village of Tanneron which sits high in the hills above the line. The village is a staggering 11 kilometres from the old station which bore its name.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-6-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-26
 
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In November 2018 my wife and I stayed in St. Raphael for 10 days. On a couple of those days, Jo and I were able to visit the old Chemin de Fer du Sud de La France station site alongside the old PLM station. The modern SNCF station seems to me to be just as ugly as I thought it would be. The site of the old metre-gauge station is now covered by the Gare Routiere. The structures which supported the old line alongside the main PLM line remain and are now in use by small retail outlets.

As far as we could tell the details given in the original version of the post below are all correct.

I have just added a postcript and some photos.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/1...to-saint-raphael-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-48
 
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On Sunday 18th November, Jo and I travelled from St. Raphael via the Sunday Market in Le Muy to Hyeres. We enjoyed an hour or so on the spit of land extending out from Hyeres towards Iles d'Hyeres and we had lunch next to La Tour Fondue. We spent the rest of the day following Le Macaron from Hyeres to Sainte-Maxime. Nothing I saw on the journey caused me concern about the text of the series of blog posts I have written about the route and that I have already provided links to on this thread. I was able to take a few pictures while on the journey, although there was little time to stop if the full journey was to be completed in daylight! I will post a link to the photographs in due course. On the journey we were also able to make two detours. The first, to Les Bormettes and the site of the old torpedo factory at what is now known as Miramar. The second to St. Tropez.

The relevant links to my blog are:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/3...rmes-les-mimosas-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-41

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/2...de-les-bormettes-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-42

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/0...sas-to-cavalaire-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-41

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/0...la-foux-les-pins-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-44

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/0...-to-saint-tropez-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-45

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/0...-pins-to-cogolin-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-46

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/0...to-sainte-maxime-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-47
 
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In order to complete this series of posts on the Metre Gauge Railways of the Cote d'Azur and Var in Provence I have been working on a series of posts about the locomotives and rolling stock on the Nice to Digne-les-Bains Line. I have just posted the first of these:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/12/1...ing-stock-steam-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-79

This post focusses on the Steam locomotives used on the line between Nice and Digne-le-Bains. It is unlikely to be comprehensive and I'd be grateful of any contributions by others which will add to my knowledge. I am hampered particularly by not having access to the seminal work on the network by Jose Banaudo, "Le Siecle du Train des Pignes." [25] The text of this book is in french and as it is out of print a good copy will cost well over 50 euros. If anyone has access to this book and is prepared to add to the text of the blog, please feel free to do so, or email me direct and I will update the post.

I would be particularly interested in details of locomotives which ran on the Nice to Digne Line throughout its life and which are nor properly covered within the text below.

As part of studies on the two other main-lines which made up the network of the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - the Central Var line and Le Macaron - we covered a lot of ground investigating early traction and steam power on the lines of the whole network and provided as much information as possible about rolling stock on the system.

The relevant posts are:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/02/2...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-50

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/03/0...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-52

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/03/0...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-54

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/2...nd-rolling-stock-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-49

These posts are as comprehensive as possible for the era of operation of those lines and cover the period up to their closure after the Second World War. However, they are focussed on the two lines which closed. It make sense, therefore to review those posts in the light of a focus on the Nice to Digne Line. This blog sets out to do just that. I need also to acknowledge the support I have received in collating this information from 242TE66.
 
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Ken H

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Nice gare du Sud was a pretty little station. Hopefully now to be re-used
iu
 

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Have brought up this thread owing to an interesting reference in a book which I have recently acquired -- Lost Railway Journeys From Around The World by Anthony Lambert; which includes a chapter on the Central Var metre-gauge line.

Mention is of course made, of the tragic wartime destruction of viaducts in 1944, which was the chief factor in the line's demise. I had hitherto been unaware that -- though, @rogerfarnworth, I now see belatedly that this data features in your material to which your posts link -- this havoc occurred only on the route's easternmost 50km-odd; and that the other three-quarters or so of the route's length, Tanneron -- Meyrargues, was undamaged, and in fact staggered on in service until the beginning of 1950. The general view re the destruction is and has been, that it was perpetrated by the retreating German occupying forces. A brief "aside" in Lambert's book, though, reads: "But some locals, instead of blaming the Germans, believe there was a Machiavellian plan to force the construction of better roads, thereby raising property prices after the war. The likelihood of rebuilding the railway would have been minimal..."

One's first reaction might be to ponder on people with too much time on their hands, dreaming up abstruse conspiracy theories as a change from playing boules; but in such wartime situations as that of France in World War II, damage to railways -- with practical reasons for same -- can be done either by the enemy; or (overall, with greater likelihood) by the opposing side, including civilian irregular forces working for the opposing side. And -- dearly though I love France -- it is widely recognised that there is a section of that country's people, who can be rather prone to skulduggery of the kind hinted at. At all events; three-quarters of a century later, it's doubtful that the totally certain truth of the matter could be established; and (as I've opined elsewhere on the Forums) even without the viaduct-destruction which happened in '44 -- the happy situation of both the Nice -- Digne, and Nice -- Meyrargues routes still being in passenger use throughout today, is pretty well inconceivable.

There was brought to mind, a rather similar situation of similar date in the very opposite corner of France, i.e. Brittany. This involved the Chemins de Fer des Cotes-du-Nord: the departemental metre-gauge system serving that departement (now Cotes-d'Armor). As at the outbreak of WWII, this system had been reduced to its "main line" running coastwise from end to end of the departement. Per an article in a French railway journal, by a French author: this route essentially continued in service through the war. At the time of liberation in 1944, the Resistance blew up a couple of quite major bridges on it -- the usefulness of these acts as regards impeding German forces, has been found questionable: apparently it's suggested locally, not so much that anyone was "being Machiavellian", but that some folk in the Resistance had come to enjoy blowing things up, for the exercise's own sake. Rather as with the remaining part of the Central Var: the Cotes-du-Nord metre gauge route continued in passenger and freight use for a very few years after the war; but hampered more than a little, by the bridges' having been destroyed. All the route had closed by 1951, save for one section, the 40-odd km. St. Brieuc -- Paimpol, which survived until 1956.
 
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I am working on completing a book about the Central Var line of Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France. About 75% of the way through the work now and reviewing my post of the length of the line to the West of Sillans-la-Cascade.

I have realised that I omitted an important element of this section of the line - that It provided access to a number of mines. Two closest to the line were open-cast bauxite mines. Both were situated near Rognette which also appears not to feature in my original review of this length of the line.

This revised post covers the section in question. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/08/1...cade-to-barjols-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-85
 
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Calthrop

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The Nice to Digne-les-Bains Line has been in the news in France over the past few months. In February 2019 there was a collapse of the tunnel at Moriez while strengthening work was taking place. In November 2019 the already closed line suffered some further damage as a result of bad weather. The linked post covers the latest news about repairs on the line. .....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/03/09/les-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-an-update-on-maintenance-work

Thanks for info and link. I was unaware of this "latest" bout of structural / "elements" trouble for this line. Am finding self often annoyingly out of touch nowadays, re doings on railways abroad (at the present time, find regular monthly magazine-purchasing unaffordable). I greatly miss the publication "Continental Railway Journal" (the "Continental" part expanded, in its latter decades, to cover the whole world outside of the British Isles), which for a fair number of decades appeared quarterly, and did a wonderful job of reporting (albeit sometimes with a substantial time-lag) especially of happenings on narrow-gauge and minor railways abroad, until its regrettable demise in 2013. The Continental Railway Circle, which produced the Journal, is still in existence; and runs a Yahoo group, which furnishes some news -- but this is just a trickle of random stuff, in comparison with the output of the Journal when that still existed.
 
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Sadly, I only really keep updated.on things that have sparked my interest. If I had more time, I might look wider at what is going on. There are a few sites which do provided occasional updates. Facebook is also sometimes a source, as it was in this case. I am a member of a few French speaking sites and the link to the original.article appeared there.

Very best wishes

Roger
 

Calthrop

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Thanks. French Internet sites a possibility, of course, for up-to-date news; likely, also, German ones for Germany -- I have an adequate command of both languages. I can't help mourning the late "CRJ", though -- it gave at least some coverage of most of the globe (some parts reported on in greater volume, than others): in a way which was wonderfully effortless, for those of us with a propensity to indolence !
 
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