As an aside to the regular blog posts, I am wondering about collating my posts into a series of eBooks. I have developed the first few chapters of the first book, which will be about the Central Var Line in Provence. I would appreciate comments about the draft.
http://anyflip.com/zydj/rtke/#.WtjoPZ4iRBs.wordpress
Trains left la Gare du Sud in a Westerly direction before turning first North-West and then round to the south towards St. Philippe. The video below shows the first part of the route from Nice to Colomars (La Manda).[7]
On the map below the site of the original Gare due Sud appears as a void in the right middle of the image with the present station to its West.
The two station sites are covered in the previous post in this series:
Before we finally leave the site of the two stations, modern and old, here are a few more images of the two stations and rolling stock at the site. The first image is the only one I have found which shows a steam locomotive leaving the old Gare du Sud.
More photographs can be found by following the links in the reference section at the bottom of this post. [1]
Les tirages sont datés de Juillet 1983. Le jour exact n’a pas été retrouvé (c) Claude Villetaneuse. [14]
1984 Autorail Billard en gare de Nice Chemins de fer de Provence.
Some amazing photos can be found on various french forums. The next four are from Les Trains de l’Histoire [2] and a thread which focusses on diesel motive power on the Nice-Digne Line.
Taken in 1971/72 (c) Locky on Forum: Les Trains de l’Histoire. [15]
Taken in 1971/72 (c) Locky on Forum: Les Trains de l’Histoire. [15]
Renault autorail at La Gare du Sud (c) Gerard, Forum: Les Trains de l’Histoire [5]
Renault autorails in La Gare du Sud (c) Michel/57 Forum: Les Trains de l’Histoire. [7]
After leaving the old station, trains remained within the station site for some distance. Rue Alfred Binet did not cross the old station site in those days. Trains then had at grade crossings at Rue Dabray, Rue Gutenburg and the junction of Boulevard Joseph Garnier and Boulevard Gambetta. The first small stop on the line was immediately after the road junction.
Looking back towards the station from Rue Dabray.
Looking ahead from Rue Dabray across Rue Gutenburg. [4]
Looking forward from Rue Gutenberg towards the Arrest Gambetta beyond the next road junction.
Looking forward to the road Junction at Gambetta [4]
The road junction, Google Streetview.
In gentler times – with the red flag to alert traffic! [6]
The Arret at Gambetta.
Looking forward from the Arret Gambetta.[4]
Just beyond the small Station called Gambetta the line curved round under Boulevard Mantega Righi and then entered the tunnel at La Mantega – the tunnel Piol Mantéga.
The tunnel was 350 metres long. The current Piol Mantéga Tunnel is the result of the joining of two older tunnels by a modern one of 174 metres in length. The two older tunnels were La Mantega Tunnel (88 metres long) closest to La Gare du Sud, and Piol Tunnel (78 metres long).
In addition, the entrance to the Piol tunnel was extended by a dozen meters towards Saint-Philippe in concrete. [8]
The images below are two views of the cutting between La Mantéga and Piol tunnels close to Saint Paul’s Church. The North portal of Piol Tunnel is visible as well as an aqueduct which carries a small stream over the tunnel. A picture of St. Paul’s Church follows the views of the works. The picture of the church is taken from over the old tunnel portal in the images immediately below.
The tunnel runs below the trees to the left of the church.
In the photograph above the railway runs to the right of the road (Avenue Paul Arene) towards the next Station, another small halt called Nice-Parc Imperial which can be seen marked Arret on the right side of the map below.
The line is shown below in the satellite image from Google Earth
The portal of the next tunnel, that of Saint-Philippe, is just visible in the bottom left of the satellite image. Details of this tunnel can be found on the Inventaire des Tunnels Ferroviaires de France website. [9]
Saint-Philippe Tunnel is 255 metres long, in it the line curves round from a south-westerly direction to a north-westerly direction. Leaving the tunnel the line immediately crosses Avenue d’Estienne d’Orves and enters another small halt.
The halt of Nice-Saint-Philippe consists of no more than a small concrete platform and immediately precedes the entrance to the next tunnel, that of Saint Pierre.[10] The tunnel was 633 metres long and as the black and white image below shows, trains immediately crossed two bridges after leaving the tunnel. The tunnel portal is marked with a yellow arrow. [10]
These last three pictures show the bridges along the hillside and are taken from across the valley. The pictures that follow show the approach to and the location of the next halt – La Madeleine.
Chemin du Vallon Sabatier Passes under the railway to the immediate north-west of the station.
As does Chemin de la Costière.
The line continues North-west from La Madeleine Halt before swinging round to the West and crossing Boulevard de la Madeleine on an elegant viaduct.
It then enters another tunnel – le Tunnel de Bellet (also known as le Tunnel de Saint Antoine). The tunnel is 950 metres long and straight enough to be able to see the far end from outside the near portal.
The far portal, furthest from La Madeleine is interesting. Because of its proximity to the Italian border, the entrance to the tunnel was been equipped at its construction in 1892 with a fortified defence system. Six years later, in 1898, defences were reinforced by the introduction of a pit 4.2 metres long in front of the portal which in normal times was filled with sand. In times of war, it could either be emptied, or receive explosives to destroy the tunnel entrance if required.
The tunnel portal now sits just under the A8 and can be seen to the right of the satellite image below. The railway continues around the edge of the industrial complex at Cremat and a halt is provided to serve the area – Nice-Cremat-PAL.
This was at one time the stop of Zygofolis details of which can be found in the last post in this series. [11] Slip-roads from the A8 now travel under the line using purpose built bridges.
In the picture above, Nice-St. Isidore station building can just be glimpsed to the left of the image. The approach along the line is shown below. The station building can just be glimpsed from the Chemin de Crémat.
From St. Isidore, the line continues and turns to a more northerly direction and then switches back towards the North-West and crosses Chemin des Serres and Chemin de la Glacière before entering the complex at Lingostiere.
The first image of the depot at Lingostiere has been rotated to show the underpass flood channel at Chemin de la Glacière in the bottom left of the picture. Just to the North-West of this bridge the tracks fan out to serve the depot.
The depot at Lingostiere was the main depot on the Nice to Digne Line. The workshops were created in 1975 before that the workshops were in Draguignan despite the closure of the Central Var line in 1949.
A variety of rolling stock and traction could be observed alongside the line out of Nice towards La Manda.
Another photograph from Les Trains de l’Histoire, Sur les Chemins de Fer de Provence (Nice-Digne) shows the depot in 1979. [2]
T62 at Lingostière on 14th February 2007. [12]
The following images are from Alain Mionnet. [13]
The line leaves Lingostiere and passes under the M6202 dual carriageway before settling in alongside that road. The M6202 and the Chemin de Fer de Provence follow each other for some distance alongside the River Var.
The picture below shows the two running in parallel. The halt visible in the distance is Saint-Sauveur.
The next halt is Bellet.
And the next is Colomars/La Manda. The satellite image below is of great interst to those who are following the original line of the railway. The modern line follows the River side and the M6202, the original line deviated to the East. The wide sweep of the line which branched off the Nice to Digne line can be seen curving round to the La Manda bridge. Even though the railway disappeared in the 1950s, its route is still visible in the layout of the roads at La Manda.
A little less obvious because of the trees is the old alignment north of La Manda heading towards Digne-les-Bains. It can still be picked out on the next satellite image below and returns towards the river bank in the top right of the image. If your eyesight is really good you might just be able to make out the name of the road which follows the old line – Avenue du Train des Pignes.
We finish this second part of the journey along the Nice to Digne line by focussing on the station at La Manda which was usually referred to as Colomars in the early life of the line.
The Ligne de Central Var left the Nice to Digne line at La Manda close to Colomars on the River Var. The station building at Colomars Station remains as evidence of the line. The line branched off the current Digne line just to the north of the hamlet of La Manda.
The station construction is typical of many of the stations still evident on the route of the line. A few historic postcards are reproduced here to give an idea of the station in the early years of the 20th century.
The second of these postcard views has been ‘adapted’ by Jean Giletta the photographer to include a hand drawn train. While it is a pity that the photographer did not wait for a real train to cross the bridge, the picture illustrates the nature of the river crossing. The railway line crossed the river on the top of the truss girders with provision between the trusses for road traffic!
References
The Chemin de Fer due Sud de la France station, commissioned in 1892, benefited as early as 1899 from a 960 m connection to the PLM network.[1] The route of the connection is shown on the 1958 map of Nice below. La Gare due Sud is the more northerly of the two stations shown on the map.
Somewhere along Rue des Combattants en Afrique du Nord or Rue Alfred Binet, Nice – 1963 – © JH Manara.[1]
The same locomotive operating on street between the two railway stations in Nice – © JH Manara.[2]
The same locomotive again, operating between wagons on the link between the two stations.[3]
The connection between the CP and SNCF networks was established as dual-gauge line so that normal track wagons could be towed by metre-gauge shunters. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the passage of freight trains in the middle of the street began to pose a problem with regard to traffic. I have only been able to find a few images of the line in use, taken, I think in 1963 by the same photographer, although available on the internet from different web sites.
The locomotive in the images above was also recorded on site at la Gare du Sud.
1974. [4]
CP51 appears to be an 0-8-0 diesel shunter and seems to have had a long life on the Chemin de Fer de Provence. It was converted from a steam locomotive in 1948 and given the loco number 51. The work was done by the CFD workshop in Montmirail. In these CFD conversions, power was transferred from the diesel engine via a mechanical gearbox that drove one axle. The remaining axles are connected to the drive axle via the coupling rods. The loco was mainly used for traffic between la Gare du Sud and the SNCF station, for the transfer of freight wagons. From 1970, the vehicle was moved to Digne and shunted wagons at the station there. From 1978, the locomotive was used for construction trains and was eventually set aside at Lingostière after an engine failure in 1987. In 2010 it was still in the sidings at Lingostière.[5]
1980. [6]
1981.[7]
CP51 sits in a decrepit state in the sidings at the depot at Lingostière. [8]
STOP PRESS …… CP51 has been found! It is hiding at Saint-André-les-Alpes! It has been photographed on 25th April 2018 in a siding awaiting restoration! [9]
There is a 3D printed body shell for this locomotive, produced by Shapeways[10] …
References
My wife and I travelled this line in 2004. The views were spectacular and the weather was in our favour! My camera, in those days, was not able to produce high resolution photos. But these give a very good impression of the line and the views from the top. The first image is a map of the line.
242T66 on the Forum Passions Metrique et Etroite, very kindly, pointed out that the pictures that I originally posted on this blog came from another Rack Railway – the MGN (Montreux, Gilon, Rochers-de-Naye) Railway. Those have been moved to another blog post (https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/the-rochers-de-naye-line) and photos from 2004 of the BRB now follow below!
The link below takes you to an excellent video of the line:
Various Photographs taken some years ago on the Hereford Model Railway in the Vicarage Loft. 
This post carries a series of images from ‘Paint’ which were drawn and then built up in layers to create the N Gauge model of Hereford Station Footbridge.
This is a short blog post to show three images of the construction of the N Gauge model of the North Box at Hereford station.
The Chemins de Fer de Provence is the name used for the one surviving metre-gauge line in Les Alpes Maritime. The route from Nice to Digne. This series of posts will follow the line from Nice to Digne and will have occasion to divert onto some branch-lines along the way.
The line from Nice to Digne is the only remaining line of the former network of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Sud de La France. The company was created in 1885 by Baron Jacques de Reinach, a French banker of German and Jewish origin (1840-1892).[1] At its apogee in 1910 the company looked after 879km of railways, most of these are shown on the map below.
The Company was responsible for: the Central and Littoral Var lines; the Nice-Digne Line; the Cote-d’Or line; the Cogolin to Saint-Tropez branch-lines; the Isere tramway lines (Tramways de l’Ouest du Dauphiné);[2] the Tramways des Alpes Maritimes. However, by 1925, the company was experiencing significant difficulties. It was wound up and a new company with new financial backers was formed – Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Provence. This new company lasted for 8 years until 1933.
Early in the planning phase, relations between Italy and France were tense. The military demanded that the section of the line between Nice and Saint-Martin-du-Var was designed to permit access by standard gauge trains. Indeed, this was also a requirement for the first length of the Colomars to Meyrargues line. A dual track-gauge arrangement was included in the plans when the concession arrangements were updated on 21st May 1889. The loading gauge for the line was also enhanced to be the same as for the standard gauge lines. On 29th July 1889 the concession was approved by law, the line was declared as being of ‘public utility’ and the length of Line from Nice to Saint-André was also formally included in the concession.
Construction costs for the line were high and in order to ensure its completion the length between Puget-Théniers and Saint-André-les-Alpes was, in part, funded through an agreement signed between the company and the state. A formal agreement between the Minister of Public Works and the Compagnie des Railways du Sud de la France on 23rd March 1906 provided for the company’s construction of the Puget-Théniers to Saint-André-les-Alpes. The agreement was approved in law on 29th December 1906.[3]
Construction work began on the first length of the line on 14th August 1891. This was the length between Digne and Mezel – a length of 13km. In 1892, the sections from Nice to Colomars (also 13km), Colomars to Puget-Therniers (45km) and Saint-André-les-Alpes (previously Saint-Andre-de- Meouilles) to Mezel (31km), were under construction.[4]
Between 1892 and 1907, various scandals about the reliability of the company endangered its finances and slowed the progress of the work significantly. By 1907, only a 12km section between Puget-Théniers and Pont-de-Gueydan was open. The following year that was extended to Annot, a further 8km.[4]
The work progress relatively rapidly from this point on. The full length of the line was completed in July 1911, and a ceremony was attended by the Minister of Public Works on 6th August 1911, to inaugurate the last length of the line (the section between Saint-André and Annot).
As we have already noted, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France was unable to sustain operations beyond 1925. Their role was taken over by Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Provence. In turn, this company was only able to manage the line until 1933 when it handed over both the Nice to Digne line and the Central Var line to the State. The Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Provence then restricted its activities to the Littoral line. The State department for Bridges and Roads (Ponts et Chaucees) took over responsibility for the Nice to Digne Line.
In the immediate pre-war period, all three lines were developing well, services were increasingly popular thanks to the introduction of Autorails (Railcars). However, the War and particularly the fighting which accompanied the Liberation, dealt a serious blow to the railway infrastructure of the region.[6]
Recovery after 1944 was very slow. There was no hope of reconstruction for the Eastern part of the Central Var line and its trains terminated at Tanneron. Eventually, the Littoral line (Le Macaron) closed by 1949 and the Central Var line, by early 1950.[6]
In 1952, the State released the Nice to Digne line into private management once again, but this was not without its problems and by 1959, the State was threatening closure of the line unless draconian measures were taken. These threats were repeated in 1967 and again in 1968. This resulted in the two departments and the cities of Nice and Digne joining forces to create the “Syndicat mixte Méditerranée-Alpes” (SYMA) which took overall responsibility for the line and entrusted the operation of the line to the CFTA (Societe Generale de Chemins de Fer et des Transports Automobiles).[5,6]
A shuttle service between Nice and Colomars was inaugurated in the 1970s. In 1975, SYMA opened workshops at Lingostière workshops to replace those at Draguignan. The Draguignan workshops became unavailable after the War. It took quite a time to replace them![6]
The 1980s seemed to see an up-turn in the fortunes of the line. The GECP (Groupement d’études pour le Chemin de Fer de Provence)[7] started to run steam excursion trains (an example of which can be seen below). In 1981, the link between Geneva and Nice in the form of ‘Alpazur’ was reinvigorated.[6] The service had been in place since the late 1950s.[8] A standard gauge link to Digne was used to connect with the metre-gauge line. The two different trains are shown above. That line ran from Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban to Digne-les-Bains.
The line was also enhanced by the introduction of a new stop on the line for Zygofolis, an amusement park joined to a water park.[9]
This renaissance was short-lived. The SNCF decided to close the standard-gauge link between Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban and Digne in September 1989.[10] Nice town hall decided to call for the closure of the line from Colomars to Digne (90% of the full length).
The mayor of Nice finally agreed to accept a compromise. The deal agreed was that the Chemins de Fer de Provence (CP) would give up the magnificent Gare du Sud and the city would give up its fight to close the line.[6]
However, exceptionally bad weather and flooding in the Autumn of 1994 (5th November 1994) resulted in the River Var carrying away significant lengths of several hundred metres of the Nice to Digne line. The CP took over 18 months to repair the line and recover.[6,11,12] The images below show examples of the damage caused in the November 1994 floods.
In the last two images we have, on the right: the bridge at Gueydan on the Var destroyed by the flood which would in time be scrapped and replaced by the French Army. On the left is one of the many breaches of the line.[13] Immediately below this text are two images of a similar breach which happened in 1982. Following them are three videos shot during flood flows in the Var River channel in November 2011. The first at the Airport and the other two at the bridge at La Manda near Colomars.
SYMA’s control over the Nice to Digne Line continued until 1st January 2007 when the Appeal Court in Marseilles closed it down because of discovered flaws in procedures within the company.
The line was operated by Transdev[14] and Veolia Transport[15] through a subsidiary called Compagnie Ferroviaire du Sud de la France (CFSF)[16] until on 1st January 2014 a new company was formed to run the line – Régie Régionale des Transports de Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur (RTT PACA).[17] Under RTT PACA’s control the line has been significantly upgraded and rolling stock improved. It is still possible to travel on the line behaind a steam locomotive, courtesy of the GECP but regular services are now in the hands of very modern DMUs.
Our journey starts in Nice at the magnificent facade of la Gare du Sud. First a few older postcards to introduce us to the station. ……..
La Gare due Sud[18] was built in 1892 by the architect Prosper Bobin on behalf of the Compagnie des Chemin de Fer du Sud de la France. Prosper Etienne Bobin was born on 11th January 1844 in Montigny-en-Gohelle (Pays-de-Callais) and died on 10th December 1923 in the 6th Arrondissement in Paris.
The station has two main components, the passenger building and the train-shed. The first has a striking facade which faces onto the Boulevard Malaussena in the Liberation quarter of Nice. It was designed in the rationalist style which favoured the use of new industrial materials without compromising on elegance.[18] The name ‘rationalism’ is retroactively applied to a movement in architecture that came about during the Enlightenment (more specifically, neoclassicism), arguing that architecture’s intellectual base is primarily in science as opposed to reverence for and emulation of archaic traditions and beliefs. Rational architects, following the philosophy of René Descartes emphasized geometric forms and ideal proportions.[19] Structural rationalism most often refers to a 19th-century French movement, usually associated with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Auguste Choisy. Viollet-le-Duc rejected the concept of an ideal architecture and instead saw architecture as a rational construction approach defined by the materials and purpose of the structure. The architect Eugène Train was one of the most important practitioners of this school, particularly with his educational buildings such as the Collège Chaptal and Lycée Voltaire.[20]
The monumental facade of la Gare du Sud with a high central pavilion flanked by two side pavilions displays a decorative repertoire made of veneered ceramics and painted motifs overlying the stone structure. The building is roofed in terracotta.[18]
Trackside, there was (and is) a large train-shed, 23m wide, 18m tall and 87m long which covered the platforms. It is a metal structure inspired by the work of Gustave Eiffel which was originally used to house the Russian pavilion of the 1889 World Fair.
La Gare du Sud was completed in 1892, it operated as a railway station until December 1991, almost reaching its centenary as a station before circumstances in Nice dictated its closure.
Over the years the station site was developed to the extent visible in the hand-drawing below.[21]
In the 1910s, with increased traffic, the locomotive shed was enlarged. The two water tanks were mounted on masonry pedestals. Several additional rooms were created (most of them next to the shed). These included an office for the deputy chief and a traction shop. A Cnetral Office was built to the West of the Station adjacent to Rue Dabray which brought all the key staff togetehr under one roof.
Later, in 1936, a new workshop for diesel railcars (autorails) was built at the west end of the passenger hall. By the eve of the Second World War, the station was at its zenith. In addition to the buildings there were several kilometres of track, 44 single points, four three-way points, a variety of turntables which included one locomotive turntable.
After the Second World War, a building, serving as a simple repair shop, was to be the last new building on the site.[18]
I have pulled together a few photographs from a variety of sources which show the station in operation. They are in no particular chronological order and copyright is acknowledged where it can be established. Most of the images are freely available on the internet. The first two have been taken from the ‘Nice Rendez-Vous’ website[23].
Interior of the South Station – ABH Railcar and modernized cars in 1954.
Photo: M. Rifault – JL Rochaix Collection – Publisher: BVA in Lausanne (Switzerland).
Nice – 1969 – Remarkable view of the atmosphere of the Nice train station and its depot with a host of Billard railcars having just been recovered on various CFD lines coming to close. On the left, we can also see two ABH. © JH Manara.[22]
Nice – 1983 – note the imposing height of the train-shed, the three railcars and the recution of the lines in favour of car parks that will soon take over the entire site! © JH Manara.[22]
Bahnbilder.de, 1980.[24]
Wikimedia Commons. [25]
The last two images show wagons in storage at la Gare du Sud. They have been provided by a member of the GEMME forum in France.[36]
From the end of the War until the 1990s the uncertainties over the future of the Nice to Digne line meant that little was invested in the facilities at la Gare du Sud. In 1970, plans were drawn up to close the station. The city hoped to eliminate 4 level-crossings by moving the station to Rue Cross de Capéu a distance of 700 metres. The site of the proposed new station was purchased in 1972 and the Architect was chosen. The project remained on the drawing board.
In 1973, a number of unused sidings were lifted. In 1975, the President of SYMA, Jacques Médecin, Mayor of Nice, declared that he intended to stop the financial participation of the City in the organization (SYMA), and requested the sale of la Gare du Sud. Land on the south side of the station was sold, all of the buildings on that land were demolished, 150 wagons on the site were scrapped.
In 1976, access to the station was compromised when the City connected the streets of Alfred Binet and Falicon. Access to the goods hall and shunting manoeuvres became almost impossible. On 22nd March 1977, the automatic gates of Gambetta, Cros de Capeu and Gutemberg Streets were removed and replaced by traffic lights![21] This meant that trains were restricted to a speed of 4km/hr when crossing those streets.
Recovery plans were negotiated in the late 1970s. Goods trains were banned from the centre of Nice. In 1978, the south side of the station site became a municipal car park. A period of ten years of relative calm then ensued, although the City maintained its intention to purchase the whole of the site of la Gare du Sud.
A memorandum of understanding was finally signed on 18th January 1991 for the sale of the site of la Gare du Sud to the City for 151 million francs. As part of that deal the terminus of the Nice to Digne line was designated as being at Rue Alfred Binet. The commissioning of a new station at Rue Alfred Binet was scheduled for November 1991 but was eventually postponed until 10th December. The last day of operation of la Gare du Sud as a railway station was 9th December 1991.[21]
The new station was designated as the Gare de Nice CP and was built in a modernist style, in contrast to every other station on the line. [26] The following pictures show that station and can be found on the ‘Le Train des Pignes’ website. [26]
From 9th December 1991 to the year 2000, la Gare du Sud remained derelict. Although there had been a land transfer to the City the building was not sold to the City until the year 2000. The City then produced plans to demolish the station.[18]
This demolition raised many protests and finally the Minister of Culture , Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, opposed it in 2004. Meanwhile, the facade of the old station was registered as a historical monument on 23rd September, 2002.[27] The train-shed was registered as a historical monument in June 2005. The elegance of the building is demonstrated by the following images draw by the Architect, Mario Basso.[28]
Mario Basso is also responsible for a comprehensive archive of media posts relating to the station over the years.[28] That story can also be followed on Le Train des Pignes website.[29]
The building was saved from destruction but its future remained uncertain. Several projects were promulgated and then fell by the wayside (including the site becoming a new City Hall for Nice) before finally a project to convert it into a media library became a reality. The passenger building received a full restoration.
Drawing by Jean Francois Laugeri
The work was completed in time for opening in December 2013. A video taken from a drone, shows the finished work to the old passenger facilities.[30] Meanwhile refurbishment of the train-shed was also being considered. The video project presentation is below. [31]
TESS was given this project and some pictures of their work are shown below.[32]
The renovated station is intended to be at the hear of a new area in the City. [33,35] The old train-shed will become a venue for restaurants and boutiques and will be surrounded by green spaces, the site will also benefit from parking, housing, gyms, a multiplex cinema and many shops.
Further development work was due to start in April 2018. The old train-shed will be known as le Salon du Vintage and will be run for the next 45 years by Banimmo France.[34]
It is intended that the train-shed will accommodate 22 restaurants by December 2018
References
This was an 850 metre-long funicular providing access to ‘Super-Cannes’ from the town of Cannes. It was opened in 1928 and closed in 1966. Much of the infrastructure is still in place in the early 21st Century.
Super-Cannes is within the district of La Californie. It is a residential area of Cannes.
The construction of a funicular was initiated by Société immobilière de Paris et du Littoral. It was designed by the Italian company ‘Societe Ceretti et Tanfani’ and the construction engineer was E. Jaulin. [1] The contractor for the work was Dyle and Bacalan. Construction work took place between 1925 and 1928. The funicular line rose 850m from its lower station on Avenue Val Vert, through the Valley of Les Gabres. It crossed a series of roads on sloping bridges before reaching the higher station adjacent to the Observation Tower in Super Cannes on Avenue de la Gare-du-Funiculaire. The funicular was completed in January 1928 and opened by André Capron , Mayor of Cannes and Yves Le Trocquer , Minister of Transport on 27th January 1928.
As a result of the construction of the funicular there was a rapid development of properties on the hill. The view across the Baie de Cannes was, and is, spectacular.
The lower station was designed to look like a chapel and was in the Neo-Provencal style. Wikipedia explains that this was, and remains, ‘a contemporary architectural and decorative style originating in Provence which extends along the French Mediterranean Coast and onto Corsica. … It replaces the traditional stone houses of the villages of the South of the country’.[2] It was decorated with a series of paintings by Louis Pastor.[3] A few images of the station and the paintings follow. Included among these pictures is a very early image of the funicular:
The funicular was on a steep grade, in a length of just 850m the funicular climbed to an altitude of 233m. There was one passing point at midpoint on the climb. The top station is shown below along with the wooden observatory refered to below.
At the top of the funicular there was a planned housing estate which initially was predominantly reliant on the funicular for access. 156 hectares were set aside for the project and the developers provided roads and other infrastructure as well as constructing the funicular railway. The infrastructure to be provided included a 9 metre wide road of approximately 4km in length; 7km of secondary roads; a tea room, hotel and gazebo along with luxury shops. The picture below shows the view point at the top of the funicular before major development had taken place.
A first square wooden observatory as erected in 1925. The project, however, hit financial difficulties, the large hotel was never built. The planned road works were interrupted and the land was sold on in 1931. 1939 saw the construction of a panoramic restaurant on the site of the planned hotel and a cylindrical reinforced concrete tower replaced the wooden observatory in 1953.
With developing road transport, the funicular began to loose money. Passenger numbers decreased and essential safety work could not be afforded. The funicular eventually had to close in 1966. The restaurant and observatory finally closed in 1986.
In 1989, the family of the Emir of Abu Dhabi bought much of the land at the top of the funicular. In 1993, they gained a building permit which included access to the funicular railway station by a private road. However, in 1994, the administrative court rescinded the approval. Since then, the whole site has remained in a derelict and abandoned state. The site gained heritage protection in 2001 and in 2009, some repairs were undertaken to the facade of the lower station to improve the visual amenity in its immediate locality.[5]
This picture shows the lower station as it is in the early 21st Century. The Observation Tower can be seen on the distant horizon at the top right of the image.
The images below show both pictures of the funicular in operation in the 1960s and its condition in the early part of the 21st Century. Included towards the end of the photographs are a series taken by RER C – Photographs on Passions Metrique et Etroite Forum in 2011. Below the photographs taken by RER C are a series of videos.
The following photos were taken in 2011.[8]
This post finishes with a series of links to YouTube.[9] They include 6 videos taken of the condition of the Super-Cannes funicular railway in the early 21st Century. The videos were uploaded onto YouTube in 2009 by Pierre l’ Antibois.
The first shows the lower station:
The second shows the rolling stock.
The third shows the drive mechanisms
The fourth shows the condition of the route of the funicular
The fifth shows the top station, the observatory and the resaurant
And finally, the 6th video shows the engine room.
References
Roger Farnworth 
