Figanières to Draguignan

We recommence our journey at Figanières Station which is perhaps two-thirds of a kilometre to the East of the Centre of the town. We set off facing roughly Southwards. The station is at the location marked with a red ellipse on the plan below and is now a private home as can be seen in the picture below.

In the old postcard the station is flanked by a rather ramshackle factory building and loading stage which had a rail link and appeared to be busy, at least at the time the photograph was taken.

The line (shown in black on the adjacent map) followed the road (the D54) for a while until turning away to the South of the road, and finding the road Saint-Pons and travelling again in a near Southerly direction, before switching back to follow the alignment of the D54 but a few hundred yards distant. It then drifted towards the D562, eventually running just above a minor road on retaining wall.

The line then crossed the D562 at level and it is just possible to pick out the crossing keeper’s cottage among the trees alongside the road. The formation of the line then follows alongside the D562 but continues Southwards when the D562 turns Westward. It can be seen disappearing into the woodland below.

The formation winds its way southwards through the forest before turning West and beginning to approach the outskirts of Draguignan.

After reading the last post Andreas on Les Forums de Passions Métrique et Etroite!! commented as follows:

“Perhaps you have missed the “best” part: Between Figanières and Draguignan, the former Central Var line crosses a horrible training camp for tanks! I peacefully rode my old bicycel along the line and then realised I had entered and army camp with no visible exit (Help!). Thank God the tanks were not in action that day.” The army base referred to by Andreas, appears to be on this length of the line.”

As the formation of the old railway gets closer to Draguinan, it is once again covered in tarmac. It bears the name Avenue de la Vaugine. On the way, it passes under a beautiful little accommodation bridge, and a second similar but somewhat less well-maintained structure.

The approximate line of the old railway crosses from the Avenue de la Vagine to the main D59 along roughly the line indicated by the portrait picture above.

Internet searches suggest that the line of the Chemin de Fer du Sud then heads into Draguignan along Boulevard John Kennedy (D59), Place Pasteur (D59), and Boulevard Jean Jaures, and that the narrow Rue Labat and Boulevard Marx Dormoy then took the line right into the town centre of Draguignan. This is the route favoured by the Google Earth insert plotted by Claudio Capaccio which can be found by following this link: http://ollivier.haemmerle.free.fr/LigneColomarsMeyrargues.kmz.

This seems to me to be highly unlikely. The layout of the railway stations in Draguignan can be ascertained from sketch plans and aerial photographs which show their position and which show the line from Nice approaching the Chemin de Fer du Sud Station from the West.

The Chemin de Fer du Sud Railway Station in Draguignan (43 ° 32 ’03 “N, 6 ° 27′ 49” E) was on
Boulevard des Fleurs. The picture immediately below shows the station in more recent times, after it had served as a school. The first postcard view below that is from 1910. The station was enlarged soon after this, as can be seen in the picture below that.

The plan above and the aerial photo  show the arrangement of the stations in Draguignan. On the plan the SNCF (PLM) Station is at the top left with the Chemin de Fer du Sud Station just below it. In the aerial photograph, the Chemin de Fer du Sud Station is at the top of the picture about one thir of the way across from the right and the PLM Station is to its right.

On the plan, the trains from Nice entered from the right, on the aerial photograph, Nice trains entered from the bottom left, on the line which curves out of the let side of the picture and which continues roughly Westward on the aerial view below.

The most likely route of approach to the station from Nice was for the old line to follow the Avenue de Verdun which curves away from the D59 and the route of the line preferred on Google Earth which is shown in red in the adjacent satellite view from Google Earth. Avenue de Verdun is the wide curved road on the left of the image.

If my route is correct, the line would have followed Avenue de Verdun which then becomes the D955 (Avenue de 15eme Corps d’Armee) and which curves round the South of the Town and provides approximately the direction of approach which is indicated by both the plan above and the aerial photographs. Indeed, this route is confirmed by accessing aerial photographs from 1928 on the website: https://remonterletemps.ign.fr

The next stage of our journey will set off from Draguignan Station after having had a good look round the Station site on any pictures which are available.

Claviers to Figanieres

We continue our journey from Claviers Station, West towards Draguignan, aware that ahead of us the line will take a significant detour to the north to enable it to follow the contours and avoid significant gradients!

The old Station House at Claviers is no a private residence. It can be picked out on the top right of the photo above. A small area has been blown up to a larger scale to identify the building.

We set off from the station in a Northwesterly direction along La Font which becomes Chemin Francois Manzone. The tarmac ends and the old formation is used for an ongoing footpath/cycle route.

The line continues northwards towards Bargemon up the Western flank of Le Riou valley through Les Fournas and Roque Bouliere.

The line turns round the head of the valley towards Bargemon and then South once again. After the bridge in the photo below, the route follows Chemin de San Peyre. The station has been demolished.

The Bargemon Station was at the location highlighted with a green ellipse on the adjacent plan.

On from Bargemon Station, the route crossed the valley of La Doux and headed South towards La Colle de Boussaque and the Tunnel de Boussaque. That tunnel runs from a portal facing Bargemon at 43 ° 35 ’49 “N, 6 ° 32′ 49” E to a Western portal close to Callas at 43 ° 35 ’46 “N, 6 ° 32′ 39” E, a distance of 212 metres. The tunnel is closed.

Callas Station has been demolished to make way for development. It location is indicated by the green ellipse. There is now a clinic on the site. The line immediately crosses the Bargemon Road and the enters Callas Tunnel, marked by the dotted black line and the arrowheads on the plan.

Callas Tunnel (43° 35′ 40″ N, 6° 32′ 16″ E, 43° 35′ 33″ N, 6° 32′ 10″ E) is 258 metres long. The tunnel mouth above is the one facing Bargemon. The one below faces Draguignan and is deep in cutting and well hidden. Just beyond that tunnel mouth the route is crossed by a road bridge and the track bed breaks out into the open.

Leaving the village of Callas in the top right of the map above, the line followed the route of what is now Le Clos then Camp de Pontreves North and Camp Redon, going under another road bridge and then crossing another road at grade. The crossing keeper’s cottage remains.

The line continues through a rural area of mixed woods and farmland with occasional steep sided valleys along Les Venes and l’Etang, before encountering the D54. The route joins the D54 and heads South-Southeast through Figanieres Station where this part of our journey ends.

Seillans to Claviers

We set off from La Gare de Seillans heading West towards Draguignan. If we are used to weather in the UK, we are still surprised by just how blue the sky can be in Provence, and just how warm the sun can be.

In November 2018 a postcript has been added in the form of an additional post in this series :

Ligne de Central Var – Postcript – A short walk near Seillans (Chemins de Fer de Provence 28a)

It covers a very short length of the line which was explored on foot.

The route turns quickly to the South as can be seen in the map below. The formation is visible in the satellite images on Google Earth after crossing the D19. The route curves round to join the present D53 and in a short while leaves it on what is now called the Ancienne Voie Ferree de Claviers. For some way it travels alongside the D53 Route de Draguignan before branching off to the right to follow a more Southwesterly line. The road is otherwise known as Le Petelins.

One of the most enjoyable things about parts of the route of the Ligne de Central Var is that it is possible to follow them in a car. We did this over as much of the length of the route as we could in November 2017. Encountering the Viaduct du Rayol (43 ° 36 ’53 “N, 6 ° 38′ 19” E) was one of the special moments on that journey.

The Viaduct is topped by lime green railings which seems to set it off beautifully. It is 159 metres long. When the line was operational it was not easy to access this viaduct except by train which perhaps explains the difficulty I have had in finding old postcard views of the structure.

Beyond the viaduct, the line continued on through the forest to La Bastié and Les Clots de Meaulx, where there was a small Halt which can be seen in the first two pictures after the map below.

And then on towards a crossing of the D55 at the point where its name changes from La Plaine de la Serillere to La Cougnasse. After the road crossing tarmac gives way to the basic railway formation. There was a crossing keepers cottage here which is now well hidden by hedging but which can be seen in the satellite view below.

The line took a tight curve from travelling in a South-Southeast direction to a Westerly direction travelling South of the D55 (this can be seen on the map below) which went through a series of hairpin bends immediately adjacent to the road/rail crossing. The line continued towards Draguignan and entered the Tunnel Font du Roure which appears on the map below. I could find no photographs of the tunnel portals and neither is accessible by vehicle.

Beyond the tunnel the line passed to the North side of Les Giniestieres running adjacent to the D55 on its South side for the run into Calviers, returning to a tarmac formation along this route.

The track bed can just be picked out between the trees on the South side of the D55. Google Street view comes to the rescue as we passed this point too quickly in the car to pick out the alignment of the railway on the ground on November 2017.

The village of Claviers sits over the line and it passes under the village in tunnel. The Tunnel de Claviers is still in use as a road tunnel, it is just 51 metres long. The portal at the South East end is above and the North West portal below. Immediately beyond the tunnel the line entered Claviers Station. Here we rest a while as we have completed the 8th section of out journey.

Tanneron to Seillans

We continue our journey from Tanneron Station in the middle of the forest close to the Lac de St. Cassien but 11 kilometres from the town whose name it bears. In fact, much, much closer to Tournon. This station became the eastern terminus of the line after the closure of the length from here east to La Manda in 1944. Some bridges to the east of Tanneron were destroyed by a German commado unit at the time of the Liberation. Tanneron remained the eastern terminus of the line until full closure in 1950.

We head towards Montauroux. The line at first follows roughly the same route as the D562 Initially immediately next to the road and then the formation diverts away, first to around 20 metres to the South of the road and then increasingly further away in the forest.

In time, the route of the line crossed the D562. The crossing keeper’s cottage is shown here. Once the road was crossed the line diverged from the D562 along the Avenue de Narbonne. Although some sources and maps show the route following the D562 along the south-side of Montauroux, this cannot be correct as the old Montauroux station building still stands and is acting as the main building of a campsite. The correct route is shown on the maps below. The red line on the maps shows the route followed by the line through what are now the suburbs of Montauroux, but which were farmland when the line was operational. The green area on the map is the campsite.

In November 2018, my wife and I had the opportunity to follow the line of the route along the D562 and the Avenue de Narbonne by car. In doing so we were able to establish beyond doubt that the railway line ran along the route of the Avenue de Narbonne. The photographs immediate below show the remnants of the abutments of a small accommodation bridge carrying the line over a small local road.We also enjoyed a visit to Montauroux and were able to appreciate just why the station was so far from the village. Montauroux sits many metres above the valley floor and is a delightful perched village.The view into the valley from Monauroux village square.

The station building is shown from a couple of different angles below the postcard .

Beyond the station, the line continued in a Westerly direction and has to be carefully picked out on maps. On the map below the identifiable route is again in red with the marker placed at the next station, that of Callian. Montauroux Station is on the red line in the bottom right of the map.. The route follows a series of roads and green lanes and crosses inaccessible private land as well. Roads which are on the alignment include the Impasse de La Gare in Montauroux and the Chemin de Gimbrette. The route then can be seen on the north side of the Chemin Crottons and Callian Station can be picked out in the top left corner of the second plan view of second satellite image below.

West of Callian Station the line ran just North of the present Chemin de la Fontaine and then alongbChemin de Beauregard (D256) to rejoin the D562 for a short distance and then the modern D19 (Rue Tassy, Tourrettes, Var, then Rue Guiandonne, then Route De l’Aerodrome, then Avenue Saint-Christophe). The route of the railway leaves the side of the D19 at a building which is called Le Bar de Gare to follow the Ancienne Voie Ferree alongside the old station building in Fayence.

Beyond the station the line follows the modern road Le Pavillion which becomes Le Pont, then Le Serre, then Le Fraisse, then Cauvet, then Castellaras (Ancienne Voie Ferree) and Adrech du Peyron. After this the route rejoins the D19, running immediately alongside it to the North along the continuance of Adrech du Peyron, close to the hamlet of Le Peyron.

Ardech du Peyron becomes Hubac du Peyron as the route of the line turns gradually away to the north of the D19 and then curves round in a large arc from roughly north to approximately west southwest and approaching Seillans Station and the end of this section of our journey.

Peymeinade to Tanneron

In the postcard view of Peymeinade above, the line from Grasse came in at the bottom right of the picture along the side road which joins the main road just above the web address. The location of the station cannot be picked out as it is behind the trees which show up as dark green in the bottom right quadrant of the picture. The line then travelled across the picture from right to left in front of the first taller building and then behind the second slightly less tall higher building. Its route can then be seen on the left of the picture following the tighter road curve around the bluff and then away into the far distance.

Trains left Peymeinade Station travelling in a Southwesterly direction along what is now Avenue du Dr Belletrud, before swinging  West and then South following the contours. The route followed fist Avenue du Dr Belletrud, then Avenue des Baumettes, then Chemin du Flaquier Sud, then Chemin de la ZA (by now travelling approximately Westwards). It is possible to follow this length of the route on foot but not in a car. Tarmac gives way to gravel or ballast and then to the track formation.

The line runs for over a kilometre through the forest before reaching the Tunnel des Planasteaux, a 535 m long tunnel under the hamlet of Les Planasteaux close to Le Tignet.

The East portal, marked with a red dot on the plan above, can be reached on foot ore in a 4×4.

The West portal, marked with a green dot on the map, has been overwhelmed by vegetation! It is marked with a green arrow on the picture below.

The tunnel has reasonable access from the East because out is used as a mushroom farm. This is the second tunnel on the route that has been used in this way. In 2009, the Commune of Le Tignet organised a walk which included a visit to the farm. The walk organiser commented: “The afternoon was spent visiting the Champignonnière of Mr. Christian Boselli.The latter presented his farm which is located in the tunnel of the old railway line which connected Nice to Draguignan. It was with great kindness that he commented on the visit both technically and historically.”

Trains left the West portal of the tunnel in deep cutting and traversed the wooded hillside on the South-East side of Le Vallon de Sant Pierre and approaching the boundary of the Alpes Maritimes with ran a!ong the River Siagne.

The line crossed La Siagne and then travelled in a Southwesterly direct for another kilometre before reaching an accessible point.

The viaduct which took the line across the valley has all but disappeared, just the abutments remain. It was an impressive metal structure (43° 37′ 10.18″ N    6° 50′ 7.15″ E) which was destroyed in 1944.

This viaduct is not to be confused with the SNCF viaduct of the same name down near the coast. If you are interested in the details of that viaduct, please follow this link to download a .PDF of proposals to alter it: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sncf-reseau.fr/sites/default/files/upload/pl_viaduc_siagne_v2.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwiyvbPdpu3XAhUJCsAKHf8ZBBoQFgjLATAU&usg=AOvVaw37EPld2nI89HogD60xDE2d.

Travelling on a train would negotiate it way through the forest in  southwesterly direction some distance north of Lac de St. Cassian and then turns northwest towards Montauroux.

There are no points where the route can be accessed by car until it reaches the D94 close to its junction with the D562.

This is the old station for the village of Tanneron (11 kilometres from the line) and is the end of this short part of our journey on the Ligne de Central Var.

As a short PostScript: in November 2018 my wife and I drove the length of the D94 from the village of Tanneron to its station. It seemed a long way by car, it must have felt an eternity on foot or by cart. Our own pictures of the village and station appear at the end of this post (below).

Other sections of the line to the East of Tanerron can be found at the following links:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/20/ligne-de-central-var-part-1

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/ligne-de-central-var-part-2-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-14

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/ligne-de-central-var-part-3-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-18

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/ligne-de-central-var-part-4-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-19

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/ligne-de-central…r-de-provence-25.

Pictures

The view from the village of Tanneron towards the coast at Cannes.The church of Notre Dame de Peygros at Tanneron – a short climb from the village.Tanneron railway station building on 15th November 2018.

Grasse to Peymeinade

We have spent quite a bit of time in and around Grasse. Most recently in these posts we have travelled down to the coast and if you chose to watch the videos at the end of post 24 in this series of blogs you really will have enjoyed the cab-ride to Cannes.

We start the next stage of the journey along the Chemin de Fer du Sud from Grasse Gare du Sud which is in the centre of the map of Grasse from 1930 above. It will be some time before we get to Meyrargues but here is the ticket we need for the journey. Actually for the return leg of the journey, but it was the best I could find!

Leaving the station, the line immediately went into a short tunnel under what was then Avenue de la Gare (and which meandered down from Grasse town centre to the PLM station) and is now called Avenue Pierre Semard.

The tunnel now carries traffic on Avenue de Provence in a westerly direction.These next two pictures show the two tunnel portals …

The route of the line lays underneath the modern Avenue de Provence. There is a short section in the city where the old road is a little higher than the rout of the line and carried by arches alongside what would have been the tracks of the railway.

The railway then travelled under the Avenue Sidi Brahim and over Avenue Henri Dunant onto what is now Avenue Frédéric Mistral.

Avenue Frédéric Mistral follows the old line through the Southwestern suburbs of Grasse and eventually becomes Boulevard Louis Icard as the old line turned in a Northwestely direction under an old accommodation bridge.

Soon after this the high retaining walls alongside the line gave way to a Viaduct – the Viaduct of the Pouiraque and then another small bridge which both carried the line over the meandering Canal de Siagne.

The line then followed the contours along Boulevard Louis Icard  before reaching the wooded valley of Les Ribes which was spanned by the Viaduct de Les Ribes (43 ° 38 ‘51.7 “N, 6 ° 54’ 12.4” E) which was made up of two 60 metre metal truss girder spans.

The only picture I have been able to find of this viaduct is the adjacent one, which shows the central pier after removal of the metal truss girders. Today, the Boulevard Louis Icard terminates short of the Viaduct. We have to divert onto the Route de Draguignan (D2562) to travel round the head of the valley.

We find the route again, now under the Chemin de Peymeinade. In the small picture on the right trains would have come off the Viaduc de les Ribes just to the right of the chevron sign and wheely-bin!

242T66 on Passions Metrique (http://www.passion-metrique.net/forums) comments that Les Ribes viaduct was not damaged during the war but was dismantled after the line had been closed. The scrap merchant who was recovering the rails thought it would be better to retain the viaduct for further use and offered to sell it to the town of Grasse at the same scrap value he had bought it. But the mayor was not interested. So the metal girders were dismantled and the potential right of way severed for ever….

Another accommodation bridge was soon encountered. This time a stone arch bridge with the line in a deep retaining wall lined cutting. This was quickly followed by another stone arch bridge (below), this time carrying what is now the Chemin des Aubépines.

The line follows Chemin de Peymeinade and then Avenue de l’Amiral de Grasse towards Peymeinade. That road meets the D2562 at the point shown on the adjacent picture. The route of the railway In Peymeinade has all but been obliterated by development. In this picture the route heads off under the building in the centre middle distance.

In the plan view, the line arrives in Peymeinade at the bottom left. The station was towards the top of picture just to the right of centre. The only remaining vestige of the station is now the Office de Tourisme for the town.

The station house is the Tourism Office.

In the next post we will head on towards Draguignan.

The line between Grasse and Cannes was opened in 1871 by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM). For a time, from 1910 to 1914 it served as an experimental route for 12kV/25Hz single-phase electrification. The line remained open to passangers until 1938. It was reopened for military wartime traffic in the early 1940s and after the war closed once again.

It was partially re-opened in 1978, between Cannes-la-Bocca and Ranguin. The passenger service lasted until 1995. Ten years later, in 2005, the line was reopened to traffic, this time along its full length and using a 25kV/50Hz power supply. Some goods traffic uses the line between Cannes and Ranguin.

More recently the service has been halted for a year to allow line improvements. The line will re-open with double the capacity on 10th December 2017.

The first photo below shows Grasse PLM station just before the First World War. The locomotive  in the picture is N ° 1231 built in 1856 by the workshops of the PLM in Nîmes and so already more than 50 years old!

The pictures here give idea of the station and its environment. It was served by a funicular and by a tramway as well as normal road vehicles. It sat about 110 metres below the centre of Grasses and its Cathedral.

The railway left Grasse station in an Easterly direction and ran parallel to the Chemin de Fer du Sud a little lower down the profile of the hillside. When the Chemin de Fer du Sud turned northward, the Cannes line continued in an Easterly direction for a time.

It then turned south towards Mouans-Sartoux. The present track can be seen from the Route de Saint-Mathieu as below. The first image looks back along the line towards Grasse, the second towards Mouans-Sartoux from the same point.

The route travels at relatively light grades down the towards Cannes. On the plan view from Google Earth, the point at which the two pictures are taken is in the North West corner. The line can be seen diverting southwards and following the Canal de la Siagne. After a while the line passed the Chateau de Mouans and arrived at the station of Mouans-Sartoux.

After Mouans-Sartoux, the line continued in a Southerly direction passing through Ranguin, La Frayere, Le Bosquet and Cannes-La-Bocca before running along that main coastal line into Cannes.

We finish this post with a good number of pictures taken on the line from Grasse to Cannes, and after the last of these some video bonuses!

Finally the video bonuses …….

https://youtu.be/Aqtpk6jpR90

https://youtu.be/9G_wyai3oVg

Grasse had, for a time, a funicular railway which transported passengers to and from the PLM railway station below the town . The higher station was at La Cours close to the old town of Grasse. For a great del of its life it competed with the TAM trams which meandered up and down the hill between La Cours and Grasse PLM station.

Details of all the other lines in Grasse can be found by following this link:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/the-tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer-part-2-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-21.

The funicular railway station was at the West end of the platform of the Grasse to Cannes railway run by the PLM. It was easier for passengers to access than the trams which started on the station concourse and this, together with the shorter travel time led eventually to the funicular outlasting the tram service.

The funicular was commissioned in 1909 but only lasted until 1938 when it was dismantled.

The Grasse train station was put back into service in 2005. Since then, the idea of ​​the funicular has been under development with the aim of improving access to Grasse from the train station.

Before looking at the new proposal , we can enjoy a number of old postcard pictures of the original funicular in operation.

As we have noted, Grasse has seen a need to commission a new funicular and has been developing plans since 2005.

http://aeiagence.com/projet/funiculaires-de-grasse

https://www.systra.com/en-project/the-grasse-funicular

The project has yet to see the light of day. If it does proceed then it will have 4 stations within an overall length of 570 metres and passengers will be carried up a total of  110 metres with an average incline of 20 % . The funicular will consist of two trains, each composed of two vehicles, connected by cable.

The implementation was entrusted on 12th August 2010 to a consortium of companies: DV Construction (a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction group ), Garelli , Poma, Miraglia, Snaf, Systra , Pierre Lorin and AEI. The project is likely to cost at least 40 million euros. The French State  has agreed to paying 5.5 million euros as part of the development of public transport projects under the Grenelle de l’Environnement. The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region will subsidise the project with an amount of 4 million euros.

The costs are at least:

30 million euros for design and implementation;
4.5 million for intellectual services and engineering;
4 million for land acquisitions!
1.5 million for contingencies.

For supporting information please see reference 2.

References

1. Funiculaire-de-Grasse; Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funiculaire_de_Grasse, accessed 18th December 2017.
2. Subsidy of 5.5 million for the funicular of Grasse; observatoiredessubventions.com 2013 (accessed 23rd September 2013).

We start the journey on the tram from Grasse PLM Railway Station.  The map below shows the different tramways in Grasse and the route of the PLM line from Cannes.

The blue line on the map is the route of the Chemin de Fer du Sud. Its station was located on what is now the Avenue de Provence to the East of the tunnel at location 2.

Point 7 on the map is the lower funicular station and the station on the PLM line. Point 6 is the lowest point on the TAM tramline within the town and the pink line rises through the town to Point 8 which is the La Cours and which is close to the old town of Grasse. Here there is an intersection between the funicular the TAM tramway via Pre-du-Lac to Cagens-sur-Mer (in light green) and the TCA tramway to Cannes [1] which is shown in darker green.

Grasse Town Centre Tramways and Railways.

You can find the story of the Grasse to Cannes Tramway on this link:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer–part-2-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-22

Within Grasse, the TAM tramway ran from close to the Gare PLM (pictures below) up Avenue Pierre Semard round a tight hairpin bend and continued up hill to meet the line of the Chemin de Far du Sud (now Avenue de Provence). There was a short spur of the main route to allow some tram services to terminate at the Gare du Sud.

The Gare PLM  platform ran from the station building along to the funicular station which is also shown on the pictures above.

The Gare du Sud has been demolished to make way for a modern apartment block, the Gare PLM remains although the station building is no longer the main focus of the station. There is a modern building at the end of the railway tracks as shown above.

After leaving the Gare du Sud the tramway continued to climb up through the town of Grasse along Avenue Pierre Semard and then turning tightly onto Boulevard Carnot, then tightly again to the left onto Boulevard Fragonard and winding its way up to La Cours.

At La Cours it would have been usual to disembark the tram which had brought you up from the town and to chose either to board a tram on the TAC to Cannes or the TAM to Cagnes-sur-Mer or Le Bar-sur-Loup.

Aboard a TAM tram for Cagnes or Bar-sur-Loup  you would have set off Eastwards on La Cours and then Route Napoleon and along the streets of the old town of Grasse before turning  approximately north-eastwards and heading along Avenue Thiers and then east along Avenue Victoria following the modern D2085 road out of Grasse which becomes Avenue Francis de Croisset, Avenue Pierre Ziller and Avenue Auguste Renoir. By the time the tramway rached the Route de Nice it had crossed over the line of the Ligne du Sud which had been travelling parallel to it about 100 metres further south down the hillside. At the point where their routes crossed the Ligne du Sud was in tunnel under Chateauneuf.

Leaving Chateauneuf the tramway followed the D2805 Route de Nice to Le Colombier and at a point where the D2805 turned northwards at Le Colombier, the tramway continued in a south-easterly direction. Its route is now called the Chemin du Tramway.

The route is marked in yellow on the larger map and shows that rather than following the contours the line was dropping down towards Les Sept-Fonds. Details of the viaduct at Le Sept-Fonds can be found by following this link: https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/the-tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-20.

The line continued on a downward grade rejoining the line of the modern D2805 and curving northwards before reaching the Viaduct de Cloteirol (the Pont des Vignes). At this next viaduct the tramway took a sharp turn through 90 degrees. This combination of a very tight curve and a steep grade led to the worst disaster on the tramway network on the Copte d’Azur. The story is told on the previous post in this series (https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/the-tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-20).

The remains of the Viaduct can just be picked out in the adjacent Google Earth screenshot.

After the Viaduc des Vignes the line followed the Modern D2805 again in a predominantly easterly direction towards Villeneuve-Loubet. It crossed the River Cannes on the West side of the town over a bridge which has been widened and replaced and which carries the Avenue de la Liberation into Villeneuve. The tramway ran along the Avenue de la Liberation through Villeneuve and on through a short tunnel to meet the Vence to Cagnes tramway, details of the remaining journey into Cagne-sur- Mer can be found on the post about the line from Vence:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/25/tramway-between-vence-and-cagne-sur-mer-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-17.

The branch line to Le Bar sur Loup

At Pre du Lac a short 3 kilometre spur ran to Le-Bar-sur-Loup. It left the main line to follow the Route du Bar. The spur followed this road which ran along the hillside only a short distance above the Ligne du Sud until it entered the Commune of Le-Bar-sur-Loup. At that point the road became the Route de Grasse and the tramway continued to follow it round the head of the Vallon de Riou and on into Le-Bar-sur-Loup.

And finally …..

A few older postcard images of the line.

Ligne Cagnes-Grasse

Notes

1. Colleagues and friends on the Forum ‘Forum-train.fr’ have very helpfully highlighted the fact that the tramway between Grasse and Cannes was neither part of the TAM nor of the TNL. It was, in fact, independently owned by the TCA – Compagnie des Tramways électriques de la Côte d’Azur. After the bankruptcy of this company in 1923, the line was briefly taken on by the CTC – Cie des Tramways de Cannes, until its closure in 1926. (Please see http://www.forum-train.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?p=313159#p313159, page 1.) 242T66 very kindly provides a link to an addition photograph which comes from the collection of AMTUIR.[2] A copy of that excellent postcard photograph can be found below:

2. Photograph from the AMTUIR Collection; http://www.amtuir.org/03_htu_cp/03_reseau_france_cp/cannes_tca_cp/images/06_GRASSE_TRAM.htm, accessed 21st March 2018.

Trams ran on this route from 16th August 1915 to 1st  October 1926  after which the service was replaced by road vehicles.

The city of Grasse once had four rail links, including the Tramway de Côte d’Azur (TCA), which connected it to Cannes.

From 1902-1903, studies were undertaken about making a connection from Cannes to Grasse using steam trams. But opposition and administrative complications prevented the project from proceeding and it was not until 1909 that work began on an electric tramway.

The metre-gauge track was 18 km long. It started from the Albert-Edouard platform, in front of the Casino de Cannes and crossed the Avenue Felix Faure, going up what later became Rue de Marshal Joffre, then along Le Route de Grasse. It crossed Baraques de Mougins then Mouans-Sartoux.

The route then climbs a steep gradient up to Grasse, travelling along Boulevard Collet and Boulevard Victor Hugo. The terminus was at the entrance to the Cours de Grasse. In some places, the gradient reaches 60 mm/metre.

The construction of the line began in 1910. It encountered difficulties in construction because of the steep gradient and some technical problems. The formal commissioning did not get scheduled until Autumn 1914, and that date had to be move back due to the onset of the Great War. The commissioning only took place on 16th August 1915.

The rolling stock was made up of six central-platform engines – delivered from August 1915 to August 1919, modeled on the GGO’s G-cars. They were considered to be very modern in comparison to the cars onnthe Cannes network.. They were 11.50 m long and weighed 14 tonnes. The traction and braking equipment included two 50 hp engines that allow 4 rheostatic braking and an air brake. 7 open trailers completed the rolling stock.

The steep gradient of the line meant that accidents were frequent. The rolling stock was not well-maintained. A suicide on 9th July 1919 using the electrical overhead wiring did not help the reputation of the line and caused serious damage to the electrical power plant.

In the face of repeated accidents, speed limits were placed on the line. Sadly when the line opened it did so without any spare parts and as a result the service was ultimately, in 1920, limited  to just one tram-train per day. Regular services were interrupted by an irregular electricity supply.

On 6th January 1922, the line was sporadically put into service but the TCA was soon declared bankrupt. Occasional attempts were made to resurrect the line but on 1st October 1926 the last tram ran between Cannes and Grasses and the tracks were removed by 13th May 1933.

The route ran along the GC 34 from Cannes to Grasse on the left shoulder of the road all along its length with the exception of the underpass under the PLM track at Mouans-Sartoux where there was a depot. The following are a few images to follow which show different facets of the line.