This line was about 27km long. It was commissioned in 1906 but not finished until 29th July 1923. Commissioning of the line was delayed as a result of a series of landslides on the line to Daluis further north.  The line closed again only a month after opening because of an accident and finally re-opened in July 1924.

There were two daily trains in each direction. The course lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Pont Charles-Albert on the Var was the eastern extremity of the line and provided for connection to the Nice-Digne main line. The picture below is of the original bridge which had to be rebuilt as it was not suitable for the tramway.

In the Village of Gilette the tramway followed the main street (la Rue de la Fontaine).

The tramway passed close to or through other villages on the route before reaching Roquestéron, the terminus.

By the late 1920s the line was suffering low revenue and making a loss. The last tram travelled on 29th April 1929 and the line was decommissioned and track was removed the following year.

References:

• http://marc-andre-dubout.org/cf/baguenaude/esteron/esteron.htm
• “Nice to Chamonix secondary networks of French alps” – Jean Robert – G. Time (Montreuil) – 1961
• “Stations of the Côte d’Azur and the High Country Alpes-Maritimes” – Marie – Equinoxe – 2008
• “Trams Alpes Maritimes” – Delaveau – MTVS – No. 46-1988
• “The secondary railways in the Alpes-Maritimes” – Riffaud – MTVS – 1978
• ” Tramways of the Maritime Alps (TAM) and South-France “ – Magazine of Railways Regional and Urban – n ° 146-1978.
• ” Tramways of the Maritime Alps (TAM) and South France – Supplements “- Magazine of Railways Regional and Urban – n ° 150-1978.

The Tinée Valley – Pont de la Mescla to St Sauveur-de-Tinée

This line was 26.5 Km long and connect villages in the Tinée velley to Nice to Digne line of the Chemins de Fer du Sud which became the Chemins de Fer de Provence.

Like other lines of the Tramways Alpes Maritimes (TAM), the electric current was single phase. The civil engineering works (bridges, tunnels) were executed by the Department.

The line was built in 1911 and operation started on 1st April 1912. Landslides affected the operation of the line in the early months. The original opening was delayed from January to April because of landslides and on 2nd April a further landslide affected several hundred metres of track and destroyed power lines.

The line operated until July 1931.

There were three trains in each direction and the journey along the line took 2 hours and 5 minutes. Between Tinée (SF) and St Sauveur the line climbed 333 metres or about 1000 feet. As well as passenger trains, two freight trains would traverse the line, one in each way. These took about 2 hours and 50 minutes to travel the length of the line.

There are some pictures below.

References:

http://marc-andre-dubout.org/cf/baguenaude/tinee/tinee.htm
“De Nice à Chamonix les réseaux secondaires des alpes françaises” – Jean Robert – G. Fuseau (Montreuil) – 1961.
“Gares de la Côte d’Azur et du Haut-Pays Alpes-Maritimes” – Marie – Equinoxe – 2008.
“Les tramways des Alpes Maritimes” – Delaveau – MTVS – n°46 – 1988.
“Les voies ferrées secondaires des Alpes-Maritimes”- Riffaud – MTVS – 1978.
“Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France” – Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains – n° 146 – 1978.
“Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France – Compléments” – Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains – n° 150 – 1978.
Wikipedia

This line travelled from the Chemins de Fer de Provence station at Plan-du-Var for 24 km to St. Martin-Vésubie. It was a branch-line of that network. It branched from the main-line after the Vésubie and followed the river bank. It was opened on 1st September 1909 and reached Roquebillière as late as 24th November 1926 before being extended to St Martin-Vésubie. Operations stopped very quickly after that, in 1928.

The route ran past Duranus and Utelle before going through St. Jean-de-la Riviere and on to Lantosque and Roquebillière, before finally reaching St. Martin-Vésubie.

Trams provided the regular service which was twice daily in each direction.

Theses pictures are nearly all old postcards. They are a selection of available images which can be followed up in the references below.

The small terminus at St. Martin-Vésubie was below the town. In the modern picture, buses have replaced the tram but the passenger building is still standing and well restored. The station had limited facilites but these did included goods depots, a lamp room and a small shop.

References:

http://marc-andre-dubout.org/cf/baguenaude/vesubie/vesubie.htm

“Nice to Chamonix secondary networks of French alps” – Jean Robert – G. Time (Montreuil) – 1961

“Stations of the Côte d’Azur and the High Country Alpes-Maritimes” – Marie – Equinoxe – 2008
“Trams Alpes Maritimes” – Delaveau – MTVS – No. 46-1988
“The secondary railways in the Alpes-Maritimes” – Riffaud – MTVS – 1978
” Tramways of the Maritime Alps (TAM) and South-France ” – Magazine of Railways Regional and Urban – n ° 146-1978.
” Tramways of the Maritime Alps (TAM) and South France – Supplements “- Magazine of Railways Regional and Urban – n ° 150-1978.
Wikipedia

Tramway de Nice et du Littoral

The Tramway de Nice et du Littoral was a network of trams which served Nice and the communes of the department of the Alpes Maritimes between 1878 and 1953. These notes have been culled and translated from the French Wikipedia site as noted in the references below.

The Paris Financial Corporation , together with the Society of Public Works and Buildings constructed a network of horse tramways in Nice which was finished in February 1878 and started service on 3^rd March that year.

The network comprised four lines: Place Massena – Pont Magnan; Place Massena – Abbatoirs; Place Massena – Saint Maurice; Pont Magnan – Sainte Helena. These were single track lines of standard gauge (1440 mm).

The network was leased to the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Marseille, on 4^th September 1879. And after that company failed the ‘Société nouvelle des Tramways de Nice (SNTN) took over running the system in 1887.

In addition, in 1895, Compagnie Anonyme des Tramways Électriques de Nice-Cimiez was awarded a concession for a tram line between the Rue de l’Hôtel des Postes and Cimiez zoo. That line was built to a gauge of 600mm and used electric traction batteries because of its difficult route. It was commissioned on 24^th November, 1895.

 Place Massena was at the centre of the network and the other two photos show trams on Le Rue de la Gare

La Compagnie des Tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL)

This company was created to replace the old “Société nouvelle des Tramways de Nice”, on 16th September, 1897. Its purpose was to: create a network along the Cote D’Azur from Cagnes to Menton , with a branch to the port of Nice and to Contes; it was to electrify the urban network to resume operation to Cimiez which had lapsed.

The lines opened in the following order: Nice – Cimiez , 13th January, 1900; Place Massena – Villefranche-sur-Mer, on 1st February 1900;, Nice – Saint Laurent du Var, 7th February, 1900; Port – Saint Maurice, 12th February 1900;c Nice – Cagnes, 14th March 1900; Nice – Contes, 2nd June, 1900; Nice – Beaulieu, 3rd June, 1900; Magnan – Saluzzo, 3rd November, 1902; and Gambetta – Massena (via Avenue Joseph Garnier), also on 3rd November 1902.

The network centred on the Place Massena where most lines converged. All the lines were electrified by underground gutter and a fleet of 100 trams was used.

Compagnie des Tramways de Monaco

The Compagnie des Tramways de Monaco was founded in 1897 by entrepreneur Mr. Crovetto Monaco. He obtained the concessions on these lines: Place d’Armes – Saint Roman, opened May 14, 1898; Gare de Monaco – Government Square, opened March 11, 1899; Casino – Gare de Monte-Carlo, opened May 3, 1900.

In 1900, the network was linked to the LNP (Line Nice – Monte Carlo). In then in 1908, the company was absorbed by the company TNL. However,by 1931 trams had disappeared completely from the principality.

La ligne de Monaco et Menton

This line connects Nice, Villefranche, Beaulieu, Monaco and Monte Carlo by a linee along the Basse Corniche. It opened on 7th November 1903. An extension from Monaco to Menton Opened on 20th December, 1903. The line connected with with the network of urban tramways in Monaco.

Extensions

Extensions were built over time, either to the departmental network or the urban network.

Departmental network

The departmental tram network comprised 14 lines to be built, assigned to the LNP or to the Chemins de Fer du Sud . The latter through its subsidiary: Les Tramways des Alpes-Maritimes (TAM).

The LNP obtained the concession of the following lines: Le Pont-de-Saint-Jean (commune de A further route – La Grave de Peille – L’Escarène –  was never built.Villefranche-sur-Mer ) – Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which opened on 7th December 1907; Nice – Levens , opened 15th June, 1908; Cagnes – Antibes and Cap d’Antibes, opened on 1st February, 1909; Contes – Bendejun , opened on 1st February, 1909; Pont de Peille – La Grave de Peille, opened in 1911; Menton – Sospel: Menton – Villa Caserta, opened in October, 1911 and Villa Caserta – Sospel, opened in April, 1912.

The tram to Antibes linked with the network of trams in Cannes.

Urban network

Magnan – La Madeleine , 27 April 1908

Line from Menton to Sospel

This line from Menton to Sospel is open April 15, 1912, as part of the construction of the departmental network. Its length is 18 km. It marks the end of the extension of the LNP. See http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramway_de_Menton_à_Sospel for more information.

The apogee of the tram network

The growth of the population of Nice and the surrounding towns and villages led to a rapid development of the network. In 1930, the LNP network consisted of 144 km of track, and had a fleet of 183 drive trams and 96 trailers.

Developments and end of the network

However, very soon the tramways suffered strong competition from road vehicles and by 1934 the coastal routes and the suburban network, including the routes to the various villages and communes had entirely disappeared. The municipality also gradually closed the urban lines, so that by 1939 there were only four lines left: Line 3: Abattoirs – La Madeleine Trinity Victor; Line 9: Port – Saint Augustine; Line 22: Gare PLM – Carras; Line 35: Rue Hôtel des Postes – Cimiez.

During the Second World War, two lines were reopened as all buses were requisitioned: Line 6: Passage à niveau – Pasteur; Line 7: Passage à niveau – Riquier. The tramways to Contes and  La Grave de Peille also reopened.

At this time the network had 48 drive trams and 22 trailers (some additional drive vehicles were also built in 1942).

After the Second World War, the trams were replaced by trolleybuses and the last tram ran on 10th January 1953.

 References

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramway_de_Nice_et_du_Littoral

“Les tramway de Nice et du Littoral,” Connaissance du Rail , No. 320-321,‎ mars 2008

Jean Robert, Nice to Chamonix Secondary networks Alpes-Maritimes, Montreuil. Impr. Time, 1961, p101.

Trams in the Valleys

After annexing Nice, the French authorities continued to develop the infrastructure in the County of Nice. The coastline was already provided with good road and rail infrastructure. The hinterland and mountains were difficult to access. To open up the villages, the administration implemented the plans established by the Sardinian engineers before annexation.

Many roads used to connect to different villages around Nice could only be traversed with great care and travel times were long. For example: St Martin Lantosque (now St Martin Vésubie) was 10 hours from Nice in 1876 and even with the help of the Digne train in 1894, the journey still took 7½ hours.

It was decided on 10th February 1906 that tramways would serve four valleys:

– The valleys Vésubie 34 km from Plan du Var to St Martin

– Valley Tinée 24 km from Mescla to St Saviour

– Valley Estéron 29 km from Pont Charles Albert to Roquestéron

– High Var valley 19 km from  le Pont du Gueydan to Guillaume

The Tram was the economic solution existing dirt roads could accommodate rails but a number of civil enginering structures would be needed. Work began in 1907 on the Vésubie line. It took two years to complete and finally in September 1909 the line came into service. The power system was not complete so the company had to use steam locomotives. This solution resulted in a number of accidents and regular derailments disrupted traffic. Following these incidents, the government implement a series of works to realign and accelerate the implementation of the power supply. Line started regular electrical operation in October 1910.

Line along the Tinée connecting Mescla to St Saviour opened in April 1912. Then the 1st World War postponed the commissioning of lines to Guillaume and Roquesteron until 1923 and 1924.

For a while twice daily tram services carried passengers and goods on these lines. Farmers went to Nice to sell their products, see a doctor or settle their affairs, and tourists and lovers of alpine sports could access the mountains. Nice was served fresh produce direct from the mountains: milk, fruits and vegetables, wood, hay, etc …

In 1929, however, the competition from road transport forced a decision to close the tramways and the last service was closed in 1931.

References:

The content of this post has been translated from http://www.mangiapan.net/page.php?id_sujet=38, with some amendments.