Tag Archives: standard-gauge

Christmas 2025 Book Reviews No. 2 – Anthony Burton …

2. The Locomotive Pioneers

Anthony Burton’s book published by Pen & Sword is a little older, dating from 2017.

His book comes out of a series of different initiatives that he was involved in as a television journalist and author, such as:

The Past at Work – a series about the remains left from the Industrial Revolution up to 1825 which included two railways (the Middleton Railway and the Stockton & Darlington Railway);
The Rainhill Story – which followed the construction of the replicas of the three engines which took place in the original trials.
A biography of Richard Trevithick – which included seeing more replicas coming to life. He particularly notes a time when he “was invited onto the footplate of the replica of the 1803 engine at the Ironbridge Gorge Open Air Museum and was invited to drive, though, … [he] did nothing more than open and close the regulator but that made it none the less thrilling.” [2: Preface]

He says that these experiences “gave [him] a new appreciation of just how in entice the early engineers were, who has to devise these engines for themselves with no precedents to work on.” [2: Preface]

In his second chapter, Burton navigates us through the complex competitive relationship between Boulton & Watt and Trevithick which seems to have been driven by some very strong egos! He notes the way in which that dispute both strengthened and hampered the development of mobile steam engines on road and rail.

I particularly enjoyed a specific step in the history of steam on the move which Burton says is only sketchily documented – interesting to me as it relates to Coalbrookdale.

“In 1802, Trevithick went up to the famous Darby ironworks at Coalbrookdale to install one of his puffer engines. [5] The letter he wrote from there is remarkable in showing how far he had pushed high-pressure steam in a short time. One has to remember that Watt considered a pressure of 10psi to be more than adequate, but here he was describing an engine working up to 145psi. In a long letter describing the working of this engine he added this intriguing postscript: ‘The Dale Co. have begun a carriage at their own cost for the real-roads (sic) and is forcing it with all expedition.’ The railroad referred to would probably have been one of the tramways linking the works to a wharf on the Severn, along which goods would have been hauled down railed tracks by horses. Some commentators have suggested that the experimental railway locomotive was never built, but there is some evidence that it was completed. The man in charge at Coalbrookdale at that time was William Reynolds and his nephew, W.A. Reynolds, described being given ‘a beautifully executed wooden model of this locomotive’ when he was a boy. He broke it up to make a model of his own, ‘an act which I now repent of as if it had been a sin’. He also recalls the boiler being used as a water tank and seeing other parts of the engine in the yard at a nearby ironworks. A visitor to Coalbrookdale in 1884 also recorded being shown a cylinder, preserved as a relic of the locomotive. None of these relics have survived, but a drawing does exist, dated 1803, simply labelled as the ‘tram engine’, which shows a locomotive fitted with a 4.75-inch diameter cylinder with a 3-foot stroke. For a long time, this was thought to be a drawing for the 1804 engine …, but it now seems more likely to have been for the Coalbrookdale locomotive. So it seems more than probable that an engine was indeed built at Coalbrookdale and if so it can claim to be the world’s very first railway locomotive. The drawing was used as the basis for the replica that now runs at the Blists Hill Museum site.” [2: p14-15]

Burton goes on to follow Trevithick further endeavours, particularly the Penydarren locomotive (although the drawing he provided is unlikely to be a good representation of that locomotive given the height of the bore on a tunnel on the tramway which probably would not have accommodated either the flywheel or the chimney of the locomotive).

Ultimately Trevithick’s locomotive was not used for any significant length of time because it was too heavy for the cast iron L-playe rails use on the tramway in the Taff valley.

Burton notes that ” Trevithick’s importance in the development of the steam locomotive was played down after his death, largely because of the growing reputation of George Stephenson.” [2: p21-22]

Burton’s third chapter focussed on developments resulting from wars with France which significantly increased the price of fodder and resulted in much fewer horses available to operate coal tramways in Leeds and the Northeast of England. Burton takes his readers through the development of the use of Steam on the Middleton Railway and then the work of William Hedley and George Stephenson on industrial railways.

Chapter 4 focusses on the Stockton& Darlington Railway which Burton describes as “in effect, a colliery line that suffered from its predecessors only in the scale of its operations.” [2: p43]

Burton also describes how a breakdown in relationships with William Losh, with whom Stephenson shared a patent for a particular form of cast iron rail, resulting from Stephenson’s recommendation of the use of wrought iron to the Stockton and Darlington Railway board, meant that Stephenson could no longer rely on Losh to build locomotives for him. This, according to Burton, was a significant reason why George Stephenson, Edward Pease and Michael Longbridge decided to set up their own locomotive works. Supported by Pease and Longbridge, George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson set up their new works in Newcastle, the first in the world to focus primarily on the building of steam locomotives.

Burton concludes the fourth chapter with these words: “If the Stockton & Darlington was, [as] it is often said to be, a model for later developments, then it was certainly not one without many problems. It remained a hybrid with all the attendant difficulties. Having two companies running the passenger service was not a recipe for smooth working. The locomotives, restricted to moving heavy goods, were built more with the idea of hauling the heaviest loads than with any idea of speeding on their way, but at least the inclines, once initial difficulties had been sorted out, worked well. One other railway was approved in the same year as the Stockton & Darlington opened, the Canterbury & Whitstable, described in [its ] Act as ‘Railway or Tramroad’ … had a number of steep sections, worked by stationary engines, and only used locomotives on short sections. Overseas there were railways being constructed in both Austria, opened 1827, and France, 1828, but both still relied on horses to do the work. The case for the steam railway had not yet been conclusively argued.” [2: p54]

Chapter 5 covers the Rainhill Trials. The early pages of the chapter cover the difficulties that the Liverpool & Manchester Railway had in coming to an agreement over the king of propulsion to be used – stationary engines or travelling engines. Ultimately, the Company decided to undertake a locomotive trial at Rainhill.

A completion was determined to be the best way to proceed and advertisements were placed in the leading northern newspapers. Burton tells us that the conditions entrants had to meet, were exact. “The engine had to ‘effectively consume its own smoke’, which in practice meant that it would have to burn coke not coal. The engine could weigh up to six tons if carried on six wheels and up to four and a half tons on four wheels. The six-ton engine ‘must be capable of drawing after it, day by day, on a well-constructed Railway, on a level plane, a Train of Carriages of the gross weight of Twenty Tons, including the Tender and Water Tank, at the rate of Ten Miles per Hour, with a pressure of steam in the boiler not exceeding Fifty Pounds on the square inch’. The weight to be hauled was to be reduced proportionately with the weight of the locomotive. Other conditions included springing to support the boiler and two safety valves, one of which had to be out of the driver’s reach; the latter clause was a precaution against tampering and boiler explosions.” [2: p63]

Burton then talks his readers through the design and construction of what was to become known as ‘Rocket’. [2: p63-66]

On the first day of the trials Rocket and Sans Pareil made runs at the modest speed of 12 mph while pulling loads. Rocket, running light’ also made a demonstration run at between 15 and 25 mph. It was Novelty that “stole the show, dashing along at great speed and at one point reaching just over 30 mph.” [2: p69]

However, on the second day only one of the locomotive motives was able to complete the required ten double runs up and down the track – Rocket. Burton concludes: “It was as well that the Stephenson engine won as it was the one that contained all the elements that were to be crucial for later development: the multi-tube boiler and separate firebox, exhaust steam blast; and cylinders lowered from their former vertical position. Had Sans Pareil succeeded it could well have been selected if only because it was based on well-established practices and could have been thought more reliable than the rivals. But it was built by an engineer looking back over previous successes, not forward to new developments. Novelty would never have had the power for working a busy line. It was Rocket that proved that a railway really could be worked more efficiently by steam locomotives than by any other means then available. It was the future.” [2: p72]

Chapter 6 is entitled ‘Coming of Age’. Burton highlights two different reactions to the speed of the locomotives. One a nervous and terrified response, the other a sense of exhilaration. The directors of the line couldn’t but be nervous about how the line would be received. The locomotives to be used represented the pinnacle of engineering achievement. The line itself was still a mix of old and new. “Unlike the Stockton & Darlington, which had used a mixture of cast iron and wrought iron rails, Stephenson had this time settled for wrought iron fish bellied rails throughout, but mostly they were still mounted on stone blocks, even though there was no longer any intention to use horses for any part of the traffic. However on some sections, especially over Chat Moss, he had set his rails on transverse wooden sleepers. It was soon discovered that with the heavier, faster traffic of the new line, stone blocks were easily shifted out of place, while the wooden sleepers remained firm. Within seven years of the opening, the stone blocks had all been replaced by the new wooden sleepers that would become the norm for railway construction for many years to come. The changes to the track were important. With an improved permanent way, engineers could feel confident in building bigger, more powerful locomotives. The Liverpool & Manchester would show whether there was a real demand for this kind of transport.” [2: p76]

“It was soon evident that there was a real hunger for rail travel. Up until then, railways had been all about freight, with passenger transport as an afterthought. Now it was becoming obvious that the two types of rail transport were achieving something like parity, and engineers would have to plan accordingly.” [2: p78]

Robert Stephenson was already designing a new series of locomotives named after the first in the class, Planet. Burton goes on to describe the design principles for this new class which was a significant advance over the technology employed on Rocket. He also devotes a few pages to the working replica of Planet which was first steamed in 1992.

Other designers are also covered: Timothy Hackworth, Edward Bury, Foster & Rastrick, and Todd, Kitson & Laird.

Chapter 7 looks across the Atlantic and describes very early developments in the United States. [2: p86-97]

Chapter 8 looks first across the Channel, [2: p p98-105]first at the horse-powered line, the Saint-Etienne a Lyon Railway. Its chief engineer was Marc Seguin, who began experimenting with steam-power after his visit to the Stockton & Darlington Railway. He ordered two locomotives from the Stephenson works in Newcastle, one for testing, and one to work immediately on the line. It seems that Seguin was the first to use a multi-tubular boiler and that Robert Stephenson was the first to combine it with an efficient firebox. Burton tells us that after Seguin, french locomotive development was becalmed for a time.

Burton goes on to write about developments in Russia in which the Hackworth family were to play a part. In the 1830s railways spread to other countries in Europe: Belgium and Germany in 1835; Austria, 1838, the Netherlands and Italy, 1839.

Burton covers developments in Ireland in the same chapter. It entered the railway age with “three lines and three gauges. This meant that two of the three could not order ‘off the peg’ locomotives. … It also meant chaos once a joined-up system was developed. Eventually, a gauge commission was to agree on 5ft 3in as the Irish standard.” [2: p105]

Chapter 9 considers the UK broad gauge and is quite frank about the contradictions that were a part of the personality of the mercurial Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He particularly notes the way in which Brunel could be so exacting in his design of the permanent way yet so contrary in the way he specified locomotives to run on the broad gauge. His appointment of Daniel Gooch as Locomotive Superintendent at the age of 20 (just one week short of his 21st birthday) was an enlightened decision. Gooch was not frightened to challenge Brunel and was the saving of his Great Western Railway. Gooch went on to “design locomotives that would help secure the reputation of the Great Western and the reinterpretation of the initial GWR as God’s Wonderful Railway.” [2: p111-112]

Gooch brought a locomotive from Robert Stephenson’s works originally built for an overseas client at 5ft 6in-gauge Patentee Class locomotive. It was re-gauged to suit Brunel’s broad gauge and became the first successful locomotive on the broad gauge. It was named North Star. Its success encouraged Gooch to “develop the design into a Star class of locomotives. The first of the class, the 2-2-2 Fire Fly went into service in 1840. … On initial trials [it] was recorded as travelling at 58mph while pulling three vehicles. Over the years sixty-two locomotives of this class were built, doing sterling work and the last was retired as late as 1879.” [2: p112-113]

Replica of the Great Western Railway Gooch 7 foot gauge ‘Priam’ Class, or ‘Firefly’ Class 2-2-2 ‘Fire Fly’s, © Tony Hisgett and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [6]

Burton tells us though that the class was not without its problems. But that was not uncommon. “By 1840, there were some thirty works turning out locomotives and few arrived in a condition that allowed them to go straight into service without tinkering or more major adjustments, and servicing and repairs left much to be desired.” [2: p113]

Apparently, Gooch was to go on to develop a larger experimental locomotive, Great Western, with larger, 8ft diameter drive wheels which heralded a new class of which Iron Duke was the first. The class has much larger fireboxes and did not have the large dome of the Firefly class.

Burton tells us that as the GWR expanded westward past Exeter its route took it along the Devon coast through Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and across the edge of Dartmoor. That later length of line required three sections with heavy gradients. Dainton Bank was the most demanding with the steepest length at 1 in 38. There was well-proven technology to address this particular circumstance – cable-haulage by a stationary steam engine. Brunel chose a different option which had mixed success, in 1835 (a failure) and 1840 (a success).

Burton describes the 1840 experiment which was associated with the Birmingham, Bristol & Thames Junction Railway and based on an idea developed by Clegg and improved by Jacob and Joseph Samuda. Over a length of one and a quarter miles, a considerable load was moved using air pressure generated by a stationary steam engine. [2: p114]

Brunel was enthusiastic about the use of this technology (George Stephenson much less so). The technology was first applied on a branch of the Dublin & Kingstown Railway in Ireland, between Kingstown and Dalkley. The system was quite successful. The stationary steam engines created a vacuum behind a piston in a large pipe between the rails. The vacuum sucked the train forward. The system offered potential advantages like speed and efficiency and served for a decade before being replaced. [2: p114-115]

The system was also used in France, on 1.5km length of the Paris to St. Germain Railway which was on a gradient of 1 in 28. The system was technically successful, but the development of more powerful steam locomotives led to its abandonment from 3rd July 1860, when a steam locomotive ran throughout from Paris to Saint Germain. [7]

The London & Croydon Railway also employed the system. It was used on a third track beside the main line. It operated from January 1846 but was abandoned in May 1847.

The use of the system on the branch line in Ireland was enough to persuade Brunel to undertake a much more significant ‘trial’ on his line between Exeter and Newton Abbot. The line between Exeter and Teignmouth was operated as an Atmospheric Railway from September 1847 and to Newton Abbot from 2nd March 1848. Its operation presented problems from the start, with underpowered stationary engines, costly maintenance of leaky leather seals (damaged by tallow-seeking rats and weather), leading to its abandonment in September 1848. [2: p115-117]

Burton comments: “Brunel has been feted as Britain’s greatest engineer, but if he were to be judged purely on his contribution to railway technology it would be difficult to uphold the verdict. His genius can certainly be seen in the civil engineering, culminating in his bridge over the Tamar that brought rails from the rest of Britain to Cornwall. … However logical his decision to build to a broad gauge might have been, it ignored the needs of a national system that was already well under way. … Brunel’s instructions for constructing locomotives for the start of the Great Western were perverse and the atmospheric railway was a costly failure. Looked at solely as a locomotive pioneer, he eouldt be no more than a footnote in most reference books. He was, however, to move on to new worlds, when he famously declared that he saw no reason why the Great Western should stop at Bristol – why not go on to New York? His steamships represented a quite extraordinary achievement and opened up the world to steam navigation. In this he proved himself to be a true genius and worthy of his place in the engineering pantheon.” [2: p117]

Chapter 10 – Valve Gear: A short chapter covers developments in valve gear over the period examined by the book. The simple arrangement of a four-way cock letting steam in or out of the piston was displaced by a number of different inventions. Burton notes:

James Forrester’s 1834 introduction of a new type of valve gear, using two eccentrics on the driving axle, one for forward movement and the other for reverse. [2: p118 & p120]
John Gray’s patented ‘horse leg’ gear of 1838 which was generally ignored by his contemporaries.
William Williams and William Howe appear to have developed a ‘slotted link’ which permitted “the change from forward to reverse to be made smoothly as a continuous operation.” [2: p120] Edward Cook sent Robert Stephenson a model of the new arrangements in August 1942. Their adapted linkage became known as ‘Stephenson Valve Gear’. It was quickly patented by Robert Stephenson. [2: p121]

Stephenson valve gear: the diagram was published in the British Transport Commission’s Handbook for Steam Locomotive Enginemen of 1957 and shows the gear being used in conjunction with a piston valve as opposed to the slide valve of earlier engines, but the general arrangement of the gear remains the same. The forward and backward eccentric rods are suspended from the common reversing shaft and can be raised and lowered by means of a lever on the footplate. The movement is transmitted from the eccentric via the slotted expansion link, allowing for a continuous movement and thus variable cut off, instead of the either/or arrangement of earlier types of where the cut-off point was fixed. [2: p121]

Daniel Gooch was the first to adapt the Stephenson valve gear for his own locomotives. In the Stephenson valve gear ,(see the image above), “the valve spindle is fixed, and the reversing rod moves the expansion link and the forward and backward eccentric rods. In the Gooch system, the arrangement was effectively reversed; the expansion link was attached to a fixed bearing and this time the reversing rod moved the valve rod. It found very little, if any, use other than on the broad gauge lines.
Alexander Allan was the engineer in charge of the Grand Junction Railway’s locomotive works. He devised his own variation on the Stephenson Valve Gear in which the reversing lever moved the eccentric rods, the link and the valve rod.
In Belgium, the first railway opened in 1835 between Brussels and Mechelen. Egide Walschaerts was 15 years old at the time. By the time that he had completed his studies at the University of Liege, the Belgian State Railways had opened workshops at Mechelen. He took a job there and quickly rose to the position of works superintendent. He developed valve gear that worked by a different pattern to the Stephenson valve gear. Walschaert valve gear has “just a single eccentric attached to the eccentric rod, which in turn [is] attached to the expansion link that allows for both reversing and varying the cut-off point. A second system, based on a radius rod attached to both the piston cross-head and the valve spindle, ensures that the lead on the valve remains constant in both directions, regardless of the cut-off point.” [2: p122-123] The Walschaert valve gear was used extensively throughout Europe but not in Britain until the late 19th century.

The Walschaert valve gear: the diagram in the British Transport Commission’s Handbook for Steam Locomotive Enginemen of 1957. Burton tells us that once again, the expansion link is the key to variable cut off. He says that the arrangement is simpler than in the Stephenson valve. [2: p123]

Richard Roberts had a knack for working with machinery and worked at a number of locations picking up knowledge before ending up, in 1814, working with Henry Maudsley (an eminent machine manufacturer). By 1817, Roberts had set up in business for himself in Manchester. Burton tells us that he was soon producing significant machinery: an early planer; a new type of lathe; gear-cutting and slotting machines; and the first successful gas meter. By 1825, he made a self-acting spinning mule which remained in use in the British textile industry until the second half of the twentieth century. In 1828, Roberts “went into partnership with iron merchant Thomas Sharp to form Sharp, Roberts & Co. to manufacture locomotives at their new Atlas Works in Manchester.” [2: p124] … Roberts interest in the company faded, although a brilliant Mechanical Engineer, he was a terrible businessman that ended his days in poverty. Burton tells us about Roberts because it was men like him that made it possible for the celebrity engineers to realise their designs, using templates and gauges to standardise production. “Without men like him, the necessary accuracy of construction for complex valve gears could never have been realised. It is difficult for us to understand just how badly equipped in terms of machine tools even the best workshops were at the start of the railway age.” [2: p124]

Burton entitles his eleventh chapter New Directions. In that chapter, he highlights:

Developments in railways in North America.
The replacement of stone blocks in Britain with wooden sleepers with metal chairs which maintained the gauge of the track.
A similar arrangement in North America but without the metal chairs which allowed tracks to be laid very quickly with tighter bends, but resulted in a much poorer ride than in Britain.
Locomotive design in North America needing to accommodate poorer track construction and as a result developed locomotives with a greater separation between a front bogie and the drive wheels. The first American standard engines were 4-2-0 locomotives, then 4-4-0 locomotives, and by 1847, the first 4-6-0 engine was in service
The first need in Britain for locomotives from North America. Norris Locomotive Works was at the forefront of locomotive development in North America. Norris locomotives were successful on very steep inclines in North America. The Birmingham & Gloucester Railway which had the 2.5 mile long Lickey Incline with a gradient of 1 in 37, “ordered fourteen engines from Norris, specifically to cope with [that] section of line. They served well as banking engines, joining their more conventional running mates to overcome the obstacle.” [2: p130]

A Norris advert featuring one of their 4-2-0 locomotives. [8] Construction advanced rapidly. In just eleven years, four-wheeled 6.5 ton locos had given way to ten-wheeled locomotives weighing 22 tons. [2: p130] Norris was, by the start of the 1850s, “employing about a thousand men and the works was said to be capable of turning out 159 locomotives a year.” [2: p132]

the way in which Baldwin became the best known of the American manufacturers. Matthias Baldwin started small with a single novelty engine running round a circular track giving rides to passengers. Then he built a locomotive for the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad Co. which was based on the Planet class locomotive supplied by Robert Stephenson & Co. to the Camden & Amboy Railroad. Baldwin inspected the delivered loco, ‘John Bull’ while it was still in pieces. He built a replica but without the leading pony truck. [2: p132]
Baldwin’s move into bigger workshops and that by the end of the next he had built 128 locos. He offered a limited range of three different locomotives, all based on the same design. He worked on standardisation of parts for his locos. He thought that there would be no need for more powerful locomotives than he was producing, but by the 1840s he had to design more powerful locomotives. [2: p134]
Kestler’s rise to prominence in Germany and his willingness to copy Norris’ designs but with alterations based on British practice. All the manufacturers faced the need to produce more powerful locomotives. [2: p135]

Burton’s twelfth chapter focusses on ‘Speed and Power‘. [2: p136-155] He follows developments in the 1840s in Britain. Timetables needed to be published to allow people to plan journeys and James Bradshaw’s Railway Guides came into being (in 1839). Demand for rail transport was increasing at an incredible rate. Requirements for passenger and goods locomotives diverged with dedicated classes of locomotives being developed. Speed was important for passenger services, power to haul the largest load possible was important for goods services.

This twelfth chapter is wide-ranging, showing the relatively slow rate of development in Britain compared to the United States of America noting the problems in Britain caused by the two main line track gauges. Burton looks at developments in braking which culminated with the air brakes, especially the Westinghouse brakes, in the 1860s. He considers developments in continental Europe pointing particularly to the need of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to link its capital (Vienna) with its main seaport on the Adriatic coast (Trieste). The government decided that it needed “a rail link between the two, but the line would have to cross the Alps via the Semmering Pass at an altitude of 936 metres. Trains were not required to go quite that high, as a tunnel was created below the summit at an altitude of 878 metres. Even so, the track had to twist and turn and the route out of Vienna had a 29 km section with a gradient that constantly hovered around the 1:40 mark. There was considerable doubt whether any locomotive could manage such a climb, certainly none in existence at that time could have done so. There was talk of relying on fixed engines and cable haulage. A writer to a technical publication pointed out that this was exactly the scenario that had been played out at Rainhill, cable haulage versus locomotive. That had been settled by a trial, so why not have a Semmering Trial?” [2: p151]

Four locomotives were sent to ‘compete’ at the Trial. Burton tells us that these were, Bavaria, Seraing, Neudstadt and Vindobona.

At the trial, “a successful locomotive had to ascend the pass with its train at a speed of 11.5kph and limitations were set that engines should not exceed 14 ton axle load though a very generous boiler pressure for the time was permitted at 120psi. No British companies offered up candidates, but four locomotives by four different European manufacturers were entered.” [2: p151] Burton tells us that these were, Bavaria, Seraing, Neudstadt and Vindobona.

Bavaria: “There were inevitable British connections. The winning entry [Bavaria] came from the company established in 1836 by Joseph Anton Maffei in Munich a company that was to survive in various forms and was still to be at the forefront of locomotive development in the twentieth century. It was designed with the help of the English engineer Joseph Hall. It was unlike anything seen on rails before. There were four axles under the locomotive, the front two mounted on a bogie. All were connected via a mixture of conventional rods and chains. There were a further three axles under the tender, also connected to the drive axles, spreading the tractive effort over engine and tender. The wheels were small, just 3ft 6in diameter and the locomotive managed to haul its 132 ton train up the slope at a very creditable 18 kph, well in excess of the competition target. The three other locomotives also managed to pass the test, but Bavaria was considered the most reliable. This turned out not to be … true in practice, as there were problems with the chain drive almost from the start and it was taken out of service.” [2: p151]

‘Bavaria’: “took first place in the contest; it was bought by the state for 20,000 ducats, (Wikipedia) or 24,000 francs. (Wiener) However further testing between 12th January and 28th April 1852 showed that the drive chains would only last for a few days. Bavaria was eventually scrapped, but its powerful boiler generated steam in the Graz operations workshop of the Southern State Railroad until the mid-1860s. So far no explanation has been found for how the chains were supposed to accommodate themselves to the swivelling of the front bogie and the tender.” This drawing does not show the long connecting rod which is a matter of record, © Public Domain. [9][10]

This pencil sketch of Bavaria shows the connecting rod driving the rearmost of the axles under the firebox, unlike the drawing above. Note the three test-cocks (for checking water level) on the side of the boiler, © Unknown. [9]

Seraing: “Perhaps the most interesting of the other locomotives came from the John Cockerill Company, which, was by far the most important manufacturing concern in Belgium … by 1840 … it had been taken over by the state, while still retaining the Cockerill name. It was from this factory that the locomotive Seraing was sent to Semmering.” [2: p151]

The “Seraing“ locomotive from an 1851 locomotive design. Note the similarity to a double Fairlie locomotive, © Public Domain. [10]

“Seraing was an articulated locomotive, with a central firebox, and a boiler at each side. The appearance was of two locomotives that had backed into each other and become irretrievably stuck together. A set of four wheels set on a bogie beneath each of the boilers made it possible for this locomotive to have a large boiler capacity, a long overall wheelbase of 27ft, but still be capable of coping with the tight curves of the Semmering. The description of this engine probably sounds familiar; it could, of course, equally well describe the Double Fairlies built for the Ffestiniog Railway. In fact they appear to have been remarkably similar in many respects.” [2: p151-152]

“The Seraing only came third in the competition, but having met the conditions, was bought by the state for 9,000 ducats. The problems that led to its withdrawal were shortage of steam (despite having two boilers) and leakage from the flexible steam pipes.” [9]

Neudstadt: “was built by the Wiener Neudstadt locomotive factory, south of Vienna, the largest locomotive and engineering works in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It too had two 4-wheel bogies, but a single boiler.” [2: p152]

The Wiener-Neustadt is considered to be the forerunner of the du Bousquet locomotives, © Public Domain. [9] The du Bousquet locomotive was an unusual design of articulated steam locomotive invented by French locomotive designer Gaston du Bousquet. The design was a tank locomotive, carrying all its fuel and water on board the locomotive proper, and a compound locomotive. The boiler and superstructure were supported upon two swivelling trucks. [11]

“The Wiener-Neustadt had two four-wheel bogies, driven by outside cylinders. Power transmission between the axles was by conventional coupling rods. Each bogie was sprung with one set of springs attached to a large beam that equalised the load between the axles; it looks like rather heavy and clumsy way of doing it, but all the weight of it was available for adhesion. Two steam pipes ran down to a set of four telescoping pipes with stuffing-boxes that led steam to the four cylinders. The exhaust steam was routed, via more telescopic piping, to a central pipe that ran forward to the blastpipe in the smokebox. Boiler pressure was 111 psi. Water was carried in side-tanks. … The front bogie had a central pivot, and the rear bogie moved in a radial manner that is not at present clear. According to Wiener the great defect of the locomotive was that the bogies could not move transversely with the respect to the main frame of the locomotive. Presumably this gave trouble with derailments and damaged track.” [9]

Vindobona: “The fourth contender was designed by a Scotsman, John Haswell. Born in Glasgow, he received his early experience at the Fairfield shipyard on the Clyde, before leaving for Austria to help set up the repair works for the Wien-Raaber Railway. He became superintendent of the works, which soon began constructing locomotives and rolling stock as well as repairing them. Their locomotive Vindobona was a rather strange form of 0-8-0, with three axles conventionally placed under the boiler and the other connected by a long connecting rod, under the tender.” [2: p152]

Initially built with four axles it was found to exceed the competition rule of 14 tons on one axle, so before competing, an additional axle was added in between the original third and fourth axles,© Public Domain. [9]

A drawing purporting to be the same locomotive prior to the modification. Comparing this drawing with the one immediately above suggests that modifications were more significant, with the additional axle being placed to the rear of the fourth axle with the body/chassis extended to accommodate it, © Public Domain. [9]

Burton’s twelfth chapter also highlights developments in American design aimed at increasing power in locomotives which were able to accommodate the smaller radius curves on the American network. Baldwin patented a design in 1842 for an unusual type of locomotive. It had “outside cylinders, set at an angle, with long connecting rods to the drive wheels at the rear. These drive wheels were then connected to the other wheels on a form of truck. These were held in a separate frame, and arrangements were made so that the two pairs of wheels could move independently of each other when going round bends. The coupling rods had ball and socket joints to allow for the necessary flexibility.” [2: p153-154]

Baldwin’s patent application (Patent No.2,759) was filed with an accompanying model. The patent was issued on 25th August 1842. It specifically covered a design for a flexible beam truck for the driving wheels of a locomotive. “The goal of the design was to increase the proportion of the engine’s total weight resting on driven wheels thus improving traction and thereby the ability of the engine to pull heavier loads. While then existing locomotives had multiple driven axles, their designs made them unsuitable for use on the tight curves that were common on American railroads at the time. Baldwin’s design allowed for multiple driving wheel axles to be coupled together in a manner that would allow each axle to move independently so as to conform to both to sharp curves and to vertical irregularities in the tracks.” [12][13]

“The new engine was tried out on the Central Railway of Georgia, where it was recorded that the 12-ton engine drew nineteen trucks, loaded with 750 bales of cotton, each weighing 450lb up a gradient of 36ft to the mile with ease. Railroad managers were soon writing in praise of the new design and orders began to flow: twelve engines in 1843; 22 in 1844; and twenty-seven in 1845.” [2: p154]

Baldwin continued to innovate: trying iron tubes instead of copper in boilers. He incorporated developments made by others into his locomotives (e.g. when French & Baird designed a far more efficient stack (chimney) in 1842 (Burton suggests it was 1845), Baldwin adopted it immediately for all of his locomotives). [13]

Later, Baird was to become the sole proprietor of the Baldwin Locomotive Works (in 1866/7). [14]

A list of proprietors of the Baldwin Locomotive Works which shows Baird joining the company in the 1850s and taking over business by 1867. [15]

Two views of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, © Public Domain. [15]

Burton tells us that Baldwin focussed first on construction of freight locomotives and maximising pulling power. In 1848, he was challenged to make an express locomotive capable of travelling at over 60 mph. He built the Governor Paine in 1849. It was a very different form of 8-wheel engine with a pair of 6 ft 6 in. driving wheels set behind the firebox and a smaller pair of wheels in front of it. The carrying axles at the front of the locomotive were on a conventional bogie.

The locomotive built by Baldwin for the Vermont Central Railroad in 1849,© Public Domain and shared on the 19th Century Railway Enthusiasts Facebook Group by Jamie Steve Pickering on 25th August 2025. [16]

At the end of his twelfth chapter, Burton comments: “As the 1840s came to an end, the variety of locomotives on lines all over the railway world was remarkable. The number of builders also increased; some small and specialised, others, especially those run by the bigger companies, were developing into massive industrial units employing hundreds and even thousands of workers.” [2: p155]

Chapter 13 – The Works: Burton notes that prior to the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) there had been no need for special repair shops as mines already had their own maintenance facilities for their steam piping and winding engines. The S&DR set up its works at Shildon and in doing so set a pattern that was followed by other companies. The Shildon works, “such as they were, consisted of one, narrow building, divided between a joiner’s shop and a blacksmith’s shop with two hearths. There was also an engine shed, which remained roofless for years, which could hold two locomotives. Gradually, more cottages were built and the workforce grew from twenty to fifty men. Machine tools were almost non-existent, consisting of little more than hand operated lathes, and screw jacks for lifting parts for erection. According to an old workman, interviewed in 1872 for the Northern Echo, the place was so cold in winter that tallow from the candles froze as it dripped. The nature of the work ensured that if there was no heating, they were kept warm by their exertions. Wheels were always a problem, frequently cracking, and having to be laboriously hammered on and off the axles. For many years it remained no more than a repair shop, but Hackworth established his own Soho Works for building locomotives close by in 1833. Because of his official duties, he passed over the control to his brother, Thomas, and a local iron founder, Nicholas Downing. By 1840, Hackworth had resigned from the Stockton & Darlington and concentrated solely on Soho. It is interesting to see just how much had changed in a short time.” [2: p156]

By the time Hackworth died in 1850, the Soho works “had developed into a major complex. The main range of buildings consisted of a foundry, with three cupola furnaces, a machine shop and a blacksmith’s shop. There were separate buildings for stores and for the pattern makers and joiners workshops. Unlike the Cockerill works in France, the Soho foundry was not based on a blast furnace fed with iron ore, but on furnaces that were used to melt either pig iron or scrap iron. The wheel lathe was capable of turning wheels up to 10ft in diameter and a boring machine for cylinders up to 8ft diameter. The blacksmiths’ shop had twenty-two hearths, with a fan blast to raise the temperature, and a separate furnace for wheel tyres. The works required skilled craftsmen of all kinds, from machinists to pattern makers.” [2: p156]

Burton goes on to highlight the vital skills of carpenters who had to make wooden patterns for items to be cast – a highly skilled activity which had to be completed to very tight tolerances. Foundry skills and carpentry skills are only examples of a panoply of trades which had to be brought together to achieve the manufacture and maintenance of railway locomotives.

For much larger concerns than the S&DR, works inevitably had to be of truly significant size. The choice of the site for these large works was critical, Gooch prevailed on Brunel to support the proposed Swindon Work. He had to weigh up convenience across the GWR as a whole and selected a location that was not central to the GWR at the time but was situated at the point where a change of locomotive would be required as the profile of the line changed sufficiently to warrant a different class of engine. Gooch’s letter to Brunel is detailed enough to extend to approximately a full page in Burton’s thirteenth chapter. [2: p157-158]

Once a site for a works was chosen there was an inevitable need to provide housing for skilled workers. The S&DR saw the need for some construction work at Shildon and also at their new port, Port Darlington on the Tees which formed the kernel of the urban area that would become Middlesbrough. The GWR created a railway village, New Swindon. Its design needed to be good enough to attract skilled workers and their families. The design of this new community was given to Matthew Rugby Wyatt, the architect of Paddington Station. As the works grew, so did the railway village. By the end of the 1840s it accommodated some two thousand workers and their families. The village grew to include a school, a Mechanics Institute, bath houses and a health scheme. Gas and water were supplied, a brickworks was established, a library and a church were built.

The Swindon works of the GWR began building locomotives in 1846 and it became the centre for all locomotive construction for the broad gauge. By 1847, the wagon department had to be moved to allow expansion of the loco works which in 1847 were completing one new locomotive every Monday morning! Much of the work had to be done by hand. Wrought iron sheets were limited in size. Large objects could only be built by riveting several plates together. Rivets required one man to “push a rivet though the aligned holes and hold the head in place with a heavy hammer. The man on the opposite side would then hammer his end, so that it spread out against the plate, holding the two pieces firmly together. Apart from being hard work, which required speed and precision, it was also incredibly noisy; deafness was a common complaint among boilermakers in later life. The boiler would be made up in short sections that were then butt-ended and joined together.” [2: p163]

“One of the problems in manufacture was wheel construction. … Before 1850, wheel hubs were almost entirely forged by hand. There were various types of spoke, round or square cross section and various methods of attaching them between the hub and the rim. The earliest reference to a lathe specifically designed for turning locomotive wheels appeared in an advert for Nasmyth, Gaskell & Co. in 1839, capable of turning wheels up to 7ft in diameter. Joseph Beattie of the London & South-Western Railway patented a lathe in 1841 that was capable of turning two wheels simultaneously.” [2: p163]

Burton continues to discuss the forging of crank axles for inside cylinder engines. He highlights a major step forward in the manufacture of both railway locomotives and paddle steamers when Jane’s Nasmyth designed a Steam-powered vertical drop hammer.

He goes on to reflect that the work of constructing a locomotive was not organised around a series of standard parts made in a quality controlled way. There was no smooth production line. Rather, disparate groups of workers were “responsible for their particular part of the whole, perhaps consisting of s master craftsman and an apprentice, with one or more labourers.Unifirmity was made more difficult by the absence of standards. ” [2: p164-165]

For example, “centre-to-centre distances for connecting rods were not marked on Crewe drawings until 1859. When a rod was fabricated, it had to be sent to the smithy to be adjusted to fit the actual distance between wheel centres.” [2: p165]

Standardisation was slow to arrive in Britain, perhaps partly because each railway company had its own works. In North America things were different. Railway companies were much more reluctant to set up their own works. They preferred to rely on private manufacturers such as Baldwin and Norris. As early as 1839, Baldwin was stressing the value of standardisation, although it was to be 1860 before standard gauges were introduced.

Burton’s fourteenth chapter focusses on the Great Exhibition of 1851 which had as one of its themes the way in which railways would transform life on every continent of the world. Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace was built to hide the exhibition. The building itself reflected the exhibition’s theme of technological innovation. There were some 200 numbered items in the exhibition catalogue which were devoted to railways.

At the time of the Great Exhibition, engineers appear to have agreed that the future for speed on the railways was to be found in locomotives with one driving axles with large wheels. The British scene, however, remained marked by a diversity of manufacturers and products. In America things were different. There was remarkable agreement on what best suited their railroads. The American Standard 4-4-0 locomotive was introduced in the 1830s.

Typical of the American Standard Locomotive, this is Central Pacific’s 4-4-0 Jupiter which played a starring role when it met Union Pacific 4-4-0 No. 119 at Promontory, Utah, for the driving of the Golden Spike on 10th May 1869. The Jupiter was built by Schenectady Locomotive Works in 1868, © Public Domain. [17]

“The 4-4-0 was built continuously through to the end of the 19th century. It handled both freight and passenger assignments, and its use among railroads was nearly universal – so much so that it acquired the name ‘American Standard’, or simply ‘American’. In 1884, 60 percent of all new U.S. steam locomotives were 4-4-0s. … As train lengths and speed increased, the 4-4-0 also grew, with the addition of bigger cylinders, a larger boiler, and a bigger firebox. The 4-4-0 was a well-balanced design with natural proportions. (In other words, the size of the boiler, grate area, firebox, and cylinders were closely matched to its service requirements.) In short, it was hard to build a bad one.” [17]

Classic Trains magazine tells us that it was the widespread application of air brakes in the 1880s that heralded the end of the 4-4-0. “Air brakes made it possible to run longer and heavier trains, and that in turn created a demand for bigger locomotives. Freights that once could have been handled by 4-4-0s soon needed 2-6-0s and 2-8-0s. Passenger trains were put in the charge of 4-6-0s and 4-4-2s. … Once heavier power appeared, major railroads consigned the 4-4-0 to light passenger jobs, often on branch lines, although some short lines continued to use it in freight service. … After 1900 few new 4-4-0s were built, with the very last going to the Chicago & Illinois Midland in 1928. Along with two other Americans received the prior year, the engine was used on a couple of local passenger runs. … By this time, over 25,000 Americans had been built. The 4-4-0 lasted into the diesel era and some examples ran into the late 1950s. Many still exist today in museums and on tourist railroads.” [17]

By 1850, much of what constituted the basic elements of Steam-powered traction was in place. Burton tells us that “there were still innovations to come that would lead to a steady development in all aspects of locomotive power and performance. One of the most important changes in Britain in the 1850s was the change from coke to coal as the main fuel at considerable savings in cost, though it required changes in firebox design. The range of locomotives was increased by the use of steam injectors topping up the boiler while the engine was on the move. These and other changes were improvements rather than revolutionary changes. Perhaps the biggest change of all was not in the railway world itself but in metallurgy, in the manufacture of steel. It would make a great impact on railways as a whole.” [2: p178]

As the decades unfurled, steam-power developed to its zenith in the early 20th century. However, by the 1950s the use of steam-power was in terminal decline across the world. In particular locations it would remain a viable option into the 21st century. Not only was it challenged by factors beyond the rail network: the coming of the mass-produced private car and bus and freight transport by road; but electric power and diesel power would inexorably replace steam on the railways themselves.

Burton concludes his book, which I found to be an enjoyable read: “If one looks back over history it is possible to realise just what an achievement it was to develop the steam locomotive. In the first century since Newcomen’s engine first nodded its ponderous head over a mine shaft, the engine had developed from an atmospheric engine to a true steam engine, but it was still a monstrously large beam engine, rooted to the spot. To turn such an engine into a machine that could thunder across railed tracks at high speed was one of the greatest achievements of the nineteenth century. The pioneers who achieved this feat had no patterns to work from, no precedents to follow and very little in the way of theoretical background to draw on. Yet in just fifty years they transformed the locomotive from an unwieldy contraption, rumbling along at little more than walking speed, to an efficient engine that is easily recognised as having the essentials that would enable it to develop and thrive for another hundred years. It ranks as one of the great achievements not just of their own age but in the whole history of mankind.” [2: p181-182]

Burton’s book concludes with a short Glossary, a Select Bibliography and an Index. [2: p183-192]

References

Colin Judge; The Locomotives, Railway and History 1916-1919 of the National Filling Factory No. 14, Hereford; Industrial Railway Society, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, 2025.
Anthony Burton; The Locomotive Pioneers: Early Steam Locomotive Development – 1801-1851; Pen and Sword, Barnsley, 2017.
Christian Wolmar; The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground was Built and How it Changed the City Forever (2nd extended Edition); Atlantic Books, 2020. This edition includes a chapter on Crossrail.
Neil Parkhouse; British Railway History in Colour Volume 6: Cheltenham and the Cotswold Lines; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, Gloucestershire, 2025.
Puffers: “By the beginning of the nineteenth century Trevithick had already successfully developed his high-pressure steam engine for work in the local mines as a whim engine, hauling men and material up and down the shaft. They became known as ‘puffers’ because of the way the exhaust steam puffed noisily out at each stroke. In a trial against a traditional Boulton & Watt engine to measure their relative efficiency, the Trevithick engine came out the clear winner, which did nothing to improve relations between the two camps. Now Trevithick began working on a puffer that would not merely turn a wheel above a shaft, but would move itself too. His first question was one that we would not even consider today, could a vehicle be moved simply by turning the wheels round, relying on the effect of friction between the wheels and the ground? He settled that matter with a simple experiment by taking an ordinary cart, and, instead of pulling it, simply turned the wheels by hand; it moved. He was now ready to build a prototype. The engine was assembled from a variety of sources; the boiler and cylinder were cast at the works of the Cornish engine manufacturer, Harvey’s of Hayle, an obvious choice as Trevithick had married Henry Harvey’s sister, Jane. The ironwork was prepared by the Camborne blacksmith Jonathan Tyack. Some of the more intricate work was entrusted to Trevithick’s cousin and friend Andrew Vivian, who had his own workshop and lathe.” [2: p9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_Firefly_Class#/media/File%3AFire_Fly_2_(5646634337).jpg, accessed on 28th December 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_railway, accessed on 28th December 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norris_Locomotive_Works, accessed on 29th December 2025.
http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/semmering/semmering.htm, accessed on 29th December 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semmering_railway, accessed on 29th December 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Bousquet_locomotive, accessed on 29th December 2025.
https://www.si.edu/object/baldwins-patent-model-flexible-beam-locomotive-ca-1842%3Anmah_843732, accessed on 29th December 2025.
“The ‘flexible beam’ referred to heavy iron beams that were connected to each side of the engine’s frame with a vertical, spherical pin so that they could pivot horizontally and vertically in relation to the frame. The beams on each side of the frame moved independently of each other. At each end of the beams were journal boxes for the axles, and these boxes were constructed to an earlier Baldwin patent with cylindrical pedestals that allowed them to rotate vertically inside the beam. The result was that when rounding a curve one driving axle could move laterally in one direction while the other axle could move independently in the other direction thus adapting the wheels to the curve while at the same time keeping the axles parallel to each other. The coupling rods were made with ball-and-socket joints to allow them to adapt to the varying geometry due to lateral axle motion. While this geometry would also result in the coupling rod lengths varying as the axles moved laterally, in actual use the variation was very small – on the order of 1/32 of an inch – and was allowed for via a designed-in slackness in the bearings. The patent was applied by Baldwin to a large number of engines manufactured up until 1859 when the design was superseded by heavier and more advanced engines. … The patent model [was] constructed of wood and metal and … mounted on rails attached to a wooden base. A brass plate attached to the boiler [was] inscribed with ‘M.W. Baldwin Philadelphia’. The boiler [was] painted wood as [were] the cylinders and coupling rods. The engine frame [was] steel, and the wheel rims … made of brass. The key element of the patent, the flexible beams [were] present on the front two axles. The beams and leaf springs [were] made of wood. The vertical pins appear to [have been] made of steel. While the axle journal boxes [were] shown it appears the details of the cylindrical pedestals and other moving parts [were] not modelled.” [12]
https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2010/07/06/ml-history-the-luck-and-hard-work-of-our-foreign-born-successes, accessed on 29th December 2025.
http://users.fini.net/~bersano/english-anglais/LocomotivesAndDetailParts.pdf, accessed on 29th December 2025.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CNNsgPe8m, accessed on 29th December 2025.
https://www.trains.com/ctr/railroads/locomotives/steam-locomotive-profile-4-4-0-american, accessed on 29th December 2025.

Christmas 2025 Book Reviews No. 1 – Colin Judge …

1. The National Filling Factory No. 14 at Rotherwas

I have an abiding interest in the railways of Hereford and so was delighted to receive Colin Judge’s book as a Christmas present.

Judge’s book focusses on an area to the Southeast of Hereford, surrounding Rotherwas House, which was to become an essential element of the British war effort. Initially, intended to be a reserve filling station, National Filling Factory No. 14 was quickly to become vital when on 1st October 1917, the factory at Morecambe was put out of action by an explosion and a major fire. Later, on 1st July 1918, an explosion at the Filling Factory at Chilwell killed 134 employees, leaving it only able to produce munitions at a much reduced level. No. 14 was critical to the supply of munitions.

The usage of shells during the conflict was frighteningly high, staggering! Judge tells us that during the Battle of the Somme 1,738,000 shells were used, and that at Passchendaele, over 5 million shells were fired. It is difficult to appreciate what those on the battlefield experienced. [1: p4]

This rate of usage demanded an unbelievable level of activity on the home front. 507 acres were purchased for the new factory around Rotherwas House. “The order was then given on the 30th May 1916 to commence the drawings and these were started on the 1st June 1916. The set of drawings for the Amatol section of the factory was finished and sent out to tender on the 12th of June. … Then the remaining drawings, of the Lyddite/Picric area were finished on the 15th of June and again dispatched to the various tenderers … construction [commenced as soon as] the final contractor was chosen.” [1: p15] John Mowlem & Co. Ltd won the contract on the basis of a guaranteed lump sum of £1,200,000 (approx £133,392,000 in 2025!).

Remarkably, in an incredible feat, 3,000 drawings covering the factory and an outpost at Credenhill (an ammunition storage facility) were produced in just a fortnight! All drawn by hand! Even more incredible when a significant design change occurred increasing the required output from the factory from 400 tons of Amatol and 200 tons of Lyddite per week. The new demand was for 700 tons of Amatol and 400 tons of Lyddite each week!

The contract for the construction was signed by both parties on 5th July 1916. Work progressed at speed and the first shell was being filled in the Lyddite area on 11th November 1916. The Amatol side of the factory filled its first shell on 22nd June 1917.

Judge tells us that Mowlem had to assemble the Amatol and Lyddite areas, a huge army ordnance depot (Rotherwas stores), barracks for the guards (alterations to Rotherwas House), hostel accommodation in Hereford for construction workers, stores and barracks at the Credenhill site (6 miles further from Hereford and on the Midland line from Hereford to Hay and Brecon). [1: p18]

The story of the works is copiously illustrated with contemporary plans and photographs and a modern diagrammatic representation of the internal railway system at the factory site. There were more than 27 miles of internal standard-gauge railways! [1: p16-17][5] In addition, the Picric/Lyddite area of the works was served by a significant network of 2ft-gauge lines. [1: p16]

In addition to covering the history of the site during World War 1, Judge describes the fleet of 2ft-gauge locomotives known to be used by John Mowlem &Co Ltd during construction of the site. These included: Kerr Stuart Wren Locomotives, KS2473, KS2474 and KS2477, all built in 1916; and Bagnall works number WB1740. Other locomotives may also have been used during construction: KS1047, KS1142, KS1144, KS 4017, KS 4018.

Judge provides drawings of the Kerr Stuart Wren Class of locomotives [1: p10 & 11] and details/photographs of the Bagnall Locomotive, works No. WB1740. [1: p11-14]

Judge provides notes on the locomotives used at Credenhill [1: p54-63] and at the Rotherwas Site. [1: p77-92] He also includes a chapter which is well-illustrated, focussing on the employees and the operation of the Rotherwas Site.

Chapters headings in Judge’s book are:

Chapter One: Brief History of the Proposed Area for the National Filling Factory No. 14, Hereford.

Chapter Two: Why did Britain need a new National Shell Filling Factory?

Chapter Three: Ministry of Munitions purchase of the land for the National Filling Factory No. 14, Hereford.

Chapter Four: John Mowlem Ltd – the Contractor and his Locomotives used on this site.

Chapter Five: Construction of the National Filling Factory No. 14, Hereford.

Chapter Six: The Great Western Railway, London & North Western Railway and Midland Railway’s involvement in the Factory’s Construction and Operation.

Chapter Seven: Credenhill – Army Ordnance Depot – the NFF Hereford’s Outpost

Chapter Eight: Credenhill-Army Ordnance Depot Locomotives.

Chapter Nine: Basic Operations at the Hereford No. 14 Factory, Rotherwas.

Chapter Ten: Details of the Locomotives known to have operated on the internal railway at Hereford No. 14 (Rotherwas) Factory site.

He also includes as an Appendix, a short history of the site throughout the 20th century.

Rotherwas was revived as a Royal Ordnance Factory (Filling Factory No 4) with the onset of the Second World War in 1939, and filled large bombs and 15 inch (38 mm) shells for naval guns. [6]

References

Colin Judge; The Locomotives, Railway and History 1916-1919 of the National Filling Factory No. 14, Hereford; Industrial Railway Society, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, 2025.
Anthony Burton; The Locomotive Pioneers: Early Steam Locomotive Development – 1801-1851; Pen and Sword, Barnsley, 2017.
Christian Wolmar; The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground was Built and How it Changed the City Forever (2nd extended Edition); Atlantic Books, 2020. This edition includes a chapter on Crossrail.
Neil Parkhouse; British Railway History in Colour Volume 6: Cheltenham and the Cotswold Lines; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, Gloucestershire, 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROF_Rotherwas, accessed on 25th December 2025.
https://www.erih.net/i-want-to-go-there/site/rotherwas-royal-ordnance-factory, accessed on 25th December 2025.

The Nidd Valley Light Railway

2 Replies

The short paragraph immediately below appeared in the February 1952 edition of The Railway Magazine in reply to a question submitted by G. T. Kaye.

“The Nidd Valley branch of the former North Eastern Railway (which was closed to passengers on 31st March 1951) terminated at Pateley Bridge, 14 miles from Harrogate. In 1900, a Light Railway Order was obtained for a 2 ft. 6 in. gauge line from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale, six miles further up the valley, but the promoters had difficulty in finding the necessary capital. At that time, the Bradford Corporation was about to undertake the construction of reservoirs in the Nidd Valley, and a railway was required to carry materials to the sites. The Corporation took over the powers for the light railway, and extended it for a further 6 miles, from Lofthouse to Angram. The railway was laid to the standard-gauge, and was opened to passengers between Pateley Bridge and Lofthouse on 1st May 1907. The remainder of the line did not carry public traffic. The line was worked by two 4-4-0 tank engines and passenger coaches purchased from the Metropolitan Railway. The passenger services were withdrawn on 31st December 1929, and the line was closed completely some months later.” [1: p143]

It appeared close to the back of the magazine in the section called, “The Why and the Wherefore”. It seemed like a good idea to explore what further information there is available about the Nidd Valley Light Railway. …….

The Website ‘WalkingintheYorksireDales.co.uk’ has a page dedicated to the railway which can be found here. [2]

A number of images relating to the line can be found here. [13]

The Oakwood Press published a book by D. J. Croft about the line. [3: p3]

Croft wrote: “The valley of the River Nidd, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, is nearly 55 miles long, beginning at Great Whernside, and ending at Nun Monkton where the Nidd flows into the River Ouse. However, the area known as Nidderdale extends for only about a half of the length, and forms a compact geographical region of its own. Despite this length, and great scenic beauty, it remains to this day one of the forgotten valleys of the Yorkshire Dales.” [3: p3]

“The area of Nidderdale can be divided into roughly two equal sec tions, with the market town of Pateley Bridge between the two. The first substantial historical accounts of Nidderdale appeared in Domesday Book of 1086. However, some of the local lead mines were worked in the time of the Brigantes, whilst several surrounding localities suggest Roman occupation.” [3: p3]

“Nidderdale has several industries, notably quarrying and lead mining. and a small textile industry. There is also a small slate quarry, a marble quarry, and a long, thin ironstone vein stretching along the valley. Through-out the ages, however, Nidderdale has had prosperity alternating with decline. As the early mining industry began to decline, so textiles became important around the thirteenth century. This too tended to decline by the seventeenth century, and mining became important once more. Unfortunately, the prosperity of the lead mining era passed, and so too did the prosperity of Nidderdale.” [3: p3]

“This period of decline lasted until 1862, when the North Eastern Railway opened its line from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge, thus opening this remote valley to the outside world. Prior to this, the only roads out of the dale had been to Grassington, Riponand Kirkby Malzeard, and the only regular connection with the outside world had been the Nidderdale Omnibus, a double-deck horse bus, linking Pateley Bridge with trains of the Leeds & Thirsk Railway at Ripley. This operated from 1st August 1849, until the opening of the railway, and ran twice daily.” [3: p3]

The approach of the 20th century brought a new prosperity to the valley, which was to last for the next thirty years or perhaps a little longer. Thid was the period when the Nidd Valley Light Railway was active.

The story of the line is the story of the thirteen or so miles between Pateley Bridge and the head of the valley, for it was there “that the Nidd Valley Light Railway was conceived, constructed and closed. All this happened within a period of less than forty years.” [3: p3]

The Story of the Line

Wikipedia tells us that the origins of a railway in the upper Nidd Valley “can be traced back to 1887–88, when Bradford Corporation began to investigate the valley as a source for the public water supply. … Alexander Binnie, who was the Waterworks Engineer for Bradford at the time, and Professor Alexander Henry Green, a geologist from Oxford, visited the area, and Green advised Binnie that the valley was suitable for the construction of large dams. The Bradford Corporation Water Act 1890 was obtained on 14th August 1890, authorising the construction of four dams. … A second Act of Parliament was obtained on 27th June 1892, by which time the four reservoirs were Angram, Haden Carr, High Woodale and Gouthwaite. Gouthwaite Reservoir was designed as a compensation reservoir, to maintain flows in the Nidd further down the valley.” [4][5: p76-77]

The first reservoir, Haden Carr, was completed in 1899, together with a 32-mile (51 km) pipeline (the Nidd Aqueduct) to deliver water to Chellow Heights reservoir on the outskirts of Bradford. [4][5: p79] “Gouthwaite reservoir was built … between 1893 and 1901.” [5: p84-85] The activity in the valley attracted attention from outside the region and a company from London, Power & Traction Ltd applied for a Light Railway Order “to construct a line from the terminus of the Nidd Valley Railway at Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse. … Following a hearing at Harrogate on 9th October 1900, the Light Railway Commissioners awarded an order to Power & Traction for a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railway.” [4] Negotiations with Bradford Corporation over a possible £2,000 investment in the scheme ultimately failed. [5: p86]

“In 1903, Bradford invited tenders for the construction of Angram Reservoir, and … reached provisional agreement with the Nidd Valley Light Railway Company to purchase the powers awarded to them to build the light railway. … Bradford wanted to ask the Light Railway Commissioners for permission to increase [the track gauge] to 3 ft (914 mm). … They also wanted to ensure that they bought enough land to allow a standard gauge railway to be constructed ‘at any future time’. The North Eastern Railway, owners of the Nidd Valley Railway, argued that it should be standard gauge from the outset, since they were running excursions to Pateley Bridge twice a week, and these could continue over the Nidd Valley Light Railway. It would also remove the necessity of transshipping goods.” [5: p86]

Then next three map extracts show the railway facilities in Pateley Bridge while the Nidd Valley Light Railway was active. …

The Nidd Valley Light Railway Pateley Bridge Carriage and Engine Shed which were to the North of the railway’s terminus. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [9]

The Nidd Valley Light Railway Pateley Bridge Terminus which was connected to the North Eastern Railway Station by a single line which joined the main line before it crossed the High Street on the level. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [9]

The North Easter Railway Station at Pateley Bridge. [9]

The red line approximates t the line of the railway which left Pateley Bridge Station (behind the camera) to cross High Street and run between Pateley Bridge Mills and Millfield Street to connect with The Nidd Valley Light Railway. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

0-6-0ST locomotive ‘Blythe’, with a passenger train at Pateley Bridge. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_529 DS160108), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

A transfer order was eventually granted, “with powers to borrow up to £30,000 to fund the project. In May 1904, the Board of Trade agreed to a change to standard gauge, and borrowing powers were increased to £66,000 in 1908, because of the extra costs of building the wider formation. The document was signed by Winston Churchill, the President of the Board of Trade.” The contractor working on the Anagram reservoir, John Best, “was awarded a contract to build the light railway to Lofthouse for £23,000, and a tramway from Lofthouse to Angram for £5,385.” [5: p86-87]

Then the intrigue began! A contract had been awarded in April 1902 to Holme and King for the construction of a road from Lofthouse to Angram. Bradford Council “had purchased enough land to allow the light railway to be built beside the road, and although Best was awarded a contact for the railway in 1903, it appears that Holme and King built a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge contractor’s railway beside part or all of the road. They had two locomotives on site, both 0-4-0 saddle tanks, one bought second hand some years earlier and moved to the site in spring 1902, after working on several other projects, [5: p87] and the second bought new for delivery to Pateley Bridge. [5: p89] By mid-1904, there was a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) line from Angram, which crossed the River Nidd on a 20-foot (6.1 m) bridge just before it reached Lofthouse.” [4]

So, Best began extending the line towards Pateley Bridge from the River Nidd rather than starting the work again! Wikipedia tells us that “by 13th July 1904, it had reached a level crossing at Sykes Bank, 0.5 miles (0.8 km) below Lofthouse, and work had commenced at several other sites. On that date, a party of 150 members of Bradford City Council, with invited guests, arrived by train at Pateley Bridge, and were transported to Gouthwaite Dam in carriages. Here there was a ceremony in which the Lord Major cut the first sod for the Nidd Valley Light Railway.” [4] The party “proceeded to Sykes Bank, where a train was waiting, which consisted of 15 wagons fitted with makeshift seats, and two locomotives, one of which was Holme and King’s Xit and the other was Best’s Angram. It took about an hour to reach Angram, where there were presentations, and Alderman Holdsworth cut the first sod for the dam. Refreshments were then served and the party returned to Lofthouse by train and to Pateley Bridge by carriage.” [4][5: p90-91]

The narrow gauge had hardly reached Pateley Bridge and Angram begun its regular duties along the line when standard gauge rails began to be laid starting at Lofthouse and working both up and down the line from there. “When the first standard gauge locomotive arrived, it was towed along the road to Sykes Bank by a Foden steam lorry, its flanged wheels making a mess of the road surface. The main line and sidings became mixed gauge for a while, although the third rail was gradually removed from 1906.” [5: p91 & 93] There was a veritable network of rail lines at the Angram Dam site where, as well as a village built for the workers, “the railway terminated in several sidings, which included a locomotive shed. The sidings were at a similar level to the crest of the dam. A branch left the main line and descended to the valley floor, where there was a cement mixing plant and more sidings. This line included a winch-operated incline which descended on a gradient of 1 in 15 (6.7%). Another incline, of 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, ascended the far side of the valley, giving access to Nidd sluice and lodge. A third incline brought rock down to the main line from a quarry, some 2 miles (3.2 km) below the terminus.” [4][5: p93 & 97]

The village of Lofthouse and its railway station as it appears on the 25″Ordnance Survey of 1907, published in 1909. [6]

0-6-0 side tank steam locomotive ‘Milner’ with a carriage and van at Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale station, ready to leave for Scar House. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_531 DS160110), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

‘Milner’ crossing the bridge above Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale station and beginning the steep climb alongside the road on the private section to Scar House. It is likely that this was taken soon after the previous photograph. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_523 DS160104), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

At the other end of the Light Railway, “at Pateley Bridge, the Nidd Valley Light Railway station was to the north west of the North Eastern Railway’s Pateley Bridge railway station, close to the River Nidd. The two were connected by a single track which crossed a level crossing. There were a series of sidings immediately after the level crossing, with the station and more sidings beyond that. A carriage shed and a locomotive shed were located a little further along the valley of the Nidd.” [4]

Ramsgill Village was served by a stationary Bouthwaite which sat on the opposite side of the River Nidd. This map extract comes from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907, published in 1909. [7]

“Best built two-storey stone buildings for the stations at Pateley Bridge, Wath, Ramsgill and Lofthouse. He built a signal box at Pateley Bridge, with the other stations having ground frames and simple signalling. Operation of the line was controlled by the Tyer’s Electric Train Tablet system, and six machines were ordered at a cost of £360. [5: p101] Both intermediate stations had goods sidings on the eastern side of the main track, while Lofthouse had a passing loop and sidings to the west.” [4]

The Station at Wath sat between the village and the River Nidd. The 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/1908 and published in 1909. [8]

“Best had a number of locomotives, both 3 ft (914 mm) gauge and standard gauge, which operated over the entire line from Pateley Bridge to Angram during the construction phase. For the opening of the Nidd Valley Light Railway proper, the 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse, Bradford Corporation ordered six open wagons and two brake vans from Hurst Nelson of Motherwell. Locomotives and carriages were obtained second-hand from the Metropolitan Railway in London. These consisted of ten 4-wheeled coaches and two 4-4-0 Beyer Peacock side tank locomotives. All had become surplus to requirements, as electrification of the line had been completed in 1905. The locomotives were fitted with condensing equipment, for working in the tunnels under London, but the price of £1,350 for the pair included removal of this, and the fitting of cabs. All twelve vehicles arrived at Pateley Bridge, with one engine in steam … The locomotives were named ‘Holdsworth’ and ‘Milner’ after two Aldermen who had served Bradford Waterworks since 1898.” [4][5: p101, 102]

“An official opening took place on 11th September 1907, when a train consisting of three carriages and the Corporation saloon were hauled by ‘Holdsworth’ from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse, with stops at Wath and Gouthwaite reservoir. At Lofthouse the engine was replaced by one of Best’s engines, and continued to Angram where luncheon was served in the village reading room.” [4][5: p102, 105]

“The two locomotives were much too heavy to comply with the Light Railway Order, which specified a maximum axle loading of 6.5 tons. They weighed 46.6 tons in working order, with 36.7 tons carried by the two driving axles. The Corporation applied for an increase in the axle loading, specifying the weight as “over 42 tons”. Milner, the newest of the two locomotives, dating from 1879, [5: p102] did not perform well, and was replaced by a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 side tank, also named Milner in May 1909. The original Milner was sold to the North Wales Granite Company at Conwy in 1914. [5: p102, 111] Following discussions with the Board of Trade in 1906, the Corporation and the North Eastern Railway had obtained permission for three passenger trains per week to pass over the goods yard and sidings at Pateley Bridge, so that excursions could continue up to Lofthouse between June and September only. Despite the agreement, when the first excursion was due to make the journey on 14th September 1907, the NER decided not to allow their stock to pass onto the Nidd Valley Light Railway, nor to allow the Corporation engine and carriages to come to their station, and so the passengers had to walk between the two stations. [5: p110] In order to avoid confusion for parcels traffic, Lofthouse station became Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale on 12th December 1907, and Wath became Wath-in-Nidderdale in February 1908 for similar reasons.” [4][5: p107-108]

Work on Angram reservoir was finally completed in 1916. “Bradford Corporation had already obtained an Act in 1913, allowing them to abandon their plans for a reservoir at High Woodale, and instead to build a much larger one at Scar House. It would submerge the site of Haden Carr reservoir, and the Act allowed them to start construction “when appropriate”. The cost of the new works was estimated at £2,161,500, and although three tenders were received, they decided on 14th May 1920 to build it themselves, using direct labour. Scar village was built between 1920 and 1921, consisting of ten hostels for a total of 640 men, a school, canteen, recreation room, concert hall, mission church and some bungalows.” [4][5: p115]

Scar Village © Nidderdale Museum, courtesy of the RealYorkshireBlog.com. [11]

Plans to electrify the railway using hydro-electric power, were considered in March 1920, but rejected as being too expensive. uneconomic. Holdsworth, was taken out of service in 1866 because it was too heavy for the line, but when no buyers could be found, it was used as a stationary steam supply for another 14 years. There were plans to overhaul Milner, to obtain another lighter engine, and to purchase two railmotor cars. Only one railmotor (‘Hill’) was eventually purchased in 1921. It can be seen in the two images immediately below.

Steam railmotor car ‘Hill’ approaching Wath station on the descent from Ramsgill. It worked the Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse public passenger service. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_522 DS160103), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

Pateley Bridge locomotive shed and water tower, showing steam railmotor ‘Hill’ beside the shed and 0-6-0 steam locomotive ‘Blythe’ at the entrance. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_521 DS160102), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

“From August 1920, work was carried out to improve the line between Lofthouse and Angram. This included easing the alignment on many of the curves, the addition of loops near Lofthouse and at Woodale, just below the Scar House site, and the construction of a 180-yard (160 m) tunnel near Goyden Pot, which was used by up trains only.” [4][5: p119-122]. “The line at Angram was extended to a small quarry in 1921, along the trackbed of Best’s 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line beyond the dam. Stone was extracted for remedial work, caused by wind and wave erosion of the southern bank of the reservoir near the dam.” [4][5: p123]

The entrance at the lower end of Goyden tunnel. The nature of the terrain was challenging, as is evident in this picture, and downhill trains used the original line, which can be seen alongside the road. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_527 DS160107)), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

Close to the Scar House dam site, “a network of sidings were constructed, zig-zagging down to the Nidd, and back up the other side of the valley. A double track self-acting incline provided access to the Carle Fell Quarry, to the north of the reservoir, and as the quarry was worked, two further inclines were constructed. One was single track, with a winding engine at the top, and around 1930, an incline worked by locomotives was added. Above the later quarry face, a Simplex petrol locomotive worked on a 2 ft (610 mm) track, removing overburden.” [4][5: p118]

The Scar House dam construction site viewed across the valley from the south. The zigzag tracks linking the site with the quarries and stoneyard can be seen, with a locomotive in steam with three trucks in the centre of the picture. Beyond is the extensive stoneyard. In the foreground is a row of new large pipe sections manufactured by Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_537 DS160116)), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

A general view of Carle Fell quarry above the Scar House dam construction site, showing several railway tracks with two steam cranes, a locomotive and a number of trucks. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_539 DS160119)), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

Power for the works “was generated using water from Angram reservoir, which was discharged into Haden Carr reservoir. A 4,775-foot (1,455 m) pipeline supplied the turbines. This was later supplemented by a steam generating station. [5: p123-124] Two locomotive sheds were built, one near the village and another on the north side of the River Nidd, with a further two at Carle Fell Quarry. All had two tracks. Twelve four-wheeled carriages were bought from the Maryport and Carlisle Railway, to provide transport for the workers and their families from Scar House to Lofthouse, and a two-track carriage shed was built to the east of the main complex.” [4][5: p125]

Scar House dam under construction, showing the full length of the structure viewed from a distance down in the valley. Four steam cranes are seen on top of the dam, and another one below it alongside railway tracks, a truck, a water tank, and a stack of large stone blocks. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_535 DS160114)), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

“Six locomotives worked in the quarry. Allenby, Beatty, Haig and Trotter were based at the shed at the top of the main self-acting incline, while Ian Hamilton and Stringer were based in a shed at a higher level. Three steam navvies were used to load stone into the railway wagons, and there were nineteen or twenty steam cranes, all of which were self-propelled and ran on the tracks either in the quarry or on top of the dam.” [4][5: p129]

The masons’ yard above the Scar House dam construction site, with 0-4-0 saddle tank steam locomotive ‘*Craven*’ and a steam crane lifting blocks of stone. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_540 DS160118). Craven does not appear in Bowtell’s list of locomotives above), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

A wide view of the Scar House dam construction site across the valley from the quarries high up on the north side, showing the dam below and looking across to the buildings of Scar village, where the workers lived. The zigzag rail tracks linking the construction site with the quarries and stoneyard are clearly visible. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_538 DS160117)), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

The main engineering work at Scar House reservoir closed to completion in September 1931 but it was not until July 1935 that filling of the reservoir commenced. “The official opening was on 7th September 1936. Scar House, which gave its name to the reservoir, was demolished. A new Scar House was built, at the foot of the incline from Carle Fell Quarry, which provided a home for the reservoir keeper, and a boardroom for official visits. [5: p130-131] A project to re-route the waters from Armathwaite Gill and Howstean Beck through a tunnel and into the reservoir began in May 1929. A 2 ft (610 mm) gauge line was laid, on which two battery-electric locomotives and twelve wagons ran.” [4][5: p131]

Two 0-6-0ST locomotives ‘Gadie’ and ‘Illingworth’, head a goods train on the line. [12]

Decline

“The start of work on Scar House Reservoir led to an overhaul of existing stock. Seven of the original Metropolitan Railway coaches were upholstered and repainted, while the remaining five were used for the workmen. [The] steam railmotor [Hill] … obtained in 1921, … had previously been owned by the Great Western Railway. It … was fitted with electric lights in 1923. It worked on the public section of the railway, and never travelled beyond Lofthouse. Numerous new and secondhand locomotives were purchased, most for use on construction work, but two, Blythe and Gadie, were fitted with vacuum brakes, and so worked goods trains from Pateley Bridge to Scar House, as well as passenger trains between Scar House and Lofthouse and sometimes Pateley Bridge.” [4][5: p133]

“Passenger trains for the residents of Scar village ran on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the mid-week ones connecting with ‘Hill’ at Lofthouse, and the Saturday ones running through to Pateley Bridge. The 1927 printed timetable showed five trains a day between Pateley Bridge and Lofthouse, but also showed the trains onwards to Scar Village, with a note that these were for exclusive use of residents. Saturday trains were hauled by Blythe or Gadie, but were banked at the rear by another engine above Lofthouse because of the steep gradients.” [4][5: p134]

The ‘Scar House special’, 0-6-0T locomotives ‘Milner’ and ‘Blythe’ with a goods train, banked in the rear by two other locomotives for the steep climb alongside the road towards Scar House. This was possibly a more substantial train than usual as it required 4 locomotives rather than the 3 mentioned above. Humphrey Household collection (1996-7886_526 DS160106), © National Science Museum and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. [10]

“Traffic returns showed 106,216 journeys by workmen in 1921, and 41,051 by ordinary passengers. The figure for workmen was not declared after 1922, as the accommodation at Scar Village was available. The peak year for journeys was 1923, with 63,020, after which there was a gradual decline, with 24,906 journeys for the final nine months before closure. The line made a total operating loss of £36,435 between 1908 and 1924, and then made a modest profit until 1929. Fares were cut by one third in early 1929, in the face of competition from motor buses, and a decision was taken to close the line in April 1929.” [4][5: p

“An approach to the London and North Eastern Railway to take over the railway was unsuccessful, and on 31st December 1929, the railway closed to public passenger and goods services. The sections below and above Lofthouse continued to be run as a private railway. [5: p135] The Saturday train to Pateley Bridge for the residents of Scar Village continued until 1932.” [4][5: p133]

The line to Angram was severed by the works at Scar House in 1933. “By 1936, with construction completed, the railway was lifted, and a sale was held at Pateley Bridge on 1st March 1937, where everything was sold as a single lot. … At its peak, the Scar House reservoir project had employed about 780 men, and the population of Scar Village had been 1,135. By 1936, there were just eight houses occupied, and seven pupils at the school, which closed on 31st January 1938.” [4][5: p130 & 138]

A Journey along the Line

“The railway began in Pateley Bridge, close to the River Nidd, with the goods yard just to the north of the B6265 road. The passenger station was a little further north, and is now occupied by a road called ‘The Sidings’.” [4]

The Nidd Valley Light Railway Station, Transshipment Yard and Goods Yard at Pateley Bridge. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [9]

The Nidd Valley Light Railway Station Platform at Pateley Bridge in 1907. This image was shared on the Railways Around Harrogate & Yorkshire Facebook Group on 18th January 2024 by Ian McGregor, (c) Public Domain. [17]

The same area in the 21st century. ‘The Sidings’ is the cul-de-sac directly above the centre-bottom of the image. The new build further to the North is an extension to Millfield Street. [9]

The Sidings. [Google Street view, May 2024]

The extension to Millfield Street. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

The line’s Carriage Shed and Engine Shed sat to the North of the Station. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [9]

The same area in the 21st century. The area of the Carriage and Engine Sheds has now reverted to farmland. [9]

The line headed North “along the east bank of the river, and this section of it now forms part of the Nidderdale Way, a long-distance footpath. Wath station was just to the south of the minor road that crosses Wath Bridge, and had two sidings.” [4]

Wath Railway Station was on the South side of the road between the Corn Mill and Wath Bridge. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [14]

The same area in the 21st century. ESRI satellite imagery provided by the National Library of Scotland. [14]

Looking South from the minor road into the site of Wath Station. The station building is now a private home. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

The line North of the minor road was on a low embankment. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

“The footpath leaves the course of the railway before the station, and follows the bank of the river, crossing over the railway trackbed by Gouthwaite Dam.” [4]

The line passed close to the Northeast end of Gouthwaite Dam. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [15]

A very similar area in the 21st century. [Google Maps, October 2025]

Beyond the North end of Gouthwaite Reservoir, the route of the old railway can be seen from the minor road which links Coville House Farm to Bouthwaite. This view looks South from the road. The route of the old line is beyond the drystone wall in a shallow cutting. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Turning through 90° to face West, the end of the cutting can be seen on the left of this image, the line ran on beyond the tree at the right side of the photograph. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Further North along the same minor road, the old railway ran to the left of the drystone wall, between it and the electricity pole. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

“The trackbed was close to the shore of the reservoir, and the footpath rejoins it after a deviation to the north west. Ramsgill Station was at Bouthwaite, rather than Ramsgill, just to the south of Bouthwaite Bridge, where the Ramsgill to Bouthwaite road crosses Lul Beck.” [4]

Ramsgill Railway Station at Bouthwaite. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [16]

Approximately the same area as it appears on 21st century satellite imagery. The line can easily be picked out close to the bottom-right of this image, to the West of the minor road. The station area remains quite distinct! The route of the line continues Northwest on the North side of the minor road which enters centre-left. [Google Maps, October. 2025]

The Station Building at Ramsgill Railway Station in Bouthwaite, the main running line was to the right of the building and crossed the road to the right of the camera. [Google Streetview, May 2924]

Looking Northwest from approximately the same place these trees sit on the line of the old railway. Just North of the road, the line bridged the stream running through the village. [Google Streetview, May 2924]

“The footpath rejoins the trackbed briefly at Low Sikes, where there was a level crossing over the Ramsgill to Lofthouse road.” [4]

The level crossing adjacent to the River Nidd at Low Sikes. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. [18]

The same location in the 21st century. Note the gap in the drystone wall bottom-right which sits on the line of the old railway. [18]

Looking Southeast along Nidderdale at Low Sikes. The redline approximates to the line of the old railway in the photograph. Foreshortening of the image significantly tightens the curve of the line. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Looking Northwest alongside the River Nidd from Low Sikes. The line ran approximately straight ahead from the sign post in the foreground. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

The next significant location along the line was Lofthouse Station which sat on the South side of the village of Lofthouse, between the road and the river.

Lofthouse Railway Station sat on the Northeast bank of the River Nidd. The railway crossed the River Nidd on a bridge shared with the highway. [6]

Lofthouse Railway Station building in 21st century, seen from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Lofthouse Railway Station building in 21st century, seen from the Northwest. The railway and platform were on the right of the building. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

This road bridge over the River Nidd was once shared with the light railway, the red line shows the route of the line. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Once across the river the line turned sharply to the North to follow the road to Scar House. It followed the West shoulder of the road with the River Nidd off to the East of the road. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

The metalled road is owned by Yorkshire Water but open to the public. The line continued North remaining on the West shoulder of the road.

The same location in the 21st century. This bricked up tunnel was designed to avoid possible accidents. Northbound trains used the tunnel, Southbound trains used the original railway alignment which included a sharp bend just North of this location. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

“The bricked up tunnel can be seen about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Lofthouse, where the road and river turn sharply west. There is a picnic spot near the southern portal of the tunnel.” [4]

Beyond Goyden Tunnel the original line (still used by Southbound trains after the tunnel was built) bears sharply to the West. [Google Streetview, May 2024]

Before the tunnel was constructed a short passing loop was provided on the sharp bend. It was not long enough to allow any significant trains to pass but it mitigated the risk of collision! [19]

Images from two different OS sheets surveyed in the late 1920s show the tunnel noted above. [20]

The line from this point on travelled in a westerly direction. Originally the railway ran through the site of Scar House Reservoir as far as Angram Reservoir. Travellers on the railway would have been able to look down and see a small reservoir formed to secure the intake of the pipeline which served Bradford. Its Dam was called the Nidd Intake Dam.

The Nidd Intake Dam and Reservoir. 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1907/08, published in 1908. This reservoir was swamped by the later Scar House Reservoir. [22]

This map extract comes from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1907 which was published in 1910. The Light Railway has been built but there is no sign of construction work on the Angram Reservoir. [23]

A much later OS Map (1956) showing Angram Reservoir with the route of the old railway marked by red dashes. Note that Scar House Reservoir intrudes at the top-right of this map extract. [24]

At Scar Village there is another picnic spot and a car park. The railway followed the most northerly of the two tracks at this point.

A relatively low grade image showing the area close to Scar House Reservoir on which Scar Village was built. The original line of the railway in the track on the northside of the site of the village. The village historical survey report from which this image has been taken provides details (In some depth) of the site of the village and can be found here. [25]

“At Scar Village there is [a] picnic spot and a car park. The railway followed the most northerly of the two tracks at this point. Another track down to the weirs follows the course of one of the zig-zag tracks across the valley. A footpath crosses the dam to the north side of the lake, where the incline to the quarry is still clearly visible. Another road, open to the public on foot, follows the trackbed along the southern edge of Scar House Reservoir, to reach Angram dam. The course of the railway is clearly visible on the modern 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map for almost the entire length of the railway.”[4]

A short video about Scar Village and the work on Scar House Dam. [21]

References

The Why and the Wherefore; in The Railway Magazine, February 1952; Tothill Press, Westminster, London, p142-144.
https://www.walkingintheyorkshiredales.co.uk/Nidd%20Valley%20Light%20Railway.htm, accessed on 8th October 2025.
D. J. Croft; The Nidd Valley Railway, Locomotion Papers No. 55 (Revised); Oakwood Press, 1987.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidd_Valley_Light_Railway, accessed on 8th October 2025.
Harold Bowtell; Lesser Railways of the Yorkshire Dales; Plateway Press, Gainsborough, 1991.
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The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 7 – L’Escarene to Drap-Cantaron Railway Station.

1 Reply

The featured image above is a rather grainy image of steam at Drap-Cantaron Railway Station.

In the first six articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Breil-sur-Roya and then to Ventimiglia. These articles can be found here, [9] here [10] here, [11] here, [12] here, [13] and here [14]

Woven into the text below are a series of stills from a video of the train journey from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice. The video can be seen here. [4]

This article begins the journey from L’Escarene.

Initially, the line heads Southeast but then gradually turns to the the Southwest through Peille, Peillon and Drap before running into Nice.

The map below shows the two routes which headed from Nice and Ventimiglia North to Cuneo, as they existed prior to the alteration of the border between France and Italy after the Second World War.

The lines Nice to Tende and Ventimiglia to Tende in the period from 1928 to the Second World War, before the annexation, in 1947, of St-Dalmas de Tende and Piene to France. [15]

From l’Escarene to Drap-Cantaron

L’Escarene sits at the head of a long climb from Nice, it was one of the historic staging posts on the old royal road from Nice to Turin. Like Sospel Station, that of l’Escarene has substantial facilities which would allow the reception of military convoys in the event of conflict with neighbouring Italy. [1: p92]

The site of l’Escarene railway station, as shown on Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2025]

L’Escarène Railway Station, seen from the North soon after, or during, construction, © Public Domain. [17]

L’Escarene Railway Station © Public Domain. [17]

L’ Escarene Railway Station, post card image © Unknown. [17]

The station building at l’Escarène. Google Streetview, March 2023]

The underpass, just to the Southeast of l’Escarene railway station, seen from the D2566 to the Southwest. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

The same structure, seen from the Northeast. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

Further to the Southeast, the manmade plateau which created the Station and large Goods facilities is pierced by a tunnel which allows the D2566 to pass under the station site. [Google Streetview, April 2023]

The same structure, seen from the East. [Google Streetview, April 2023]

It is only a very short distance to the abutment of the viaduct that carries the line through l’Escarene.

The D2566 passes West-East under the railway and then curves round to join the D2204 and pass North-South under the West end of the railway viaduct. The Anc. Rte de L’Escarène passes through the first arch of the viaduct. The D2204 passes through the second arch of the viaduct. [Google Maps, September 2025]

Setting off from l’Escarene Railway station, this is the first view of the l’Escarene Viaduct from the cab of a Nice-bound train. The viaduct over the Redebraus has eleven 15 metre arches. [4]

L’Escarene viaduct, seen looking North from the Anc. Rte de l’Escarene. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

The viaduct seen from the North. The D2204 is directly ahead of the camera and to its right the Anc. Rte de l’Escarene climbs through the first arch of the viaduct. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

A train crosses the viaduct at l’Escarène, © Public Domain. [17]

A service from Nice approaches l’Escarene Railway Station across the viaduct, © Public Domain. [17]

The Railway Station and viaduct at l’Escarene, © Public Domain. [16]

A modern train on the viaduct at ‘Escarene, © Unknown. [17]

L’Escarene and its Viaduct, (c) J. P. Chevreau and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0 International). [18]

Viaduc de l’Escarene seen from the town. [Google Streetview, May 2013]

Part way across the viaduct the camera in the cab of the Nice-bound service picks up the metal parapet rails of the viaduct and the short tunnel ahead. [4]

The tunnel at the Southeast end of l’Escarene Viaduct is the Tunnel de Brec (382 metres in length. [19]

The Northwest portal of Brec Tunnel seen from alongside the line. [19]

The same crossing on Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The view Southeast from the mouth of Brec Tunnel. [4]

Turning through 180, provides us this view of the Southeast portal of Brec Tunnel. [19]

A gated crossing over the line a little further to the Southeast. [4]

The view from Rte de Tres, looking back towards l’Escarene Railway Station. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

From the same location looking Southeast. Notice the bridge over the line. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

The view of the same bridge from the cab of the Nice-bound train. [4]

The bridge carry Rte de Tres over the line. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Looking Northwest along the line from the bridge carrying Rte de Tres over the line. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

The view Southeast from the same bridge. [Google Streetview, November 2022]

The next overbridge carries Rte de l’Eira over the line. [4]

Looking North from the bridge carrying Rte de l’Eira over the line. [Google Streetview, April 2013]

Looking South from the same bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2013]

Southeast, the line enters Tunnel de Ecluse (136 metres in length). Just before this, there is a footpath access under the embankment. [34]

The underbridge mentioned above, seen from the D21. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

The Northwest portal of Tunnel de Ecluse, seen from the cab of a Nice-bound train. [4]

The same tunnel mouth, seen from the lineside. [34]

The view from the cab of the Nice-bound train at the Southeast portal of Tunnel de Ecluse. [4]

Turning to face Westnorthwest, this is the Southeast portal of the Tunnel de Ecluse. [34]

The next feature on the line is a short tunnel – Tunnel d’Euira (63 metres in length). [32]

Tunnel d’Euira is on the right side of this satellite image. [Google Maps, September 2025]

The North portal of Tunnel d’Euira. [32]

The South portal of Tunnel d’Euira and the galleried retaining structure which carries the line from a point very close to the tunnel portal. [32]

From many an angle, you would be forgiven for thinking that the railway crosses a viaduct. It appears, however, that the structure is a galleried retaining structure which creates a platform for the railway to run on while limiting the wight of the structure on the rock face beneath. [Google Maps, September 2025]

This view of the location from a little further ‘South, shows that the trackbed abuts the rockface on the East side of the line. [32]

Looking East from a short length of the D21, the galleried retaining structure, which is almost a viaduct, can be seen. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

The railway continues on a ‘berm’ built out from the East face of the Paillon valley and high above the D21, until it reaches the Ruisseau d’Euira.

This small extract from Google’s satellite imagery shows Le Paillon, the D21 and the railway in parallel. The railway bridge over the Ruisseau d’Euira is on the right of this image. [Google Maps, September 2025]

The Viaduc d’Euira crosses the valley of the Ruisseau d’Euira. The viaduct has one 30 m arch and two 5 m arches. [31]

The Viaduc d’Euira was designed by Paul Sejourne. It is a beautiful masonry arch structure which features a large central semi-circular arch framed by two smaller semi-circular arches piercing the spandrel walls, © Public Domain. [31]

The same viaduct seen in much more recent times from the West side of the Paillon valley. The tunnel mouth is the north portal of the Tunnel de Santa Augusta which is the next structure on the line. [31]

The Tunnel de Santa Augusta (754 metres in length) runs under the Ste-Augusta Chapelle. [30]

The South portal of the Tunnel de Santa Augusta. As can be seen the tunnel runs straight between the two portals, allowing the light from the North portal to be seen from outside the South portal. This photograph was taken alongside the track crossing the Viaduc d’Erbossièra. [30]

The Viaduc d’Erbossièra (205 metres in length). [29]

The Viaduc d’Erbossièra is another of Paul Sejourne’s elegant designs. It comprises 9 semi-circular arches of 8-metre span; a large 36-metre span arch across the Erbossiera torrent/stream and a final arch of 10-metre span. The spandrel walls of the arch, in this case being pierced by three small arches. The portal to the Ste-Augusta Tunnel can be seen on the left of this picture, © Public Domain. [29]

The main span of the viaduct, as seen from the D21 in the valley floor. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

More pictures of this structure, including some early photographs taken during construction can be found here. [29]

A short distance further South the line enters Tunnel de la Verna (197 metres in length). [28]

The North Portal seen from the cab of a Nice-bound service. The sun is low in the sky and the tunnel mouth is in deep shade. [4]

The view from the same train, looking South from the South portal of Tunnel de la Verna. [4]

Turning round to face North, this is the South portal of Tunnel de la Verna. [28]

About a further kilometre to the South the line enters Tunnel de’Ecluse.

Tunnel de l’Ecluse (78 metres in length, sits just to the North of Viaduc de Faquin. [21]

The North portal of Tunnel de l’Ecluse. [21]

The South portal of Tunnel de l’Ecluse and the Viaduc de Faquin. [21]

Viaduc de Faquin. [22]

Viaduct de Faquin as seen on Google’s satellite imagery (seven 11-metre arches). [Google Maps, September 2025]

Viaduct de Faquin soon after construction, seen from the Southwest, © Public Domain. [20]

Viaduct de Faquin seen from the West on Chemin de Sainte Lucie in the valley floor. [Google Streetview, January 2011]

The northern mouth of Tunnel de Coletta, seen from a Nice-bound train. [4]

Viaduct de Faquin, seen from the D53 which crossed the line above the tunnel mouth to the South of the viaduct (Tunnel de Coletta). [Google Streetview, April 2023]

Tunnel de Coletta. [23]

Immediately to the South of Tunnel de Coletta the railway enters Peille Railway Station in Grave de Peille.

The approach to Grave Railway Station, seen from the cab of a Southbound service at the mouth of Tunnel de Coletta. [4]

The southern portal of Tunnel de Coletta, seen from the end of the platform at Peille Railway Station (Grave de Peille), © Eugenio Merzagora and carried on the Structure website. [24]

Le Gare de Peille is situated on the East bank of the River Paillon on a pan artificial plateau which was created as part of the construction of the line from Nice to breil-sur-Roya. [26]

Peille Railway Station is located 6 km from the village of the same name, and serves the La Grave district, where the Vicat company operated a quarry and cement factory from 1924. A branch of the TNL tramway network reached this point from Pont-de-Peille. [1: p92]

The view from the carriage door of a Nice-bound train of Peille Railway Station (La Gare de Peille), © Eugenio Merzagora (2019) and shared on the Structurae Website. [28]

The island platform shelter, La Gare de Peille, seen from the Northwest, © Eugenio Merzagora (2019) and shared on the Structurae Website. [28]

The station building at Peille, seen from the South through the window of a Breil-sur-Roya train, © G CHP, and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY 2.5). [34]

A roadside view of the Station building at Peille. [Google Streetview, April 2023]

A Briel-sur-Roya-bound service sits at Peille Railway Station. The train is an “XGC” railcar X 76583/76584, © R. Gibiat (2011) and shared on Le Rail Ussellois (Modern Postcards with Railway and Urban Transport Themes) Website. [36]

1925: Earthworks underway for the PLM Railway Station at La Grave de Peille © Public Domain. This image was shared on the L’Histoire de Menton et ses Alentours Facebook Page by Pierre Richert on 22nd November 2017. [14]

An early postcard showing the railway station at Peille with the cement works visible in the distance on the right side of the image, © Public Domain. [7]

La Gare de Peille as seen on Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2025]

A narrow underpass under the station site, seen from the West on Chemin de Nogairet at a point adjacent to the lilac flag on the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, April 2023]

At the South end of the Station site the line becomes single track once again adjacent to a house built originally for railway staff. [4]

South of Peille Railway Station the line passes this railway-built home, usually these houses were built for railway employees, either at a nearby station or working on track maintenance. [Google Streetview, April 2013]

The line continues South towards Tunnel de Nogairet. [Google Streetview, April 2013]

Further South the line passes through Tunnel de Nogairet (32 metres in length). [Google Maps, September 2025]

The North portal of Nogairet Tunnel, seen from the cab of a Nice-bound service. [4]

The view South from the cab of the Nice-bound train at the South portal of Nogairet Tunnel.

Turning through 180°, this is the South portal of the Tunnel de Nogairet as seen from the cab a Breil-sur-Roya-bound train in 1995. [37]

And then a short distance further South trains pass through Tunnel de Bouisses.

Tunnel de Bouisses as it appears on Google’s satellite imagery, (107 metres in length). [Google Maps, September 2025]

The North portal of Tunnel de Bouisses, seen from the cab of a Nice-bound train. [4]

Low sun shines on the cab of the same Nice-bound service as it leaves Tunnel de Bouisses and is about to cross the first of two viaducts with the name ‘Bouisses’ (Viaduc de Bouisses No. 2). [4]

Turning through 180°, this low definition view shows the South portal of Tunnel de Bouisses as seen from the cab of a Breil-sur-Roya-bound train in 1995 which is just about to cross Viaduc de Bouisses No. 2. [37]

Viaduc de Bouisses No. 2 (three 6-metre arches), as it appears on Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2025]

A very short distance South-southwest the line crosses Viaduc de Bouisses No. 1. …

Viaduc de Bouisses No. 1 (six 6-metre arches).[Google Maps, September 2025]

In the light of the low sun this is the view South-southwest across Viaduc de Bouisses No. 1 from the cab of the Nice-bound service. [4]

The two Bouisses viaducts seen from across the valley to the West. No. 1 is on the right, No. 2 is on the left, with the portal of Tunnel de Bouisses visible top-left. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

A little further to the South, after running along a trackbed supported by retaining walls trains travelling towards Nice cross the Viaduct de Adrecia, seen here from the cab of the Nice-bound service. [4]

Viaduc de Adrecia (three 6-metre arches). [Google Maps, September 2025]

Viaduc de Adrecia, seen from the D21. [Google Streetview, April 2023]

The line has curved round to the Southeast before it enters Tunnel de Launa, shown here by the red, blue and green dots. Viaduc de Launa sits immediately to the Southeast of the tunnel. [38]

The Northwest portal of Tunnel de Launa (309 metres in length). [4]

This slightly overexposed image shows the view from the cab of the Nice-bound service as it leaves the Tunnel de Launa. The Viaduc de Launa is just beyond the railway house on the left of the image. [4]

The Southeast portal of Tunnel de Launa with a railway house on the right of the image. The viaduct is immediately behind the camera. Note also the level crossing close to the tunnel mouth. [38]

The view East across the railway on Rte du Vieux Village (D121). [Google Streetview, March 2023]

This photograph, taken at the apex of a hairpin bend on Rte du Vieux Village (D121) has the tunnel mouth top-left, the railway house just to the right of centre at the top of the image with the railway in front of it spanning a bridge which carries the road under the railway. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

The bridge carrying the railway over Rte du Vieux Village (D121). [Google Streetview, March 2023]

Viaduc de Launa (100 metres in length – six 12-metre arches over the Galimbert stream) seen from the cab of the Nice-bound train running through the level-crossing. The viaduct was rebuilt during 1992 and 1993 as the first viaduct suffered settlement due to ground movement. [4]

Viaduc de Launa towards the end of the construction contact circa 1928, © Public Domain. [39]

A similar view of the viaduct in the 1970s, © Unknown. [39]

Looking North along the viaduct in the 1970s, © Unknown. [39]

The replacement reinforced concrete viaduct was opened in 1993. This view looks from the West on the D121 which passes under the viaduct.

Both this and the next image of the pedestrian crossing at Chemin de Laghet – a couple of hundred metres further along the line toward Nice – are of poor quality because of bright and low sunlight. [4]

An unmetalled lane (Chemin de Laghet) used to cross the line at this location, now only pedestrian access across the line is permitted. The crossing-keeper’s cottage remains. {Google Streetview, January 2011]

A short distance further Southwest the Chemin du Canton Soubran passes under the line. The structure is only suitable for a cattle creep and pedestrian access. This view looks East toward the structure. the line heads toward Peille Railway Station on the left and to Drap-Cantaron to the right. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

Peillon-Sainte-Thècle Railway Station building forecourt, seen from the South West, © August III Sas (July 2023. [Google Maps, September 2025]

Looking directly into the sun, this is the view from the cab of a Nice-bound service coming to a halt at Peillon-Sainte-Thècle Railway Station. [4]

A better view of Peillon-Sainte-Thècle Railway Station as seen from the East along the platform, © Yann Cochois (September 2023). [Google Maps, September 2025]

Immediately to the West of Peillon-Sainte-Thècle Railway Station, the line crosses Pont de Brauschet (five 9 metre arches), seen here from the South on Avenue de la Gare. [Google Streetview, March 2023]

Pont du Brauschet sits just to the West of Peillon-Sainte-Thècle Railway Station and is marked on this map with a red arrow. It is 70 metres long and is a 5-arch viaduct.

Pont de Brauschet, seen from the cab of a train heading for Nice. [4]

The next structure along the line is Tunnel de Châteauvieux (219 metres in length). This in the East portal of the tunnel. [4]

Tunnel de Châteauvieux is the first of three tunnels which Nice-bound trains now pass through. It is marked by the red, blue and green dots on this image. Immediately to the West of this tunnel are the two side-by-side Viaducs des Mortes. [40]

This is the West portal of Tunnel de Châteauvieux, seen from alongside the line between the tunnel and Viaduc des Mortes. [40]

Just to the West of the Tunnel de Châteauvieux there are 2 viaducts next to each other (Viaducs des Mortes) of which only one is in service; the southern one which gives access to the Tuhet tunnel. The viaduct to the north (which has seven arches) leads to an unfinished tunnel. An accident occurred during the drilling of the original tunnel in 1925. The accident, which caused the death of 3 workers, resulted in the need to drill a new tunnel and, as a result, the construction of another viaduct in 1927 (with five 11 metre arches). The viaducts are named, Viaducs des Mortes, not because of the accident but because the viaducts bridge a footpath which was used to take deceased inhabitants of Borghéas to the cemetery of the neighbouring village of Drap.

The two viaducts mentioned above. [Google Maps, September 2025]

The two viaducts, seen from the North. The green arrow indicates the operational viaduct, the red arrow, the redundant viaduct. [48]

A view of both of the two viaducts and the Tunnel de Tuhet beyond. [46]

The East portal of Tunnel de Tuhet, seen from the cab of a Nice-bound service on the Viaduc des Mortes. [4]

The Tunnel de Tuhet (346 metres long). [46]

The West portal of the Tunnel de Tuhet. [46]

The East portal of Tunnel de la Ribosse. [47]

Tunnel de la Ribosse. [47]

The West portal of Tunnel de la Ribosse. [47]

A short distance further West, the line passes through Fontanil-Drap High School Halt.

Fontanil-Drap High School Halt seen from the Southeast on Route des Croves. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

At the West end of the station/halt, the Route des Croves passes under the line. The low arch bridge seen from the South. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

The same structure seen from the North side of the line. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

The next bridge carries the line over Chemin de de l’Ubac. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

The South side of the same structure. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

A short distance further West the line crosses the D2204, the River Paillon and the D2204B. …

The steel girder bridge, Pont des Vernes, which now carries the line over the the D2204, the River Paillon and the D2204B, seen from the Northeast on the D2204. The bridge is made of two spans of 28.64 m and two of 26.09 m, the easternmost span of which crosses the Contes road and what was the Nice-Bendejun tramway line of the TNL. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

The same bridge seen from the South on the D2204B. [Google Streetview, March 2025]

The same bridge seen from above. The mouth of Tunnel de Moulin-de-Cantaron is in the top-left of the image. This postcard image was shared on the Comte de Nice et son Histoire Facebook Group by Jean-Paul Bascoul on 19th April 2025, © Public Domain. [50]

Pont des Vernes seen from the middle of the Paillon of its four spans the outer two were 26.1 metres in length and the middle two were each 28.5 metres long, (c) Unknown but probably Public Domain. [52]

Once across the river and adjacent roads the line enters Tunnel de Moulin-de-Cantaron.

The East portal of Tunnel de Moulin-de-Cantaron. [Google Streetview,

Tunnel de Moulin-de-Cantaron. [26]

The Southwest portal of the Tunnel de Moulin-de-Cantaron, seen from the end of the platform at Drap-Cantaron Railway Station, © Eugenio Merzagora and shared on the Structure website. [51]

The railway station at Drap also served the village of Cantaron which was on the opposite bank of the River Paillon. This old postcard image was shared by Roland Coccoli on the Comte de Nice et son Histoire Facebook Group on 22nd January 2016. [5]

A closer view of the Station at Drap. This postcard image was shared on the Comte de Nice et son Histoire Facebook Group by Charles Louis Fevrier on 5th January 2021. [6]

This length of our journey finishes here at Drap-Cantaron Railway Station.

References

Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 2: 1929-1974; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 3: 1975-1986; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
https://youtu.be/rLXAEz-n4mM?si=RLQC31jynGeM_lQR, accessed on 26th August 2025. Permission to use these still images from the YouTube video has been sought.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/ciccoli/permalink/1711973335715195, accessed on 15th December 2023.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/ciccoli/permalink/2989582914620891, accessed on 15th December 2023.
https://www.cparama.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14570, accessed on 21st December 2023.
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https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/07/22/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-1.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/07/26/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-2.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/06/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-3-vievola-to-st-dalmas-de-tende
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/16/the-railway-between-nice-tende-and-cuneo-part-4-st-dalmas-de-tende-to-breil-sur-roya
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/25/the-railway-between-nice-tende-and-cuneo-part-5-breil-sur-roya-to-ventimiglia
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10212672518585538&set=a.10212672512625389, accessed on 30th August 2025.
Franco Collidà, Max Gallo & Aldo A. Mola; CUNEO-NIZZA History of a Railway; Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Cuneo (CN), July 1982.
https://cartorum.fr/carte-postale/204912/lescarene-lescarene-la-gare-et-le-viaduc-ligne-nice-coni, accessed on 30th August 2025.
https://www.cparama.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3321#google_vignette, accessed on 30th August 2025
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vue_du_village_de_L%E2%80%99Escar%C3%A8ne_depuis_la_maison_de_retraite.jpg, accessed on 31st August 2025.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/tu06/06057.1.pdf, accessed on 31st August 2025.
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https://structurae.net/en/structures/coletta-tunnel, accessed on 15th September 2025.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5-omGzckp0, accessed on 16th September 2025. Permission to use these still images from the YouTube video has been sought.
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Franco Collida, Max Gallo & Aldo A. Mola; CUNEO-NIZZA History of a Railway; Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Cuneo (CN), July 1982.
Franco Collidà; 1845-1979: the Cuneo-Nice line year by year; in Rassegna – Quarterly magazine of the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo; No. 7, September 1979, pp. 12-18.
Stefano Garzaro & Nico Molino; THE TENDA RAILWAY From Cuneo to Nice, the last great Alpine crossing; Editrice di Storia dei Trasporti, Colleferro (RM), EST, July 1982.
SNCF Region de Marseille; Line: Coni – Breil sur Roya – Vintimille. Reconstruction et équipement de la section de ligne située en territoire Français; Imprimerie St-Victor, Marseille (F), 1980.
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Dog Kennel Bridge on the Coleford Branch in the Forest of Dean

References

https://booksrus.me.uk/gn/page%2096.html, accessed on 4th September 2025.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.8&lat=51.79209&lon=-2.62401&layers=168&b=ESRIWorld&o=100, accessed on 5th September 2025.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.4&lat=51.78774&lon=-2.63287&layers=168&b=ESRIWorld&o=100, accessed on 5th September 2025.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouth_Railway, accessed on 6th September 2025.
https://forestofdeanhistory.org.uk/learn-about-the-forest/dog-kennel-bridge, accessed on 6th September 2025.

The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 6 – Breil-sur-Roya to L’Escarene.

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The featured image above shows an unidentified steam locomotive crossing the highly unusual Viaduc de Bevera. The train is heading toward Sospel.

In the first five articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Breil-sur-Roya and then to Ventimiglia. These articles can be found here, [9] here [10] here, [11] here, [12] and here [13]

I want to acknowledge that a series of stills from a video of the train journey from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice have been used in this article. The video can be seen here. [4]

This article begins the journey from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice.

South of Breil-sur-Roya a junction allows direct access to Ventimiglia and to Nice. The map below shows the two routes as they existed prior to the alteration of the border between France and Italy after the Second World War.

The project was finally agreed by the PLM on 7th January 1907 but various portions of the work would be delayed by disputes relating to the transfer of land. “Acquisitions began in the suburbs of Nice in May 1907, at Saint-Roch … and Roccabiliera, where the PLM had decided to build a vast facility with a goods station, marshalling yard and engine depot to relieve congestion at Nice central station, whose rights of way, enclosed in the urban fabric, could no longer expand. This program for the redesign of Nice’s railway facilities also provided for a 3,610 m connection between the new Saint-Roch station, Riquier station and the port. In the hinterland, events also began to take shape and in December 1908, a section of engineers set up in Fontan and undertook the first work along the Roya the following January.” [1: p90]

Banaudo et al continue: “In 1909, Chief Engineer Paul Séjourné (1851-1939), then fifty-eight years old and already renowned for his original designs for civil engineering structures, took over the direction of the construction department. The line from Nice to the Italian border would give him the opportunity to exercise his talent in the design of structures that were as daring as they were harmoniously integrated into the landscape.” [1: p90]

In this series of articles, we have already seen Séjourné‘s Scarassoui Viaduct spanning La Roya to the North of Breil-sur-Roya.

The line from Breil-sur-Roya to l’Escarene. [

This article follows the line South from Breil-sur-Roya to l’Escarene in two parts. The first from Breil to Sospel and the second from Sospel to l’Escarene.

1. The Line South from Breil-sur Roya to Sospel

Banaudo et al tell us that, “In December 1912, tranches 8 and 9 were awarded in turn for a length of 10,500 m from Sospel to Breil to the François Mercier company, of Moulins-sur-Allier. The work included three tunnels with a combined length of 5,307 m, including the Mont Grazian and Caranca structures established at double-track gauge and equipped with defensive devices, as well as seven bridges and viaducts representing twenty-five masonry arches and two metal spans. Among them, the exceptional structure of the Bévéra viaduct. There were also three culverts and three level crossings in this section.” [1: p102-103]

Banaudo et al take up a significant part of Volume 1 of the story of the line with an album of photographs of the construction work on the French side of the border. [2: p152-331] A superb record of the work undertaken.

On the Sospel-Breil section of the line the contract works were gradually completed. By the end of 1921, the Bancao and Caranca tunnels were completed. The Mont Grazian tunnel was finished in 1923. The Bévéra viaduct’s abutments and masonry arch were ready by then and only awaited the delivery of the metalwork of the decking. [1: p141]

The length of the lien from Breil-sur-Roya (top-right) to l’Escarene (bottom-left). [8]

This drawing/map shows the two routes heading South from Breil-sur-Roya. [40]

As with the line immediately to the North of Breil-sur-Roya, the works to the South and Southwest were constructed by the French. Both of the lines heading South from Breil-sur-Roya entered tunnels just a short distance South of Breil.

The first length of the line South of Breil-sur-Roya is common with the line to Ventimiglia. The two lines separate at the Lavina bridge.

A colourised postcard view of Breil-Sur Roya Railway Station looking North through the station site in advance of the official opening in 1928. This colourised image was shared on the Stura-Cuneo Facebook Page on 20th February 2020, (c) Public Domain. [29]

Breil-sur-Roya station during its very early operation (1928-35), before electrification, with numerous passenger carriages standing idle. The passenger building is in the background; in the foreground are the buildings on the second platform, the only ones today significantly reduced in height and length, publisher Frédéric Laugier, (c) Public Domain. [30]

Breil-sur-Roya Railway Station at the height of its development, with electrification completed (1935), with the passenger building, the large freight yard filled with wagons, and the concrete sheds with arched vaults. Those in the background still exist but are used for non-railway purposes. The Breil Ecomuseum is now located on the north side, half-hidden by the foliage of the tree in the foreground. The photograph was taken from the hillside to the Northwest of the station site and faces Southeast, (c) Public Domain. [30]

After the war, the line to Nice was reopened in 1947, but the station, reduced to the simple terminus of a secondary section, was greatly simplified, removing almost all the sidings (the long straight lines of which can still be made out). In the background, the line to Fontan still features the electrification poles (removed from the rest of the station), but it was naturally abandoned and remained there until its reconstruction in the 1970s. In the 21st century, platform 2, which had been removed at the time, has been restored, the buildings on the second platform have been scaled down, and the third platform has been eliminated. The turntable, which still exists, is part of the Ecomusée, publisher Lapie à Saint-Maur, 1955, (c) Public Domain.[31]

Breil-sur-Roya Railway Station in 2013, (c) Gilles Tagadaand licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [32]

The southern end of the railway station site in Breil-sur-Roya. Two lines leave the station heading South-southwest. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The view from the cab of a Nice-bound service waiting to set off from Breil-sur-Roya. [4]

South of the station adjacent parallel bridges cross the Voie de la Première Dfl and Vallon de la Lavina (the Lavina Bridge).

Lavina Bridge seen at rail-level from the cab of the Nice-bound train. [4]

Looking East under the railway bridges (the Lavina Bridge) along Voie de la Première Dfl. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Looking West under the railway bridges (the Lavina Bridge)along Voie de la Première Dfl. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

A short distance to the South the two lines can be seen to be separating both geographically and in level. This view looks Northeast with the station off to the left. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The view South from the cab of a Ventimiglia-bound train. Again, the separation in level is quite marked. [55]

At the same location, this view looks Southeast. Both lines enter a tunnel just to the South. One tunnel mouth is visible on the left of the image at a lower level. The other tunnel mouth is behind the vegetation on the right of this image. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The two tunnel mouths seen from the cab of a Nice-bound service. [4]

The two tunnel mouths. On the left, that of Gigne Tunnel, on the right, that of Caranca Tunnel. Left for Ventimiglia, right for Nice! The whole structure is provided with a series of small openings to facilitate the holding of the tunnels in the event of war. [17]

Caranca Tunnel North Portal prior to vegetation growth. The tunnel was built to accommodate double-track to allow for possible future growth in traffic. [20]

The North portal of Caranca Tunnel in the 21st century (915 metres long). [4]

This extract from the OpenStreetMap mapping shows the close correlation of the two different routes over the first fe kilometres. The short red lines are the locations of tunnel mouths. [14]

The route of Caranca Tunnel crosses twice over the Gigne Tunnel which is on the Ventimiglia line. The lines to both Nice and Ventimiglia are shown as dotted lines when in tunnel. [1: p126]

Nice-bound trains exit Caranca Tunnel heading Southeast. This is the view from the cab of a Nice-bound train. [4]

Turning round to face the Tunnel portal, this is the Southeast portal of Caranca Tunnel. [20]

The next tunnel is Tunnel de Bancao (508 metres long). This is the North portal of the tunnel. [4]

The North Portal of Bancao Tunnel is at the higher level. the lower tunnel mouth is that o Sanfurian Tunnel. [19]

The South portal of Bancao Tunnel gives way onto Viaduc Bancao. [19]

The line leaves Bancao Tunnel and immediately crosses Bancao Viaduct. [4]

Bancao Viaduct on the line from Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia is a single span arch close to the D6204 on this extract from OpenStreetMap. The line to the West is the line we are now following from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice which is at a much higher level and its viaduct is a multi-span structure. [15]

Both the Nice line and the Ventimiglia line can be seen in this image. That to Nice is at the higher level. The longer viaduct at the lower level is Viaduc Eboulis. Viaduc Bancao is at the higher level. [18]

An earlier monochrome view of Viaduc Bancao. The viaduct has eight 9 metre arches. [18]

Looking West from the D6204/E74, a small culvert close to the road is dwarfed by the bridge carrying the line to Ventimiglia which in turn is dwarfed by the viaduct carrying the line to Nice. [Google Streetview, April 2008]

Viaduc de Bancao on the Nice to Breil-sur-Roya line appears, in part, at the top of this image.

The two rail lines are still running in parallel, only beginning to separate significantly at the bottom of this extract from Open StreetMap.

The line we are following enters the Mont Grazian Tunnel, bottom right of this OpenStreetMap extract. [16]

Before the Tunnel three structures are crossed – two 10 metre-span arched bridges and then Viaduc d’Arbousset none of the three are marked on this map extract. The Viaduct sits at the point where the line which has been curving round to the South begins to turn to the Southwest, just before entering Mont Grazian Tunnel. [16]

Viaduc d’Arbousset (63 metres long with three 7 metre arches). Ahead the line curves to the right and enters Mont Grazian Tunnel. [4]

The Northeast portal of the Tunnel de Mont Grazian, seen from the cab of a Nice-boud train. [4]

The Mont Grazian Tunnel was built wide enough to accommodate double-track to allow for possible future traffic growth. “It was lined with defensive measures at both ends, a precaution imposed by the major strategic importance of this structure, which connects the Roya and Bévéra valleys.” [1: p94] Details of the defensive measures can be found here. [27]

The Northeast portal of Tunnel de Mont Grazian. This view from above shows the Viaduc d’Arbousset and the high retaining wall on the right of the mouth of the tunnel. [27]

Tunnel de Mont Grazian is 3891 metres in length. [27]

The view Southeast from the cab of the Nice-bound service as it leaves the tunnel mouth. A very short distance beyond the tunnel mouth the line crosses Viaduc de Bassera. [4]

Turning through 180, the Southwest portal of the Tunnel de Mont Grazian. [27]

The Southeast portal of the Mont Grazian Tunnel before the opening of the line in 1928. Viaduc de Bassera is in the foreground. There are detailed differences between the appearance of the tunnel entrance in this view and the photograph of the entrance above. As part of the Maginot strategic defence plan for the SFAM (Alpes Maritimes Fortified Sector) the Southeast portal of Mount Grazian Tunnel had fortified side chambers with loopholes overlooking the tunnel to guard against enemy incursion. More details can be found here. [27]

A different postcard view of the Bassera Viaduct and the tunnel mouth of the Mont Grazian Tunnel. [46]

The Bassera Viaduct is curved with seven 12-metre arches and crosses the Basséra River.

A broader view of the Viaduc de Bassera at the time of its construction, (c) Public Domain. [23]

In this image, Viaduc de Bassera is on the right and Viaduc Cai (over the River Bevera) is on the left. [23]

The two bridges as seen on Google Earth. [Google Earth, August 2025]

The original bridge over the Bevera (Pont de Cai) which was built in time for the opening of the line in 1928. More details can be found here. [24]

A very short distance beyond the end of Viaduc de Bassera, the line crosses the River Bevera on another viaduct – Viaduc Cai. [4]

This extract from OpenStreetMap illustrates the proximity of the two viaducts and Mont Grazian Tunnel. [22]

The Bevera viaduct was of unusual construction. It consisted of four masonry arches, each of 26 ft span, and of two steel girder spans, each 150 ft long. These steel girders are, as can be seen, supported in the centre by a single masonry arch set at right angles to the axis of the bridge, and crossing the gorge. [25]

The Bevera Viaduct was rebuilt in the 1960s. [ID: 355520] Bévera Viaduct (Pont de Caï) (© Eugenio Merzagora, 25 June 2021, Structurae License (non-commercial use). [21]

The Bevera Viaduct was an ingenious design solution to the need to thread the line through the narrow Bevera Gorge to the East of Sospel. Engineer: Paul Séjourné, © Markus Schweiss and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [26]

Due to its proximity to the Italian border, this unused tunnel (marked with a red arrow) was built for strategic reasons as part of the Maginot Plan for the defense of the SFAM (Fortified Sector of the Alpes Maritimes). [28]

It was intended to provide an emergency route in the event that the large neighboring Caï viaduct needed to be destroyed, and to store the metal spans of a replacement viaduct. [28]

Halfway along its length, on the left wall, it has an annex gallery (tunnel window – marked by the yellow arrow) which opens onto the western abutment of the Caï viaduct. More information can be found here. [28]

The Bevera River flows West to East (its confluence with La Roya (Roia) is adjacent to the village of Bevera which sits on the North bank of the Bevera River). Once across the Bevera River on the Cai Viaduct, the line heads up a gradient of 17 mm/m to Sospel Railway Station.

The route of the line between Breil-sur-Roya and Sospel was determined by the military. The military authorities dictated that the line should be routed to ensure that it could “be easily intercepted by the artillery of The Barbonnet fort, above Sospel, in the event of an infiltration attempt from the Roya valley.” [1: p92 & 94]

The Cai or Bevera Viaduct “crosses the river at a very acute angle. [This] inspired an original arrangement by Paul Séjourné: the deck, formed of two metal spans of 45.30 m, framed by four masonry arches of 8 m, rests 30 m above the river on a perpendicular arch of 25 m opening and egg-like in shape, resting transversely on the walls of the gorge.” [1: p94]

The line follows the valley side to the South of the Bevera rising, as we have already noted at a gradient of 17 mm/m. It crosses a minor road by means of a level crossing (Route de Suez).

The level crossing at Route de Suez, seen from above. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The level crossing at Route de Suez seen from the cab of a West-bound train. [4]

The next level crossing on the line is immediately at the East end of Sospel Railway Station site. [Google Maps, August 2025

The same crossing seen from the cab of the Westbound train approaching Sospel Railway Station. [4]

The road crossing of the line (seen from the South) is on the left of this image. The track to the right heads back towards the Viaduc de Cai. A small culvert can be seen alongside the road at this location. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The road crossing of the line (also seen from the South) is on the right of the image. The track to the left heads into Sospel Railway Station. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Further West and fully within what was the station site but which in the 21st century is an open plateau of unused land. [4]

The station passing loop seen at its eastern end from the cab of the Westbound train. [4]

The final approach to Sospel railway Station from the East. [4]

Sospel Railway Station. [4]

Sospel Railway Station, seen from above. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The station and forecourt at Sospel, © G CHP and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.5). [29]

A similar view from the early 20th century, of the station building at Sospel. [45]

Sospel Railway Station was to be a station “with substantial facilities which would allow the reception of military convoys in the event of conflict with neighboring Italy.” [1: p92] Arriving on Sospel, trains from Breil-sur-Roya pass through a large flat open area which was designed to accommodate the needs of the military.

The town was, in the middle of the 19th century, the second city of the County of Nice. “The location of Sospel … in … a basin where the Bévéra Valley widens, is very unique. From wherever one arrives from France, one must cross a pass: the Braus pass coming from Nice, the Castillon pass towards Menton, the Brouis pass towards Breil and La Roya, and the Turini pass towards La Bollène and La Vésubie. Towards Italy, the Vescavo Pass road connects Piena and Olivetta, while downstream, the Bévéra flows in impassable gorges where one could only venture on foot.” [1: p101-102]

The year 1912 was quite momentous in the history of Sospel not only was construction work getting underway but on 15th April 1912 the Compagnie des Tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL) opened its Menton-Sospel tramway. More about the tramway can be found here, [36] here [37] and here. [38]

Closer to the centre of Sospel, this is the terminus of the Menton-Sospel Tramway. [46]

Banaudo et al comment that “The Gianotti company immediately took advantage of this opportunity to transport the tools and equipment from Nice that would be used for the construction of the Braus tunnel. … In the initial stages of the construction, the Gianotti brothers used a network of portable 0.60 m gauge railways, on which Decauville dump trucks pulled by horses ran. Later, one-metre gauge tracks were laid, on which steam locomotives pulled larger capacity trains, consisting of Koppel wagons with a load of 6 m³ or wooden-bodied wagons with a capacity of 3 m³. Several locomotives from the contractor were brought to site via the tramway, coupled to a ‘mortrice electrique’ (an electric tram engine) as a safety measure on the steeply graded tramway.” [1: p102]

“In the early months of 1913, the Mercier company got to work and obtained permission from the TNL company to open a special branch line at each end of the Menton-Sospel tramway line. The construction site’s supplies then provided the tramway with more than half of its freight traffic. In July 1913, two to three round trips ran daily, and in October, Mercier received 745 tons of materials in Sospel. In May 1914, the Gianotti brothers opened their own branch line in the Careï Valley in Menton, but soon, the saturation of the small freight yard and insufficient equipment forced the TNL to limit shipments to five wagons per day.” [1: p103]

2. Sospel to l’Escarene

The journey from Sospel to l’Escarene takes the line through and under the mountains of the Col de Braus.

The line climbs through a series of embankments and cuttings on a gradient of 9.5 mm/m and enters the Tunnel de Braus.It continues to climb within the tunnel to a high point of 420 metres above sea level. Within the tunnel the gradient then changes to a 2 mm/m downward grade towards l’Escarene. The tunnel was double-track both to aid ventilation and to allow for possible expansion of services if demand required it. At the insistence of the military defensive fortifications surrounded the two tunnel mouths. [1: p92]

Of the 12 tranches of contract work on the French side of the international border, two tranches covered the 9.7 km length between Sospel and l’Escarene – lots 6 and 7. The work was awarded in December 1911 and April 1912 to Jean and Antonin Gianotti. Banaudo et al tell us that the work included over 6.4 km of tunnel. “As well as a few secondary structures: three culverts, four level crossings, two underpasses and six overpasses, most of which were built using the new reinforced concrete technique.” [1: p101]

After waiting for a Breil-sur-Roya-bound service to clear the line ahead, we set off in a Westerly direction from the station at Sospel.

A Nice to Breil-sur-Roya service arriving at Sospel. [4]

As the Nice-bound train sets off from Sospel Station it crosses Rte d’Erc at a level-crossing. [4]

Rte d’Erc crosses the railway at the West end of the Sospel Station site. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Looking back East towards Sospel Railway Station. [Google streetview, August 2022]

A departure for Nice in 1947. The steam locomotive has just crossed the level-crossing over Rte d’Erc. [47]

A similar view looking back East towards Sospel Railway Station from close to the level crossing featured above. [44]

A view from the railway house which sits beside the level-crossing which shows Sospel Railway Station in very early days! [45]

Looking ahead along the railway towards l’Escarene (on the left of this post and image), the town of Sospel is laid out in front of the camera. In the text of this article we mention the use of concrete on the line. Two bridges of reinforced concrete construction can be seen on the left of this image. [46]

Looking West towards the bridge carrying Mnt des Capuchins over the railway. The station passing loop ends just to the West of the Rte d’Erc level crossing. [Google Streetview, August 2022]

A closer view of the bridge carrying Mnt des Capuchins. [4]

Rte de la Penetrante passes under the railway. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Rte de la Penetrante (D2566A) is crossed by means of a stone arch bridge. This is the North elevation of the structure. [Google Streetview, October 2022]

The South elevation of the same structure. [Google Streetview, October 2022]

Chemin de la Saint-Roch bridges the line a short distance further West. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The bridge carrying Chemin de la Saint-Roch over the line as seen from the cab of a Nice-bound train. [4]

The overbridge carrying Chemin de la Saint-Roch, seen from the North. [Google Streetview, April 2013]

Looking back along the line towards Sospel Railway Station. [39]

The next overbridge carries the D2204 (boulevard de l’Egalite over the line. [4]

Boulevard de l’Egalite (D2204) bridges the line a short distance further West. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Looking Souttheast from Boulevard de l’Egalite towards Sospel Railway Station. [Google Streetview, October 2022]

Looking Northwest from Boulevard de l’Egalite. [Google Streetview, October 2022]

The next structure visible form the cab of the Nice-bound train is an accommodation bridge which carries a driveway to a larger property running Northeast from La Condamine. [4]

An accommodation bridge carries a driveway from La Condamine over the line. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Rte du Moulinet (D2566) passes under the railway. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Just a short distance to the Northwest from the bridge above. The bridge over Rte du Moulinet is seen here from the Northeast. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The same structure, seen from the Southwest on the D2566. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

A short distance further West the line crosses Rte Sant-Antoine by means of a level-crossing. [4]

Rte Saint-Antoine crosses the line at level a little further to the West. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Looking East from Rte Saint-Antoine towards Sospel. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Looking West from Rte Saint-Antoine. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The D2566 crosses the line (heading North-northwest) with the line travelling in a southwesterly direction. [4]

Rte de Moulinet (D2566) crosses the line again. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Looking Northeast from Rte du Moulinet towards Sospel. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

Looking Southeast towards l’Escarene from the same bridge over the line. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

In deep shade, this is the mouth of Tunnel de Braus, seen from the cab of an approaching Nice-bound train.[4]

The same tunnel mouth in better light. [31]

The full length of Tunnel de Braus (5.94 km long), as it appears on OpenStreetMap. [30]

The full length of Tunnel de Braus as it is recorded in the French Inventory of Tunnels. The yellow dot marks the approximate location of a significant water flow intersected by the construction work which required significant remedial works before the construction of the tunnel could proceed. More information and drawings can be found here. [31]

As we have already noted, both the tunnel portals were fortified at the insistence of the military. … Completing the tunnels also required significant additional work to deal with a very high level of water ingress during construction.

The Southwest portal of Tunnel de Braus is flanked to the Southeast by a very high retaining wall and to the Northwest by a water channel created for the Ruisseau de Redebraus. [31]

The Tunnel de Braus was built to accommodate a double-track line to allow for possible future growth in traffic.

This image shows the Southwest tunnel mouth of Tunnel de Braus, an accommodation bridge Southwest of the tunnel portal and a bridge which carries the railway over the Ruisseau de Redebraus [ID: 324493] Col-de-Braus Tunnel western portal (© Eugenio Merzagora, 9 July 2019, Structurae License (non-commercial use)). [33]

This extract from Google’s satellite imagery shows the various structures from above – the river bridge is towards the bottom-left of the image with the tunnel mouth in the top-right. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The view from the cab of the Nice-bound train as it leaves the tunnel behind. [4] The first couple of hundred metres beyond the tunnel portal are within a narrow, damp and dark defile.

The bridge over the Ruisseau de Redebraus. [4]

The Nice-bound train approaches the halt at Touët-de-l’Escarène. [4]

Touët-de-l’Escarène Railway Station (Halt). The village is to the North of the Station. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Touët-de-l’Escarène Railway Station. [4]

Three older images of Touët-de-l’Escarène follow. Two while the station was under construction. …

Touët-de-l’Escarène Railway Station, seen from the South and under construction, seen from the Southwest. [49]

Touët-de-l’Escarène also under construction, seen from the West. [49]

Touët-de-l’Escarène, the completed line, seen heading away towards the Tunnel de Mont Grazian. [49]

The line beyond Touët-de-l’Escarène continues West along the North side of the Ruisseau de Redebraus towards the next tunnel. …

The next tunnel is Tunnel de l’Escarène or Tunnel de Coalongia (527 metres in length). [34]

The East portal of the Tunnel de l’Escarène. [4]

The view from the cab of a Nice-bound train as it leaves l’Escarene Tunnel. The points which provide the passing loop at l’Escarene Railway Station sit just outside the tunnel mouth. [4]

The West portal of the Tunnel de l’Escarène. [34]

Within the tunnel the line has begun to turn towards the South and the relatively tight curve continues until between the platforms at Sospel Station the line is on a North-South axis.

The final approach to l’Escarene Railway Station. [4]

L’Escarene Railway Station. [4]

These two images show the Station site from above. The red ring highlights the location of the station turntable which, in the 21st century, is the location of the town’s fire station. [35]]

L’Escarene sits at the top of a long climb from Nice. We will follow the line through to Nice in the next two articles in this series. (The next article can be found here. [5]) Like Sospel, l’Escarene Railway Station had substantial facilities on a wide open plateau designed to allow the reception of military convoys in the event of conflict with neighboring Italy. [1: p92]

References

Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 2: 1929-1974; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 3: 1975-1986; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
https://youtu.be/rLXAEz-n4mM?si=RLQC31jynGeM_lQR, accessed on 26th August 2025. Permission to use still images from this video has been sought via YouTube.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/09/26/the-railway-between-nice-tende-and-cuneo-part-7-lescarene-to-drap-cantaron-railway-station/
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https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/07/26/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-2.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/06/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-3-vievola-to-st-dalmas-de-tende
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/16/the-railway-between-nice-tende-and-cuneo-part-4-st-dalmas-de-tende-to-breil-sur-roya
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/25/the-railway-between-nice-tende-and-cuneo-part-5-breil-sur-roya-to-ventimiglia
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/43.93077/7.51647&layers=P, accessed on 18th August 2025.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/43.923820/7.520512&layers=P, accessed on 19th August 2025.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/43.91950/7.51623&layers=P, accessed on 20th August 2025.
F. Honore; Le Rail a Travers Les Alpes: De Nice a Coni par la Voie Ferrée; L’Illustration, No. 4470, 3rd November 1928, p499.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/mx06/06023.04D.pdf, accessed on 26th August 2025.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/tu06/06023.1.pdf, accessed on 26th August 2025.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/tu06/06023.2.pdf, accessed on 26th August 2025.
https://structurae.net/en/structures/bevera-viaduct-1962, accessed on 26th August 2025.
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https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/mx06/06136.03Y.pdf, accessed on 26th August 2025.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/kc06/06136.04W.pdf, accessed on 26th August 2025.
https://www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com/link-mediterranean.html, accessed on 26th August 2025
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viaduc_de_Bevera01.jpg, accessed on 26th August 2025
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/tu06/06136.2.pdf, accessed on 27th August 2025.
https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/tu06/06136.1.pdf, accessed on 27th August 2025.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gare_de_Sospel.JPG, accessed on 28th August 2025.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/43.86371/7.40071&layers=P, accessed on 28th August 2025.
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144697687618, accessed on 28th August 2025.
https://structurae.net/en/structures/col-de-braus-tunnel, accessed on 28th August 2025.
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https://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/pt06/06057-02U.pdf, accessed on 28th August 2025.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2013/12/10/sospel-to-menton-tramway
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61
https://ebay.us/m/GvQ7Pv, accessed on 29th August 2025.
Franco Collidà, Max Gallo & Aldo A. Mola; CUNEO-NIZZA History of a Railway; Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Cuneo (CN), July 1982.
Franco Collidà; 1845-1979: the Cuneo-Nice line year by year; in Rassegna – Quarterly magazine of the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo; No. 7, September 1979, pp. 12-18.
Stefano Garzaro & Nico Molino; THE TENDA RAILWAY From Cuneo to Nice, the last great Alpine crossing; Editrice di Storia dei Trasporti, Colleferro (RM), EST, July 1982.
SNCF Region de Marseille; Line: Coni – Breil sur Roya – Vintimille. Reconstruction et équipement de la section de ligne située en territoire Français; Imprimerie St-Victor, Marseille (F), 1980.
https://www.geneanet.org/cartes-postales/view/194490#0, accessed on 29th August 2025.
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https://www.cparama.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24506 , 29th August 2025.
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https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%A9ma_de_la_ligne_de_Nice_%C3%A0_Breil-sur-Roya, 15th September 2025

The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 5 – Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia

3 Replies

The featured image for this article, above is an FS Series 320 0-6-0 (030 in Italian notation) steam locomotive which was used in the early days of operation on the southern section of the Ventimiglia-Cuneo line, before the North and South sections could be linked. The locomotive depicted is FS3620 and carries a nameplate – ‘Terni’. 201 locomotives of this Class were built between 1904 and 1908. [8]

In the first four articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Breil-sur-Roya. These articles can be found here, [9] here [10] here, [11] and here. [12]

I also want to acknowledge the assistance given to me by David Sousa of the Rail Relaxation YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@RailRelaxation/featured and https://www.railrelaxation.com and particularly his kind permission given to use still images from rail journeys that he has filmed on the Cuneo-Ventimiglia railway line. [35][55]

This article follows the line South from Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia in two parts: the first as far as Airole and the second from Airole to Ventimiglia. ….

1. The Line South from Breil-sur Roya to Airole

This drawing/map shows the two routes heading South from Breil-sur-Roya. [40]

As with the line immediately to the North of Breil-sur-Roya, the works to the South were constructed by the French. Both of the lines heading South from Breil-sur-Roya entered tunnels just a short distance South of Breil.

South of the station adjacent parallel bridges cross the Voie de la Première Dfl and Vallon de la Lavina (the Lavina Bridge).

The two tunnel mouths. On the left, that of Gigne Tunnel, on the right, that of Caranca Tunnel. Left for Ventimiglia, right for Nice! [54]

The approach to the junction from Ventimiglia. The line from Nice is at the higher level on the left. [35]

The mouth of Gigne Tunnel (1188 metres in length), seen from the cab of the Ventimiglia-bound service. The tunnel is S-shaped. Trains heading South turn to the East within the tunnel and then, close to the East Portal, begin to turn to the South again. [55][1: p126]

The view North from the North Portal of Gigne Tunnel, seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

The route of this tunnel crosses twice under the Caranca tunnel on the Nice line. [1: p126]

Just beyond the East Portal of Gigne Tunnel the line begins to curve South again. [55]

The East Portal of Gigne Tunnel, seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

The North Portal of Sanfurian Tunnel (260 metres in length) was in deep shade when this image was taken from the cab of a Ventimiglia-bound train. [55]

The view Northwest from the same portal of Sanfurian Tunnel. [35]

The view South from the mouth of Sanfurian Tunnel. Note the high retaining walls to the right of the image. [55]

The South Portal of Sanfurian Tunnel, seen from the North end of Eboulis Viaduct. This viaduct has eight 18 metre stone arches and nine 7 metre stone arches. [35][1: p126]

The view from the North along the Route de Ventimiglia with the railway viaduct alongside the road. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Eboulis Viaduct facing South. [55]

Eboulis Viaduct looking North, seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

Eboulis Viaduct before the construction of the road between it and the River Roya. The quality of this image is not perfect but it is still possible to make out the South portal of Snfurian Tunnel towards the right of the image. [49]

The view along the E74/D6204 from the South with the viaduct to the left of the road and the river to the right below the road. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Looking South over Bancao Viaduct. [55]

Looking North along Bancao Viaduct. [35]

Bancao Viaduct on the line from Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia is close to the D6204 on this extract from OpenStreetMap. The line to the West is the line from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice which is at a much higher level. [14]

The bridge carrying the line to Ventimiglia is also known as the Bancao Ravine Bridge. [1: p126]

The length of the line South of Bancao Viaduct. The two rail line are still running in parallel, only beginning to separate significantly at the bottom of this extract from Open StreetMap. Cottalorda Tunnel begins towards the bottom of this map extract. [15]

The line can only be seen fleetingly from the road.

It runs in front of the terracotta-coloured building near the centre of this image. Railings at the edge of a retaining wall supporting the line can be seen to the right of the image. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

The North portal of Cottalorda Tunnel (297 metres long). [55]

Turning through 180°, this is the view North at the same location. [35]

Just a glimpse of the tunnel mouth and the associated retaining wall can be seen from the D6204/E74. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

The view South from the southern portal of Cottalorda Tunnel. [55]

The southern portal of Cottalorda Tunnel. [35]

Looking back towards Breil-sur-Roya and the mouth of Cottalorda Tunnel. Note the arcaded retaining wall on the left, typical of the retaining walls on this length of the line. The D6204 runs alongside and below the line to the right. [35]

This next length of the line from the South portal of Cottalorda Tunnel runs immediately adjacent to the E74/D6204. [16]

This smaller image, looks South along the D6204/E74. The railway can be seen adjacent to, but above the road. To the West side of the line, large retaining walls create space for the line on the steeply graded valley side. {Google Streetview, July 2014]

A little further South the Hydroelectric Plant is now visible. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

This View looks North. The building beyond the trees is Breil’s Hydroelectric Power Station (below). [35]

Now just beyond the Power Station , again looking South with a high retaining wall above the railway which sits a few metres above road level on the right. Three arcades carrying the line are followed by the three stone arches of the Riou Viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Construction work on the Italian length of the line in the lower Roya (Roia) Valley began in Ventimiglia. Banaudo et al have chosen to follow the line from South to North to reflect the way this section of the line was constructed. We continue to follow the line from North to South.

The length of the line from the border at Piena (Piene) to Airole was completed before the first world war but traffic along this part of the line had to wait for completion of the length of the line in French territory. The Italian authorities decided that services would commence only between Ventimiglia and Airole. That length is covered later in this article.

The international border at the time of construction was just to the North of Piena (Piene). That border line remained the same through the interwar years. Services North from Airole via Piena to Breil-sur-Roya had to wait until 1928 and the opening of the full line.

The Riou Viaduct (three 6.25m masonry arches) was the location of the international boundary. Banaudo et all tell us that the point that the line crossed the boundary is marked by the letters I and F engraved in a stone on the deck of the structure. [1: p125]

The Riou Viaduct straddled the centuries old border between Genoa and Savoy which became the border between Italy and France. This view looking South along the D6204/E74 shows the arcade retaining wall (3 bays) followed by the three-arch viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

This view looks North along the D6204/E74 towards Breil-sur-Roya. The three arches of the Riou Viaduct are on the left of the image. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Immediately to the South of the Riou Viaduct, Piene (Piena) Station was built as a frontier station below the village of Piena-Alta which, Banaudo et al tell us, was for centuries the outpost of the Genoese republic and the border with the States of Savoy. [1: p125-126]

Close to the road border post at Piena-Bassa, the “Italian administration decided to establish a station intended for police and customs control operations. There were three platform faces, a two-story passenger building and a customs clearance hall of the same size for goods, comprising a warehouse, offices and two apartments on the upper floors. The site was hemmed in by the tunnel to the South, the French border to the North, the mountainside to the West, and the Roya River to the East, necessitating the construction of the station, cantilevered over a masonry gallery supported by seven arches, above the SS 20 roadway.” [1: p126]

This photograph was taken in 1925 facing upstream.. It shows Piene (Piena) Railway Station sitting at high level, above the Ventimiglia road, (Collection of J. L. Taylor) (c) Public Domain. [26]

Also facing up stream, this image shows the structures at this location in 2006, (c) Markus Schweiss and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 3.0). [33]

Since the photograph above was taken a netting protection has been applied to the principal buildings at rail level. This photograph taken in 2019 also faces upstream, (c) Eugenio Merzagora/Structurae and made available for reuse under their non-commercial licence. [34]

This view looks South along the D6204/E74. it is taken a couple of hundred metres South of the Riou Viaduct where the road passes what was Piene Railway Station building. The site was tight and in order to accommodate the necessary station buildings, they were built over the road. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Piene Railway Station (closed) seen from the cab of a Southbound train. [55]

Piene Railway Station (closed) seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

Writing about the length of the line between Ventimiglia and the border at Piena (Piene), Banaudo et al say: “In the lower Roya Valley, the seven tranches of the Ventimiglia – southern border section were successively awarded in 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913. Despite the lower altitude, the route was as difficult as on the purely Alpine section of the line, with steep gorges and terrain that offered highly varied resistance to earthworks: unstable marly limestone, very hard black limestone, clayey marl, schist, sandstone, etc. Of the 17,260 m route, nearly half way to be in tunnels, with nineteen structures totaling 8,259 m, fifteen bridges and viaducts representing sixty-four masonry arches, as well as various secondary structures for crossing waterways and rural roads.” [1: p118]

Piene Railway Station to Airole Railway Station. [22]

South of Piene (Piena) a series of structures carry the line over or through the obstacles in its path:

• the Fromentino Tunnel, 645 m long;
• a viaduct with three 10 m arches;
• the Arme Tunnel, 333 m long;
• a viaduct with four 10 m arches;
• the Agrie Tunnel, 820 m long;
• the Fanghetto tunnel, 419 m long, extended by a gallery (the post-WW2 border was established at the North end of this tunnel);
• the Sardinesca Tunnel, 820 m long;
• a single span arch bridge over the Tron valley.

These are all illustrated below.

The North Portal of Fromentino Tunnel (645 metres in length) in shade. [55]

The view from the North portal of Fromentino tunnel. [35]

It is just possible to see the tunnel mouth above, when looking up from the road. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The view South from the D6204/E74 above the South portal of Fromentino Tunnel. Before reaching the Arme Tunnel, the line crosses a 3-viaduct of three 10 m span arches. The stone parapets of the viaduct can be seen below the top rail of the parapet immediately in front of the camera. [Google Streetview, September 2010]

The view South from the cab of a Ventimiglia-bound train at the southern portal of Fromentino Tunnel. The viaduct parapets are in the foreground. [55]

Turning round, this is the view of the South Portal of Fromentino Tunnel. [35]

Looking toward the northern portal of Arme Tunnel (333 metres long) which again is in shade. [55]

A view looking north along the railway from the road immediately above the North portal of Arme Tunnel. The parapets of the viaduct can again be seen between the two tunnel mouths. [Google Streetview, September 2010]

A similar view back towards Breil-sur-Roya from the cab of a Northbound service the mouth of Arme Tunnel. [35]

This next length of the line is heading South-southeast. Arme tunnel is at the top of this extract from OpenStreetMap. The line bridges (on a four-arch viaduct) a tributary of La Roya before being swallowed by Agrie Tunnel.

The view South from the mouth of Arme Tunnel. [55]

Turning through 180°, this is the South portal of the Arme Tunnel. [35]

The railway and the bridge are just visible over the edge of the road, looking East. The bridge is a viaduct of four 10 m spans. [Google Streetview, September 2010]

The northern portal of Agrie Tunnel (820 metres in length). [55]

The view from the cab of a Northbound service leaving Agrie Tunnel. [35]

A better view is obtained from the road above the North portal of Agrie Tunnel. This view shows the viaduct mentioned above. [Google Streetview, September 2010]

This is the view from the cab of a Southbound train at the South portal of Agrie Tunnel. The train is travelling at 68 km/hour and the still image from the video is much less distinct. [55]

A similar view but from the road. A metre high wall separates the road and the railway. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Turning through 180°, we see the mouth of the Agrie Tunnel from the cab of the Northbound service. [35]

A similar view from the road. It is at this location that we cross into Italy! The border was adjusted as part of reparations after WW2. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

At high speed the video stills are less distinct. This is the northern mouth of the Fanghetto Tunnel which is in shade. This tunnel is 419 metres in length and trains cross the border between France and Italy as they enter it. [55]

A much more distinct view from the road of the mouth of Fanghetto Tunnel. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

Here, we are looking from Italy into France in this view back towards Breil-sur-Roya from the mouth of the Fanghetto Tunnel. [35]

The southern end of the Fanghetto Tunnel is galleried/arcaded with low level arches letting in light before the tunnel mouth is reached. [55]

The arcades close to the southern mouth of Fanghetto Tunnel seen from the East side of the valley. [Google Streetview, July 2021]

The view along the line from the southern portal of Fanghetto Tunnel. [55]

The southern portal of the Fanghetto Tunnel. [35]

With the Southbound train now travelling at 75 km/hr, small structures (like this accommodation bridge) whizz by and, certainly in this direction with the bridge face in shadow, it is impossible to make out any detail.. [55]

The structure is seen in better light, from the cab of the Northbound service. [35]

The northern mouth of Sardinesca Tunnel (820 metres long) again in shadow and indistinct because of the speed of the train. [55]

Looking back towards Breil-sur-Roya from the cab of a Northbound train at the mouth of the Sardinesca Tunnel. [35]

The view South beyond the southern portal of Sardinesca Tunnel. The parapets of a single span arch bridge are visible close to the camera. [55]

Turning through 180° we get a look at a footbridge over the line just outside Sardinesca Tunnel. [35]

The same footbridge seen from the SS20 road. the arch bridge over the Tron, a tributary of the Roya, can be seen on the left of the image. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

An extract from Google’s satellite imagery showing the same location. Note the tunnel mouth and adjacent footbridge in the top-left quadrant of the photograph. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Next comes the Olivetta-San-Michele Station and the San-Michele Tunnel (133 m long).

A very short distance South of the footbridge is Olivetta San Michele Railway Station. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Olivetta San Michele Station, seen from the cab of the Ventimiglia-bound service. [55]

A better railside view of the station building at Olivetta San Michele, this time from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

The station building seen looking South from the SS20/E74 road. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The station building seen from the East, (c) Pampuco and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [36]

The view ahead along the line towards Ventimiglia from the cab of the Southbound train as it pulls out of Olivetta San Michele Station. The tunnel ahead is San Michele Tunnel which is 126 metres in length. [55]

A view, looking South from the SS20, of the northern mouth of San Michele Tunnel with an Italian Locomotive heading into the tunnel (I may well need correcting on this) is shown in more detail below… It appears to be a Belgian locomotive (SNCB) No. 7336 with the name, ‘Mexico’. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This picture it taken just a short distance to the South of the image above. It shows a side-on view of the same locomotive. I would not expect to see this locomotive at this location! [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This is SNCB 7304 – the image is provided by Wikipedia. The family resemblance with 7336 is manifest. The Class 73 locomotives formed the backbone of the SNCB/NMBS shunting locomotive fleet. [20]

Class 73 locomotives were built in three batches: 7301-7335 during 1965–1967, 7336-7375 during 1973-1974 and finally 7373–7395 in 1976–1977. [20]

This is the view North through the station site as seen from the cab of a Northbound service at the North postal of the San Michele Tunnel. [35]

Looking out from the Southeast portal of San Michele Tunnel, the line ahead crosses Roya IV Bridge which is 126 metres in length and then enters Mantici Tunnel which is 604 metres long. [55]

One hundred metres further South and turning through 180°, this is the view across Roya IV Bridge towards the San Michele Tunnel. Note that the road tunnel is just above the railway tunnel, although on a different line. [35]

The view from the road above the Southeast portal of San Michele Tunnel. The mouth of Mantigi Tunnel (604 metres long) can be seen at the end of the railway viaduct. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

A very short distance along the road a somewhat better view of the viaduct. [Google Streetview, August 2021] More views of the viaduct can be seen here, [17] here, [18] and here. [19]

Roya IV Bridge was also known as the San-Michele Viaduct. It was made up of five 15 metre arches. [1: p125]

The Mantigi tunnel has a short section where it is very close the the surface of the ground above, Banaudo et al, tell us that this allowed the provision of a vertical ventilation shaft. [1: p125]

Trains travelling South to Ventimiglia crossed the viaduct and ran on through Mantigi Tunnel. Airole Railway Station was originally on a large plateau beyond the Southeast portal of Mantigi Tunnel.

The original location of Airole Railway Station. The substantial passenger building remains. The walls of one other building can be seen to the Southeast of the passenger facilities. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Banaudo et al tell that “Airole station was located in an olive grove to the North of the village, in the only place where the shallower slope of the left bank of the Roya allowed the construction of a retaining wall to support all the railway infrastructure: the passenger building, three platform tracks and two freight tracks with a goods shed and high platform, as well as a water column for the locomotives.” [1: p121]

The station was built in 1914 and remained operational until, sadly, the station site was abandoned in the 1970s when it was replaced by a single platform halt in the centre of Airole. [25]

At the southern end of Mantigi Tunnel, trains enter a passing loop (Airole Loop), which is all that is left of the original railway station, before entering another tunnel! [55]

Looking back towards Breil-sur-Roya from within the passing loop. Immediately to the North of the loop, Northbound trains plunge into the Mantigi Tunnel. [35]

This excellent photograph of the old station building looks North towards the Mantigi Tunnel, © Giorgio Stagni and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [25]

The station building and the shell of the old goods shed. This is another photograph © Giorgio Stagni and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [37]

Looking North from the cab of a Northbound train approaching the old railway station building. It is evident from both these pictures that there were originally sidings at this location – confirmation that the station facilities at Airole were once quite significant. [35]

At the end of the passing loop trains enter Madonna Tunnel (249 metres long). [55]

Looking back towards Breil-sur-Roya from the portal of Madonna Tunnel. The passing loop is still provided at this location as there is no room at the present Airole Railway Station for more than a single track. [35]

Leaving Madonna Tunnel trains immediately pass under a local road bridge which appears as not much more than a silhouette as eyes get used to the light on leaving the tunnel. [55]

Airole Railway Station seen from the cab of a Ventimiglia-bound train passing under the accommodation bridge shown above. [55]

The view West from the bridge which carries Via Giacomo Matteotti over the line. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

Turning to face East, this is the present Airole Railway Station as seen from Via Giacomo Matteotti. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

A Northbound train is stationary at Airole Railway Station. This is the view ahead, West towards Olivette San Michele. The road over bridge sits a few metres closer to the station than the mouth of Madonna Tunnel. [35]

A great action shot showing ALn 663 1160 at Airole station, © Giorgio Stagni and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [38]

Airole Railway Station seen from the cab of a northbound service entering the station from the East. [35]

A similar view but this time the camera is on Via G. Biancheri which crosses the railway line above the West portal of Airole Tunnel (153 metres in length). [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This extract from Google’s satellite imagery shows the village of Airole which sits over the line. Airole Tunnel curves to the Northeast. Its West Portal is bottom-left in this image, its Northeast portal is top-right. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The view Southwest from the cab of a Ventimiglia-bound train at the Northeast portal of Airole Tunnel. [55]

The Southwest portal of Para Tunnel (754 metres long). [55]

Looking Southwest from Via Luigi Trucchi the Northeast portal of Airole Tunnel can be seen below the village of Airole. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The view from Via Nazionale of the short bridge (Airole Bridge, one 10 metre arch) which sits to the Southwest of the mouth of Para Tunnel. The stonework of the tunnel portal can be seen above and to the right of the viaduct. Para Tunnel is over 747 metres long. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This is the view back towards Airole Village and Railway Station from the mouth of Para Tunnel. White fencing sits on top of the parapet walls of Airole Bridge. [35]

Para Tunnel curves round to the Southeast. This is the view from the cab of the Southbound train as it exits Para Tunnel and crosses La Para II viaduct (four 10 metre arches). [55]

The viaduct mentioned above can be glimpsed from Via Natzionale. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This is the view back into the mouth of Para Tunnel. [35]

The Northwest portal of Pian de Para Tunnel. The tunnel is 184 metres long. [55][1: p125]

A view of the Northwest portal of Pian de Para Tunnel from Via Nazionale. There is a single-span arch bridge carrying the line close to the tunnel mouth. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The next length of the line as it appears on OpenStreetMap and annotated with the tunnel names. [21]

The Southeast portal of Pian de Para Tunnel seen from the cab of the Northbound train. [35]

Immediately to the Southeast of the tunnel portal Southbound trains cross La ParaI Viaduct. The Viaduct appears to have three 5 metre spans. This image looks Northeast from Via Nazionale. [1: p125]

The Southeast portal of Pian de Para Tunnel can be seen in the top-left of this image, looking North from a point a little further along Via Nazionale. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The Southbound train is now travelling at over 80 km/hr. This is the portal of the next tunnel on the route – Gambetto Tunnel (173 metres in length. [55] [1: p125]

Turning through 180°, this is the view back towards Airole from the mouth of the Gambetto Tunnel. [35]

Gambetto Tunnel opens out onto the next bridge over La Roya – Roya No. III Bridge. [55] This structure is also known as the Lamberta Viaduct, it is made up of three 14 metre arches and two 10 metre arches. The gallery beyond the bridge is the route of the modern SS20. [1: p125]

Turning through 180°, this is the mouth of the Gambetto Tunnel from the cab of a Northbound service. [35]

With the railway running South-southeast towards Bevera and Ventimiglia, it alternates between tunnels and viaducts switching sides of La Roya (Roia) river. [23]

The Roya No. III bridge is also known as the Lamberta Viaduct. [1: p125]

The Roya No. II bridge is also known as the Colombo Viaduct. [1: p125]

A view of Roya No. III bridge from the bridge carrying Via Nazionale of the Roya to the West of the railway. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The old road, Via Nazionale passes under the five stone arches of La Roya No. III bridge – three 14 metre arches and two 10 metre arches. The concrete gallery allows light into the tunnel carrying the modern SS20/E74. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

A view of La Roya No. III bridge from the Via Nazionala further to the East along the valley. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

Southbound trains then plunge into Lamberta Tunnel which is 750 metres in length. [55]

Turning through 180°, this is the view across Roya III bridge from the mouth of the Lamberta Tunnel. [35]

Leaving Lamberta Tunnel at its southern end, Southbound trains immediately crossed La Roya again on Roya No. II bridge. [55] The bridge is also known as the Colombo Viaduct. [1: p125]

Turning through 180° we see the Lamberta Tunnel Portal. [35]

Once across La Roya on No. II bridge trains ran on into Colombo Tunnel. [55]

Looking back across La Roya from the mouth of the Colombo Tunnel. [35]

Roia (Roya) No. II Bridge, seen from the viaduct carrying the SS20/E74 across the river. The old road down the valley (Via Nazionale) can be seen crossing the river at a lower level. The northern portal of Colombo Railway Tunnel can be seen on the left of this image. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

A similar view, looking West from the Via Nazionale. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

The view from the West of Roia No. II bridge, looking East. The tunnel mouth visible in this photograph is the southern portal of the Lamberta Tunnel. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

Looking South across Roia (Roya) No. 1 bridge (also known as the Bocche Viaduct) from the South portal of Colombo Tunnel. [55]

Roia No. I bridge, seen from the West on Via Nazionale. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

Roia No. I bridge, seen from the East on Via Nazionale. The tunnel mouth visible on the left of the image is the northern portal of Delle Bocche Tunnel. [Google Streetview, September 2011]

The northern tunnel mouth of Delle Bocche Tunnel. [55]

Looking back from the Delle Bocche tunnel mouth across the Roia No. 1 bridge. [35]

Banaudo et al tell us that the length of the Roia (Roya) Valley that we have just traversed is known as the ‘Bocche’, “the wild gorges of the Roya which for a long time represented an abstacle to communications between the Ligurian lands of the Republic of Genova and the Piedmontese domain of the Kingdom of Sardinia. It was only in 1893that the … road from Ventimiglia to Breil was completed … after lengthy construction work hampered by the difficult terrain and the reluctance of the military authorities. The railway tamed this gorge through an uninterrupted succession of tunnels and viaducts.” [1: p121, 125]

Delle Bocche Tunnel (927 metres long) ends at the top of this OpenStreetMap extract. There is a short bridge which carries a length of the line before Southbound trains enter d’Allaveri Tunnel which, although it appears as one tunnel on the map extract is actually two tunnels with a very short open length in between. The Aqueduct illustrated on the map passes under the railway in that opening in pipes, (Pont sur les conduites forcées de la centrale hydroélectrique de Bevera). The first length of the tunnel is named d’Allaveri Tunnel (69 metres long), the second length is known as Serro Soprano Tunnel (245 metres long).

Once beyond these tunnels, Southbound trains have a clear run down to Bevera Railway Station. [24]

Looking South from the South portal of Delle Bocche Tunnel. [55]

Looking back to the North, this is the South portal of Delle Bocche Tunnel. [35]

A glimpse of the line from a local road (Localita Madonetta) at a point a couple of hundred metres South of the South portal of Dell Bocche Tunnel. The camera is facing Northeast. [Google Streetview, November 2011]

A short distance further South the line bridges a shallow valley and crosses a minor access road. This is the East elevation of the Varese Viaduct (three 8 metre arches) seen from Via Comunale di Varase. [Google Streetview, November 2011][1: p121]

The western elevation of the same structure, seen from the Southwest. [Google Streetview, November 2011]

A little further Southwest the line is carried on a low bridge under another minor road. This view looks West from Via Comunale di Varase. [Google Streetview, November 2011]

The same structure seen from the West. [Google Streetview, November 2011]

Continuing South the line is carried alongside the River Roia (Roya) and above Via San Rocco on retaining walls and a series of nine 8 metre arches. The arches comprise one structure known as the Allaveri Viaduct. The North portal of d’Allaveri Tunnel can be glimpsed just to the right of centre in this photograph. [Google Streetview, November 2011]

The North portal of d’Allaveri Tunnel. This and the next tunnel are in the vicinity of the hamlet of Varese and the Bevera Hydroelectric Power Station. [55]

The view North from the cab of a Northbound train at the North portal of d’Allaveri Tunnel. [35]

This extract from Google’s satellite imagery shows the two tunnels at this location and Bevera’s Hydroelectric power plant which is immediately adjacent to the railway. It is the white-roofed building just above the centre of this image.

D’Allaveri Tunnel is the very short tunnel to the North of the Hydroelectric plant (71 metres in length). Serro Soprano Tunnel (244 metres long) extends South from the building to a point near to the bottom of this image.

The grey area at the bottom of the image (surrounding the tunnel mouth) is a series of greenhouses. As shown below.

An overexposed photograph showing the view South from the southern portal of d’Allaveri Tunnel. The Aqueduct which carries water under pressure to Bevera’s hydroelectric plant can be seen on the right. The line bridges the penstock on three 5 metre arches before southbound trains enter Serro Soprano Tunnel ahead. [55]

Another over-exposed view, this time facing North at the North portal of Serro Soprano Tunnel. The southern mouth of d’Allaveri Tunnel can be seen ahead.[35]

Looking South towards Bevera at the mouth of Serro Soprano Tunnel. [55]

The South portal of Serro Soprano Tunnel. [35]

An accommodation bridge North of Bevera Railway Station, seen from the cab of the Southbound service. [55]

The accommodation bridge, seen from above. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The same structure seen from the cab of the Northbound train. [35]

As we head South towards Bevera Railway Station, the valley of the Roia widens significantly and we enter the suburbs of Ventimiglia, of which Bevera is one part. Beverea Railway Station was built with a large “classically designed passenger building, two platform faces and and two freight tracks with a goods shed and loading platform.” [1: p121] In the 21st century Bevera is a single platform halt.

A Southbound train approaches Bevera Railway Station. [55]

Bevera Railway Station seen from above. [Google Maps, August 2025]

Bevera Railway Station building and forecourt seen from the Northwest. [Google Streetview, October 2010]

Bevera Station building seen from the South adjacent to a low underpass under the railway. [Google Streetview, July 2019]

A second underpass just a little further to the South. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The Northbound service sits at Bevera Railway Station which is a single platform halt. [35]

The Southbound train, stationary at Bevera Railway Station. [55]

Looking North into the Bevera Station site

South of Bevera Railway Station the railway bridges the Bevera River (Torrente).

The bridge over the Bevera Torrente. The river is quite a significant tributary to the Roia (Roya). [Google Maps, August 2025]

The railway bridge over the Bevera, seen from the main road to the East. The viaduct has four16.35 metre arches and spans the Bevera close to its confluence with the Roia. [Google Streetview, August 2021][1: p119]

The same bridge, seen from the Northwest. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The view North along the line from the cab of a Northbound train as it crosses the bridge over the Bevera River. [35]

The line runs on to the South on embankment through the suburbs of Ventimiglia.

The bridge over Via Madeira seen from the East. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The same bridge seen from the West. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

Looking back along the line towards Bevera Railway Station from Pont Bevera (Viadotto Autoporto). [Google Streetview, August 2021]

Facing towards Ventimiglia this image taken from the cab of the Ventimiglia-bound service looks through Pont Bevera (Viadotto Autoporto). [55]

Facing North towards Bevera and looking under Pont Bevera (Viadotto Autoporto). [35]

Looking ahead along the line towards Ventimiglia Railway Station from Pont Bevera (Viadotto Autoporto). [Google Streetview, August 2021]

The North portal of Maneira Tunnel (171 metres in length) is in shadow and difficult to make out from the cab of the ventimiglia-bound train. [55][1: p119]

Turning through 180°, this is the view North from the cab of a Northbound service as it leaves the North portal of Madeira Tunnel. [35]

The view South from the South portal of Maneira Tunnel. [55]

Turning through 180°, this is the South portal seen fr

The line continues on embankment with low height underpasses to provide vehicular access under the line as shown below. [Google Streetview, August 2021]…

In between the second and third underpasses shown above the line passes through d’Isnardi Tunnel (168 metres in length). The North portal is so much in shade that the view from the cab of the Ventimiglia-bound service does not provide any detail. [55] That is the first image below…

The North portal of d’Isnardi Tunnel is so much in shade that no details can be made out from the cab of the Ventimiglia-bound service. [55]

Turning through 180° this is the view North from the North portal of the tunnel. [35]

The view South from the South portal of d’Isnardi Tunnel. [55]

Turning through 180° the South portal is seen from the cab of a Northbound service. [35]

The next few images come from above the level of the line further to the South – the first two from alongside to the West of the line and then from over bridges. ….

The first two of the images above look back along the line and then forward towards Ventimiglia Railway Station from Via Peglia. [Google Streetview, November 2011] The second pair of images look back and forward along the line from the bridge carrying Via Gallardi over the line. [Google Streetview, August 2021] The final par of images look back (across a curve in the line) and then forward along the line from the E80 (close to the toll booths). In the first of this pair of images the bridge carrying Via Gallardi over the line can be seen. [Google Streetview, July 2019]

The next two images show the bridge carrying Via Gallardi over the line. [55][35]…

This next pair of photos show the overbridge which carries the E80. [55][35] …

The next batch of photos continue towards Ventimiglia Railway Station. …

Two further underpasses are shown in the first two images above, the second pair of images are taken from the bridge carrying the SS20 over the line, the first looks back to the West towards the point where the double-track line from Nice begins to run alongside the single-track line from Cuneo. The second looks forward from the same bridge towards Ventimiglia Railway Station. The last two images are underpasses that the 3 lines cross on their way East. [Google Streetview, September 2024]

A cab level view of the diverging tracks seen in the third of the six views in the gallery above. The double-track line heading towards Nice diverges to the left. It is just approximately 6 kilometres to the international border. [35]

The next pair of images show the bridge carrying the SS20 as seen from cabs on services to and from Cuneo. [55][35] The first faces towards Ventimiglia, the second towards Bevera. …

The next three images show the final approach into Ventimiglia Railway Station. [55] …

The middle image above shows a shunter idling in a siding alongside the main running lines – TS D100 Shunter [Vossloh G1000 BB]. The Vossloh G1000 BB is a class of off-centre cab diesel-hydraulic B’B’ 4 axle locomotives built by Vossloh in Kiel since 2002. The class is based upon the standard Vossloh locomotives design, and they are a higher powered development of the Vossloh G800 BB which were produced mainly for the Austrian Federal Railways, with a 1.1 MW (1,500 hp) MTU engine replacing the 0.8 MW (1,100 hp) Caterpillar engine in the G800; as a result the front engine compartment is enlarged, whilst other features: bogie frame and overall dimensions remain the same. [27]

Another view of the TS D100 Shunter [Vossloh G1000 BB], this time from the cab of the Cuneo-bound service. [35]

Looking Northwest from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train about to depart from Ventimiglia Railway Station. [35]

Ventimiglia Railway Station is on a Northwest to Southeast axis. [Google Maps, August 2025]

A postcard view of Ventimiglia taken from the hillside to the Northeast of the Railway Station which features in the foreground of the image. [44]

Ventimiglia Railway Station in very early days, © Public Domain. [28]

The station in the 21st century, seen from approximately the same location. This building was constructed after WW2. [Google Streetview, August 2021]

This satellite image dated 2006 from Google shows: on the left, the abandoned locomotive shed at Ventimiglia; the lighter coloured main station building below the centre of the image; and other railway buildings with red roofs. [45]

Banaudo et al write that “the single track of the Col de Tende line runs alongside the Nice double track for a few hundred metres. [Initially] they crossed the Roya River together on a six-span metal viaduct, which was soon replaced by a new structure with eight 17-metre stone arches. Immediately beyond the bridge, the two routes separate and the Cuneo route climbs up the right bank of the river, at a gradient of 13 mm/m, the valley is still relatively wide. A bundle of three service tracks called Scalo Roia is located to the left of the main track. The Isnardi tunnel (168 m long) and Maneira tunnel (171 m long) precede a four-arch viaduct (with 6-metre arches).” [1: p119] This description assumes that the line is followed West out of Ventimiglia Railway Station.

The earliest rail bridge over the River Roia at Ventimiglia. This single track structure was widened

The early (widened) metal bridge carrying the Nice line and the Cuneo line over the Roia in Ventimiglia, seen from the East, © Public Domain. [28]

The replacement stone arch viaduct. The postcard was posted in 1917. [47]

The same elevation of the bridge in the 21st century, viewed from the next structure downstream. [Google Streetview, July 2021]

The upstream elevation of the same bridge, in 1955. [48]

The upstream elevation of the same bridge, seen from the Northeast. The high-level structure carries the SS20 over the railway line. The upstream elevation of the river bridge is a modern extension to the second bridge which comprised eight 17 metres stone arches. [Google Streetview, July 2021]

Banaudo et al comment that while construction was just beginning between “Breil and the southern border, the work begun in 1908 by the Italian companies from the coast was nearing completion. While awaiting the connection to France, the FS decided to operate the Ventimiglia-Airole section (11.970 km), which entered service on 16th May 1914. The service was provided by three round trips, including two local passenger trains and one mixed train, which covered the entire route in about thirty minutes uphill and twenty-five minutes downhill. Traction was provided by three-axle 030 locomotives with separate tenders, Group 320 (formerly the 3600 of the Rete Mediterranea), based to the newly created Savona depot.” [1: p142]

In France, WWI caused the cessation of all work on the line and in the aftermath of the conflict, “the resumption of construction proved very difficult. The PLM’s construction department received only meager allocations from the state, with priority funding being allocated to the recovery of the disaster-stricken regions of the northeast.” [1: p138]

On site, the years of inactivity had allowed serious deterioration, particularly of the tunnels on the unopened line. Following a three-day inspection tour of the entire line, the French decided to begin work once again.

The contractors made a significant investment in manpower and materials at the beginning of 1920 but discovered that rather than dealing with the PLM, the works would be directly funded by the government. The government determined that the budget for the work on French soil would be reduced from 104 to 75 million Francs and indicated that the maximum spend in 1920 would be 17 million Francs. This inevitably led to redundancies and to slower progress of the works. [1: p140]

When the authorities indicated in June 1920, that “only 700,000 Francs of credit remained to complete the year, … the elected officials of the Alpes-Maritimes immediately rushed to Paris to meet with representatives of the Ministry and the PLM management. Following discussions, a new budget was allocated by the State for railway construction. The PLM had a budget of 41 million Francs, 25 of which were allocated to the Nice-Cuneo line. Work could [continue], but the engineers and contractors in charge of it would have to take into account the irregular arrival of funds until the end when organizing their work.” [1: p140]

Work on the Nice to Breil-sur-Roya line and the remaining length of the line between Ventimiglia and Breil ran in parallel. The increased budget meant competition to attract staff was strong and people had to be hired from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Stonemasons were in particularly short supply. We will probably see more about what this meant for the work when we follow the line from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice.

Banaudo et al note that in the early 1920s the line was opened between Ventimiglia and Airole for passengers and was used also to supply the French construction site on the length of the line between Breil-sur-Roya and Piena (Piene).

“From Breil to the southern border, the [railbed/formation] was passable by 1921 and the final track was immediately laid, while the FS did the same between Airole and Piena on the section removed during the war. On 30th January 1922, the Italian and French rails were finally connected on the Riou bridge, and the Borie company obtained from then on the authorization to directly route its materials from Nice to Breil by rail.” [1: p142]

Once the line opened fully between Ventimiglia and Cuneo, the line “retained the Ventimiglia-Airole service created before the war, while on the Cuneo San-Dalmazzo-di-Tenda line, the timetable included three daily three-class buses and a seasonal train running on public holidays from July to September. The 58 km journey took 2 hours 30 minutes in the north-south direction and 2 hours 10 to 15 in the opposite direction. This service included one less return journey than in 1915, because a fast Cuneo Nice bus connection was introduced in 1921 following an agreement between the FS and the Compagnia Generale dei Tramways Piemontesi (CGTP), to avoid the inconvenience of transhipment while waiting for the railway to be fully operational.” [1: p143-146]

In December 1923 it was agreed that on the length of line between the two borders, “all trains … would be hauled by the FS, including maintenance trains; in the event that they had to be exceptionally handled by a French locomotive, the latter would be accompanied by a pilot from the FS. The San-Dalmazzo Piena section would be equipped with Morse-type telegraph devices. The protection signals for Breil station on the Fontan-Saorge and Piène sides would be Italian, but the departure signals for all directions would be the PLM-type. The organization of customs controls between San-Dalmazzo, Fontan-Saorge, Breil and Piena was also [agreed].” [1: p146]

Banaudo et al provide a significant series of photographs of the construction work on the lines between Cuneo, Nice and Ventimiglia which takes up a large proportion of Volume 1 of Les Trains du Col de Tende. The photographs and drawings are predominantly from the French lengths of the line. [1: p152-311] It is a very significant collection of images which stand as a superb tribute to the amazing work of the various contractors employed on the line.

Opening of the line from Cuneo to Ventimiglia to passenger traffic had to wait for the completion of all of the French construction work. “Finally in October 1928 the lines were all completed – the celebrations must have been fantastic events. At last the small towns and villages along the route had access to jobs, schools and universities, cultural activities, hospitals … everything the cities had to offer.” [39]

The next article in this short series will look a the line heading out of Breil-sur-Roya towards Nice. It can be found here. [5]

References

Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 2: 1929-1974; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 3: 1975-1986; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Croisement_entre_une_Caravelle_X-4500_et_un_Minuetto_devant_la_gare_de_Breil-sur-Roya.JPG, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1948555, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://structurae.net/en/media/324516-piene-station-and-piene-station-tunnel-nbsp, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qX8v5gceVU, accessed on 31st July 2025.
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3095820#/media/File:Olivetta_san_michele_train_station.png, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://www.stagniweb.it/altro2/large4/tend0617.jpg, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://www.stagniweb.it/foto9/tend8304.jpg, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://ventimigliaaltawords.com/2013/10/14/all-steamed-up-about-the-ventimiglia-cuneo-rail-link/, accessed on 5th August 2025.
Franco Collidà, Max Gallo & Aldo A. Mola; CUNEO-NIZZA History of a Railway; Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Cuneo (CN), July 1982.
Franco Collidà; 1845-1979: the Cuneo-Nice line year by year; in Rassegna – Quarterly magazine of the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo; No. 7, September 1979, pp. 12-18.
Stefano Garzaro & Nico Molino; THE TENDA RAILWAY From Cuneo to Nice, the last great Alpine crossing; Editrice di Storia dei Trasporti, Colleferro (RM), EST, July 1982.
SNCF Region de Marseille; Line: Coni – Breil sur Roya – Vintimille. Reconstruction et équipement de la section de ligne située en territoire Français; Imprimerie St-Victor, Marseille (F), 1980.
https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/QSkAAOSw4Ihlu1Ul/s-l1600.jpg, accessed on 25th September 2025.
https://www.marklinfan.net/stazione_ventimiglia.htm, accessed on 25th August 2025.
https://ebay.us/m/Ne0trP, accessed on 25th August 2025.
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https://youtu.be/rLXAEz-n4mM?si=RLQC31jynGeM_lQR, accessed on 26th August 2025.
Not used.
Not used.
Not used.
Not used.
F. Honore; Le Rail a Travers Les Alpes: De Nice a Coni par la Voie Ferrée; L’Illustration, No. 4470, 3rd November 1928, p499.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbzk68KoRj8&t=4533s, accessed on 4th August 2025.

The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 3 – Vievola to St. Dalmas de Tende

5 Replies

The first decade of the 20th century saw the existing roster of locomotives on the line South of Cuneo supplemented by two additional series : 130s (UK, 2-6-0) tender locos of the FS 630 series; and 040T (UK, 0-8-0T) tank locos of the FS 895 series. The featured image for this article is one of the tank locomotives of the FS 895 series. [65]

In the first two articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Vievola. These articles can be found here [9] and here. [10]

The Line South from Vievola

Our journey South down the line continues from Vievola. …

The station building, seen from the Southwest. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Vievola Railway Station looking North, © Diego Fernández, November 2024. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The station at Vievola, seen from the Southeast. Excavated material from the tunnel was used to create a platform for the new station. This photograph is taken looking South and shows a water column and water tower a red roofed building and a toilet block as well as the main station building and the goods shed. The three buildings nearest to the camera have gone, as has the water column. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 16th June 2014, © Public Domain. [12]

Vievola Railway Station looking South, © Baptiste, July 2023 and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Google Maps, July 2025][11]

Vievola Railway Station, seen from a north-bound train in the 21st century. [35]

Vievola Railway Station, seen from slightly further South from the cab of a train heading North through the station back in the 1990s. [8]

A postcard view from 1910 of Vievola Railway Station. The image faces South. [66]

Before we can head South from Vievola on the railway, it needs to have been built! This, it turns out, was dependent on international agreements and their ratification by national parliaments. This process was fraught with difficulty! It would take until 21st March 1906 for agreements to be ratified!

Banaudo et al tell us that over the final decades of the 19th century, the various interests on the French side of the border sought to persuade the French government that the line from Nice to Cuneo was an important investment which should be made. As a result, the French government “invited the PLM company to undertake a route study from Nice to Sospel in circular dated 30th September 1890, renewed on 28th January 1892, given the lack of response from the railway administration. On 12th May, a prefectural decree authorized the company’s engineers to enter properties to conduct the first surveys.” [1: p57]

Banaudo et al continue: “To meet the requirements of the Ministry of War, the route had to include Lucéram. This resulted in a 15 km extension of the direct route between Nice and Sospel. In 1895, the General Staff showed an initial sign of goodwill by agreeing to the study being extended beyond Sospel towards Italy, subject to certain conditions. On 19th April 1898, Gustave Noblemaire (1832-1924), director of the PLM company, submitted a preliminary proposal for a line from Nice to the border via the Paillon de Contes valley, the Nice pass, L’Escarène, the Braus pass, Sospel, Mount Grazian, Breil and the Roya valley. The Lucéram service was included as a branch line from L’Escarène, other solutions were not technically feasible.” [1: p57-59]

The military response arrived on 27th September 1899, when the principle of the branch line was accepted. It was a few months, 10th January 1900, before the military confirmed their requirements, specifically: “commissioning of the Lucéram branch line at the same time as the L’Escarène – Sospel section; construction of the extension beyond Sospel after reinforcing the installations at Fort du Barbonnet and orientation of the tunnel under Mont Grazian so that it could be held under fire from the fort in the event of war; development of mine devices and defensive casemates at the heads of the main tunnels between L’Escarène and the border; and authorization for Italy to begin laying the track from San-Dalmazzo-di-Tenda to Fontan only after the completion of the Nice-Fontan section by France.” [1: p59]

Cross-border discussions took place between the French departmental Bridges and Roads Department and “its counterpart in the civil engineering department of the province of Cuneo to determine the main technical characteristics of the railway line built by the RM between Cuneo and Vievola, in order to adopt equivalent standards for the French section in terms of grades, curves, and gauge.” [1: p59]

Banaudo et al continue: “At the dawn of the 20th century, while the choice of a route from Nice to the Italian border at San-Dalmazzo via the Paillon, Bévéra, and Roya rivers was no longer in doubt in France, the same was not true in Italy. Indeed, although this solution was preferred by Piedmontese business circles, it was opposed by multiple pressure groups weary of twenty years of French policy of opposition and uncertainty. For many localities on the Riviera or in the Ligurian hinterland, as well as for a persistently Francophobic segment of the general staff, the construction of a line entirely within Italian territory appeared to be the best way to avoid diplomatic and strategic complications.” [1: p59]

In Italy, Piedmont and Liguria had differing views about the appropriate railway routes. Piedmont secured a promise, in the Italian parliament, to extend the railway to Tende and a decision to connect it to the coast soon. In Liguria, the desire was to secure a connection to Ventimiglia via either the Roya Valley or the Nervia Valley. Serious consideration was given to a tramway in the Roya Valley, the central section of which would run through French territory but this was rejected by the French military. [14]

A number of alternative schemes were put forward by Italian interests and by the city of Marseille. The city of Turin appointed a commission to look at all the options and after its report “concluded that it preferred the most direct route via the Col de Tende and the Roya, towards Ventimiglia and Nice. Similarly, the French Chamber of Commerce in Milan supported this choice in March 1900, also proposing the construction of a new 47 km line between Mondovi and Santo Stefano Belbo, designed by the engineer Ferdinando Rossi to shorten the journey between Cuneo, Alessandria and Milan.” [1: p60-61]

In 1901, French and Italian diplomats and then the Turin authorities agreed the main principles for an international agreement. On 24th January 1902 the PLM was granted the concession for the railway from Nice to the Italian border via Sospel, Breil-sur-Roya, and Fontan, as well as the beginning of the line from Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia. This was ratified by law on 18th July 1902.

After this a further military inspection led to the strategic Lucéram branch being temporarily left aside with the possibility of a replacement by an electric tramway from Pont-de-Peille to L’Escarène, to be operated by the Compagnie des Tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL).

Banaudo et al continue: “On Monday 6th June 1904, delegations from both countries met in Rome to sign the bipartite convention regulating the terms and conditions of operation of the future line and its implementation into international service. … In its broad outline, the agreement provided for the completion of the works within eight years (i.e. by 1912) and the possibility for the Italian railway administration to have its Ventimiglia-Cuneo trains transit French territory, with reciprocal authorization for the French operator to run its own vehicles in Italy on direct Nice-Cuneo trains and to establish a local service between Breil, Fontan and San-Dalmazzo-di-Tenda. … Initially, passenger services on the line would be provided by three direct daily connections Nice-Cuneo and Ventimiglia-Cuneo, and vice versa, offering carriages of all three classes.”

Banaudo et el describe the main points of the convention in respect of the transport of people and goods, particularly for transit between the two borders. “Police and customs controls would be simplified as much as possible for nationals of both countries. Nevertheless travelling between two Italian stations via the international section would require a passenger to have a valid passport. Italian postal vehicles would be permitted to travel duty-free on this section, as would goods and baggage in transit, provided they were placed in sealed vehicles and, for livestock, had undergone a prior health inspection at an Italian station. A special clause authorized the passage of Italian military transports of men, equipment, and animals through French territory, while conversely, the French army would be permitted to transit its consignments from Nice to Breil via Ventimiglia. Article 20 of the convention regulated a legal situation that was probably unique in Europe, that of the Mont Grazian tunnel, whose straight route would pass over a distance of 2,305 metres in Italian subsoil, although its two portals would be in France: ‘It is understood that for the part of the Mont Grazian tunnel located under Italian territory, the Italian government delegates to the French government its rights of control over the railway and its police and judicial rights’. This unusual situation resulted from a modification of the route decided at the request of the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes. … This more direct route passing under Italian soil was finally preferred to the entirely French route under the Brouis pass, which would have been longer and would have moved the Breil station further from the village.” [1: p62-63]

In Italy, the ratification of the agreements made at the convention took three weeks – it was all done by 28th June 1904. In France thins would be quite different. “On 27th March 1905, as the convention was about to be submitted to a parliamentary vote, the Ministry of War decided to abandon the branch line to Lucéram, which was too costly and difficult to implement. Instead, the nearest stations, L’Escarène and Sospel, would need to be equipped with facilities for the rapid disembarkation of troops and equipment. At L’Escarène in particular, the station would need to be able to accommodate ten twenty-car trains per day and would have to include a military platform opening onto a large open area, an engine shed, and several water columns/supplies. In addition, the road from L’Escarène to Lucéram would need to be improved to facilitate access to the defensive sector of L’Authion.” [1: p63]

Banaudo et al comment: “The French Chamber of Deputies finally ratified the agreement on 3rd July 1905, more than a year after its Italian counterpart, but the Senate would continue to procrastinate until 8th March 1906. The senators demanded financial participation from the Alpes-Maritimes department in the land acquisition costs, and the French Consul in Italy, Henri Bryois, made numerous appearances in Paris to convince them. The day after the Senate’s vote, on 9th March 9, a parade, speeches, and demonstrations of sympathy for France enlivened the streets of Cuneo. … On 20th March, a final law officially ratified the agreement. … The municipality of Nice organized a grand celebration to celebrate the culmination of fifty years of effort. On 21st March 1906, Prime Minister Giolitti and Ambassador Barrère exchanged the documents ratified by the parliaments of both countries. Work could finally begin!” [1: p63]

In Italy, the ratification of the international convention led to the money for the completion of the works being set aside (24 million lire for the length South from Vievola to the then border, and 16 million lire for the length North from Ventimiglia to the southern border). In addition, the decision was taken to build the new station in Cuneo to accommodate the increased traffic that would arise from the new line.

A year later, on 1st July 1905, the Italian state brought all nationally significant rail routes/networks under the direct authority of the Ministry of Public Works (the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)). This had only a limited impact on the Cuneo-Vievola line. “The 3200, 3800, and 4200 series locomotives of the Rete Mediterranea now formed series 215, 310, and 420 of the [FS}. … At that time, the Torino depot had a complement of 128 locomotives, including 20 from the 215 series and 18 from the 310 series deployed in the line, to which were added ten locos from the 320 series. These were also 030s [in UK annotation, 0-6-0s] with three-axle tenders, initially ordered by the RM as series 3601 to 3700 and gradually delivered by five manufacturers between 1904 and 1908.” [1: p64]

The first decade of the 20th century saw the existing roster of locomotives supplemented by two other series:

130s (UK, 2-6-0) tender locos of the FS 630 series; and
040T (UK, 0-8-0T) tank locos of the FS 895 series.

Locomotive No. 6301was a 2-6-0 (130) locomotive in the FS 630 series. [64]

Locomotive No. 8955 was an 0-8-0T (040T) locomotiv3 in the FS 895 series, [65]

In 1906, a subsidised bus service was introduced to complement and replace the various horse-drawn and motor services already in existence on the roads between Vievola, Ventimiglia and Nice. [1: p64][c.f. 14] The connection to Nice was later (in 1912) taken over by the Truchi company of Nice. [1: p64]

Vievola to Tende

Banaudo et al, again: “In August 1907, the first of eleven work packages between Vievola and the [then] border were awarded: package 1 from Vievola to the Gaggeoetlen tunnel, and package 4 of the Cagnolina tunnel to Tenda. In June 1911, it was the turn of package 2, between the Gaggeo and Alimonda tunnels, and the following month, package 3 from Alimonda to Cagnolina. These contracts were signed with the Tuscan companies Sard and Faccanoni and the Ghirardi company, originally from the region of Lake Maggiore. Over 8.2 kilometres, the line crosses Triassic and Permian terrain cut by Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Carboniferous veins. There are ten tunnels covering a distance of 5.90 kilometres, or 72% of the route, as well as seven bridges and viaducts totaling seventeen masonry arches. The section has no level crossings, but seven “caselli” (houses) were built to house the road workers and their families. Some are isolated in the mountains, sometimes between two tunnels, and accessible only by railway.” [1: p64-67]

A schematic representation of the line from Vievola to Tende. [18]

A short video embedded from YouTube, taken at Vievola Railway Station in 2010. [23]

Vievola Railway Station is at the centre of this extract from Google’s satellite imagery. The hamlet is Northeast of the Station just beyond the top of the image. Trains for Tende and beyond set off to the Southwest. The railway bridge can be seen at the bottom left of this image. [Google Maps, July 2025]

From Vievola, the line begins its journey down the valley of La Roya by crossing a single-arch bridge over the Dente valley which suffered some disruption resulting from Storm Alex in October 2020.

A closer focus on the bridge spanning the River Dente. This image appears to be taken after the inundation which occurred with Storm Alex in 2020. [Google Maps, July 2025]

This pair of images are taken from a report into the majority damage caused by Storm Alex. The image on the left is the condition of the area prior to the storm, that on the right shows the situation after the storm. [15]

The bridge that spanned the Dente, in the immediate aftermath of Storm Alex in October 2020. In the view of the engineers checking the line, the bridge was unstable because of erosion. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Osservatorio Ferrovia del Tenda on 3rd Aprilb2924 and credited to Damien Board. [16]

The same bridge after further flooding at Easter 2024. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Gianluca Morelli on 4th May 2024. [17]

A short distance South of the bridge over the river, looking North towards Vievola from the cab of a north-bound train. [35]

Taken from a point a little further to the South, this photograph shows the parapets of a bridge over a small stream to the South of the Dente river. This image is also taken from the cab of a north-bound train in the 2020s. [35]

After crossing the 12 metre span bridge the line enters the 1273 metre long Branego horseshoe tunnel.

This photograph looks North from the mouth of the Branego Tunnel towards Vievola Railway Station. It is taken from the cab of the same North-bound train. [35]

The 1273 metre long Branego Tunnel. The bridge in the Dente valley is top-left and the Vievola (Chapel) Viaduct is middle-right in this image. [19]

The tunnel opens onto the right bank of La Roya about 25 metres above the river. The Vievola Viaduct spanned the river on five 15 metre masonry arches. Banaudo et al tell us that, “this structure would later be called the ‘Chapel viaduct’ due to its proximity to the Sanctuary of the Visitation or Madonna of Vievola.” [1: p67]

The East Portal of Branego Tunnel taken from the cab of a train approaching Vievola Railway Station from the South. [35]

The Vievola (Chapel) Viaduct seen from the cab of a train approaching it from Tende. [35]

I believe that the viaduct was fatally damaged by the German forces retreating at the end of WW2. It has been rebuilt in concrete as a 5-span concrete viaduct.

Looking South along the E74/D6204 under the railway viaduct. [Google Streetview, April 2008]

Looking North along the E74/D6204 torads the railway viaduct. [Google Streetview, April 2008]

The same location on Google satellite imagery shows a denuded valley floor after Storm Alex. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

Now on the left bank of La Roya, the line passes through a series of tunnels with very brief open lengths spanning narrow valleys or slight depressions. The first tunnel on the Left bank is shown below. …

After crossing the Chapel Viaduct trains heading for Tende ran straight into Gaggio Tunnel (373 metres long) which curves towards the Southeast. [20]

The Southeast Portal of Gaggio Tunnel seen from the cab of a Northbound train at the mouth of Devenzo Tunnel. The parapets of the 12-metre span arched bridge over the San Pancrazio valley can be seen between the two tunnels. [35]

The Bridge over the Vallon Pancrasio (the San Pancrazio valley) is a 12 metre span arch bridge. [21]

The San Pancrazio valley as it appears on Google’s satellite imagery after the damage from Storm Alex. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

A closer look at the railway bridge spanning the San Pancrazio valley. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

The tunnel portals are generally made of local stone as are the arched bridges. The next tunnel is the Devenzo tunnel, shown below. …

The Devenzo Tunnel (732 metres long) extends Southeast from the San Pancrazio valley to the Mezzora Valley which seems little more than an ‘indentation’ in the valley side. A shorter tunnel is beyond the opening (the Mezzora Tunnel – 351 metres long) which opens out onto the Alimonda Valley at the bottom-right of this map extract. [22]

This photograph is another still from a video taken from the cab of a train travelling North from Tende. It shows the short length of open line mentioned above. The parapets are those of the viaduct of two 6 metre arches. [35]

This Google Earth satellite image shows the railway line breaking cover to cross the Alimonda valley near the top of the image. The E74/D6204 is at the bottom-left of the image. [Google Earth, July 2025]

The same location as it appears on OpenStreetMap. The bridge over the Alimonda valley is at the top-right of the image and the E74/D6204 is in the bottom-left. [24]

The Southeast portal of the Mezzora Tunnel can be seen in this image taken from the tunnel mouth of the Alimonda Tunnel. It is possible to see along the full length of this tunnel to the short opening mentioned above. In the course of travelling this short length of open line the railway crosses the Alimonda Valley. [35]

The next tunnel, the Alimonda Tunnel begins immediately the Alimonda valley has been crossed. The tunnel is 380 m long.

The Alimonda Tunnel: the bridge over the Alimonda Valley is top-left in this map extract, the bridge over the Scara Valley is bottom-right. [25]

The bridge over the Scara Valley is on the right of this map extract. There is very little of the railway open to the elements at this location. [26]

The short length of track and bridge in the Scara Valley between the Alimonda Tunnel and the Frera Tunnel, seen from the cab of a service which has just left the Frera Tunnel heading for Vievola and on to Cuneo. [35]

Before entering the Frera Tunnel, it is worth pulling back a little to see the route of the line ahead. This is the first ‘spiral’ on the line down towards Ventimiglia and Nice. A large section of the spiral is within one tunnel but the engineers made use of the Valley of the Refrei to avoid having to put the entire spiral in tunnel. [36]

The Frera Tunnel (498 m long) runs North-northwest to South-southeast passing over the line ahead which is at a lower level – both are tunneled out of the rock. There is an open length of the line and a bridge at the bottom-right. [27]

The short length of track and the bridge between the Frera and the Rio Freddo tunnels. [35]

After crossing the bridge noted above the line soon disappears into the Rio Freddo Tunnel (376 m long). The bridge is top-left. The tunnel opens out for a short length at the right of this map extract. [28]

A short length of line is open to the elements to the North of the valley of the Refrei and between the Rio Freddo and Morga Tunnels. [29]

The short length of line between the Rio Freddo and the Morga Tunnels, seen from the cab of a train just leaving Morga Tunnel. The Rio Freddo tunnel mouth is ahead. Between the two tunnel mouths is the Morga Bridge (two 8-metre arches). [35]

Banaudo et al tell us that “from the exit of the Rio-Freddo tunnel [on the North flank of the Refrei valley], the village of Tenda (Tende) appears below and the railway describes a helical loop which ends at [the lower end of] the Cagnolina tunnel. … This loop loses about sixty metres of altitude in less than 3 km of travel.” [1: p70]

After the very short open length of line to the East of the Rio Freddo Tunnel, another short tunnel ensues – the Morga Tunnel (160 m long). [30]

Another short open length of line sits between the Morga and Gerbo Tunnels. [31]

The short open length of track between Morga and Gerbo tunnels, seen from the cab of a Cuneo-bound service and framed by the Southwest mouth of Gerbo Tunnel. [35]

Pulling back a little enables the full length of Gerbo Tunnel (279 m long) to be seen, together with the open length of line and viaduct to the East – Gerbo Viaduct. [32]

The Northeast Portal of Gerbo Tunnel seen from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train in the 2020s. [35]

A short distance further along the line, the Bazara Viaduct (of five 8 m arches) is seen here, with the Gerbo Tunnel beyond – these are seen from the cab of a Cuneo-bound service in the 21st century. [35]

After a short length of line to the Northeast or Gerbo Viaduct the line enter Cagnolina Tunnel and under many tons of rock swings round to travel West while on a downward grade. [33]

Here the Cuneo-bound train is just leaving the South Portal of Cagnolina Tunnel (at the right of the above map extract) and crossing a small bridge close to the tunnel mouth. [35]

Still in tunnel, the line passes under the line we have just travelled before breaking out into the valley of La Roya. It then bridges the river and heads down the the valley side on the left bank of La Roya to Tende Railway Station. [34]

The lower (West) portal of the Cagnolina Tunnel and the bridge over La Roya. Taken from the cab of a train heading North from Tende. The bridge over La Roya has a 12 metre span. [35]

A significant retaining wall to the West of the line, above which runs the E74/D6204. [35]

A short tunnel (Tende Galleria) part way along the length that the E74/D6402 run parallel and in close proximity to each other. The view looks North-northwest along the line. [35]

A train from Cuneo arrives at Tende Railway Station in February 2023. [37]

The Tende Railway Station today has a passenger building and two platform faces. In the past, it had three platform faces and a goods shed of classic Italian design, “the station had a number of goods tracks, two reinforced concrete water tanks supplying two hydraulic cranes, as well as an 8.50 metre turntable which was probably transferred from Vievola when the line was extended.” [1: p70]

Tende Railway Station looking Northwest, © George Ringler and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [38]

Wikipedia tells us that Tende Railway Station “opened on 7th September 1913. [40: p146] … Tende remained the temporary terminus for almost two years, until the opening of the Tende – Briga Marittima – San Dalmazzo di Tende section, which took place on 1st June 1915.” [39][40: p149]

The station and yard were electrified along with the line in 1931. [40: p171-172]

Tende “became isolated from the railway network after the destruction of bridges and tunnels by the retreating Germans between 15th and 26th April 1945.” [39][41: p15] .

“It remained under the jurisdiction of the Italian State Railways (FS) until 15th September 1947 and was passed into the hands of the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) the following day, when the upper Roja valley was separated from the province of Cuneo and became French territory by virtue of the peace treaty with France.” [39]

“After thirty-four years of inactivity, it was reopened on 6th October 1979 , the day of the inauguration of the rebuilt Cuneo-Ventimiglia line.” [39][40: p243]

The station yard was originally of a significant size. [42: p81] For the reopening of the Limone-Ventimiglia line to traffic … it was initially planned that the Tende station would be transformed into a stop equipped with only a single track, but it was subsequently decided to build a loop [43: p34] with a useful length of 560 metres and a single track serving the loading platform and the goods warehouse. [43: p29]

The Goods Shed and Passenger building at Tende seen from Avenue du 16 Septembre 1947 and looking Southeast. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

A French and an Italian train pass at Tende in 2022. The train on the right is, I believe, an ALe501 trainset commissioned by Trenitalia in the early 2000s and produced by Alstom Ferroviaria, (c) Tomas Votava. [Google Maps, August 2025]

TER No. 76671 on the Train des Merveilles service from Nice stands at Tende Station, (c) Kenta Yumoto. [Google Maps, August 2025]

We have travelled as far as Tende Railway Station and noted that the line reached the village in 1913 and remained the terminus of the line from Cuneo until 2015. While the line as far as Tende was still under construction, Banaudo et al tells us that there were continued contacts “between the Italian and French authorities to resolve the remaining issues concerning the connection between the two networks in the Roya Valley. On 3rd January 1910, the Ministers of Public Works of both countries … met to discuss the problems of Franco-Italian communications. On 15th May 1910, the Cuneo Chamber of Commerce approached the government to request the acceleration of work between Vievola and Tenda. … During the same period, … efforts were being made to produce [hydroelectric power]. … The first plants were installed in Airole and Bevera in 1906, and later in San-Dalmazzo between 1909 and 1914.” [1: p70-74]

“The Roya hydroelectric power plants were intended to supply the Vallauria Mining Company and its ore processing facilities, public lighting, industries and the tramways of the Ligurian Riviera as far as Savona and Genoa.” [1: p74]

In France, two small power plants were built at the beginning of the century at Pont d’Ambo, downstream from Fontan, and in Breil. Between 1912 and 1914, a larger power plant was built opposite the village of Fontan.

Banaudo et al tell us that “In both France and Italy, the simultaneous construction of the railway and power plants turned the Roya Valley into a huge construction site for a dozen years. The companies had to house, feed, and entertain several hundred workers, most of them from other regions of Italy.” [1: p74]

After the opening of Tende Railway Station in September 1913, “the FS improved the service which had remained unchanged for a quarter of a century. Four Cuneo – Tenda return trips would now run every day, including a mixed goods-passenger one. From July to September, a fifth return trip was added. The 50 km journey took an average of 1 hour 50 minutes.” [1: p75]

Meanwhile, the project to divert the railway line and build a new station on the Altipiano in Cuneo which we noted in the first of these articles, [9] was being developed. Work began in September 1913 [1: p80] but it was to be 7th November 1937 before the new station opened! [44]

“While the line was creeping southwards from Cuneo to Tenda, work had begun in Ventimiglia on the northbound line up the Roya Valley. However, by the outbreak of World War I it had only covered 20 kilometres to Airole. Meanwhile, and again interrupted by the war, another line was being built northeast from Nice to join the Cuneo-Ventimiglia line at Breil sur Roya.” [39] Progress on these two lines is covered in other posts in this series of articles. [45][46][47][48]

From Tende to St. Dalmas de Tende (San Dalmazzo di Tenda)

“In the first half of 1912, calls for tenders were issued for six lots of the section between Tenda, Briga, San-Dalmazzo, and the northern border of the Paganin Valley, followed in April 1913 by the award of the seventh and final lot. Here again, the tunnels, fifteen in number, account for more than two-thirds of the route, or 8,576 metres out of 12,335 metres. There are also seven bridges and viaducts, comprising a total of thirty-five masonry arches, about ten short-span structures, and there were ten roadside houses.” [1: p127]

The length of the line from Tende to San Dalmazzo di Tenda (San Dalmas de Tende). [51]

Schematic plan of the line from Tende South to the former Italian border via La Brigue and Saint Dalmas de Tende. [18]

Tende Railway Station in the 21st century, seen from the Southeast, from the cab of a northbound train. [35]

Tende Railway Station seen from the cab of a South-bound service. [55]

Leaving Tende Railway Station, the line soon passes onto the curved viaduct spanning the Roya River opposite the village. The viaduct has one 20-metre arch and eleven 15-metre arches.

The southern end of the station site and the viaduct which crosses the valley of La Roya. [53]

A South-bound service crosses Tende Viaduct. This is the view from the cab. [55]

An old Italian postcard view of the village of Tende, seen from the South. The viaduct features to the right of the centre of the image. [52]

The curve of the viaduct at Tender shows up well in this photograph, © Public Domain. [68]

Tende Viaduct seen from the access road to the village cemetery. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The first of two views of Tende Viaduct from Rue General Doyen showing the northern half of the viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

The second of two views of Tende Viaduct from Rue General Doyen showing the more southerly portion of the viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

The viaduct, seen from Avenue Maurice Barucchi. [Google Streetview, July 2014]

We were in Tende in November 2023 so saw something of the major work being undertaken after Storm Alex hit the area in October 2020 and took these photographs of the viaduct

The northern half of the viaduct. [My photograph, Wednesday 22nd November 2023}

The larger viaduct arch span over La Roya. [My photograph, Wednesday 22nd November 2023]

The southern length of the viaduct. [My photograph, Wednesday 22nd November 2023]

Tende Viaduct seen from the South from the cab of a train heading for Tende Railway Station. [35]

Once across the viaduct, trains heading South ran on through three tunnels on the left bank of La Roya on a falling grade of 25mm/m. These were:

Borgonuovo Tunnel (200 metres long) …

The approach to Borgonuovo Tunnel, seen from the cab of a South-bound train. [55]

Looking North from the mouth of Borgonuovo Tunnel, from the cab of a North-bound train. [35]

The view South from the mouth of Borgonuevo Tunnel., [55]

The southern portal of Borgonuovo Tunnel, seen from the cab of an approaching train. [35]

The view from above the South portal of Borgonuovo Tunnel, (c) Tito Casquinha, June 2019. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The same length of line seen from across the valley. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Bijorin Tunnel (248 metres long) …

The North portal of the Bijorin Tunnel. [55]

The view from the northern portal of Bijorin Tunnel. [35]

The view South from the mouth of Bijorin Tunnel. Colombera tunnel is just visible ahead. [55]

The length of line between Bijorin and Colombera tunnels, seen from the far side of the valley of La Roya. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The South portal of Bijorin Tunnel is ahead in this still from a video taken from the cab of a North-bound train. This image also shows avalanche warning wires above the line. [35]

Colombera Tunnel (212 metres long) …

The North portal of Colombera Tunnel. [55]

The view North towards Bijorin Tunnel from the mouth of Colombera Tunnel. [35]

An over exposed view South from the South Portal of Colombera Tunnel. [55]

The South Portal of Colombera Tunnel seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [35]

This OpenStreetMap extract shows the three tunnels named above, and the lengths of open railway line between. [54]

A short distance further South the railway bridges a minor road. These are the bridge parapets seen from the cab of a South-bound train. The minor road is just visible to the left of the image. [55]

The next tunnel is Bosseglia Tunnel. The railway and the main road separate as the line heads into the tunnel which is S-shaped and 1585 metres in length. The southern portal of the tunnel opens out into the Levenza valley, a short distance to the East of La Brigue Railway Station. Banaudo et all refer to the station as Briga-Marittima station, which appears to be the name of the station in Italian. [1: p127]

The Bosselgia Tunnel (which is over 1.5 km long) and the railway station at La Brigue as they appear on OpenStreetMap. [56]

Looking South, this is the northern portal of the Bosseglia Tunnel. [55]

Looking North from the mouth of Bosseglia Tunnel. [35]

Looking West from the southern portal of Bosseglia Tunnel towards La Brigue Railway Station. [55]

Turning through 180 degrees, this is the southern portal of the Bosseglia Tunnel seen from a North-bound train. [35]

La Brigue Railway Station once comprised a passenger building, two platform faces (a third would be built during electrification), three freight tracks with a good shed and a raised platform. The modern station is situated to the East of the old station. [1: p127]

Looking West along La Brigue Railway Station platform, © Remontees, and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [57]

A similar view with an ALn501+502 train set in the station, © Georgio Stagni, June 2014 and authorised for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [57]

Looking East along the station platform, © JpChevreau and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [57]

Looking West from the modern La Brigue Station through the site of the original station. [55]

Further through the site of the old railway station and continuing to face West down the Levenza valley. The old goods shed is on the left. [55]

The site of the two La Brigue Railway Stations. The modern station is on the right of this map extract, the old station and goods shed are left of centre. [58]

The station at La Brigue is a short distance to the West of the village. [Google Maps, August 2025]

The original station building at La Brigue, seen from the cab of a train heading for Ventimiglia. [55]

The bridge over the D43 and the River Levenza. [59]

The bridge over the D43 and the River Levenza. [55]

The bridge which carries the railway over the D43 and the River Levenza, seen from the East. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

The bridge which carries the railway over the D43 and the River Levenza, seen from the West. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

The view back across the bridge over the River Levenza towards La Brigue Railway Station. The D43 can just be made out to the right of the bridge. [35]

Leaving La Brigue Railway Station the line resumes following a falling grade of 25 mm/m. This continues through the Levenza viaduct, which, as we have seen consists of three 8-metre arches abutting a single span road bridge. Beyond this is the Levenza tunnel (418 m long). …

The Northeastern portal of the Levenza tunnel. [55]

The view back along the line from the Northeast portal of the Levenza tunnel. [35]

This overexposed view looks Southwest from the Southwest tunnel mouth of the Levenza tunnel. [55]

The Southwest portal of the Levenza tunnel seen from the cab of a North-bound service. [35]

Beyond the Levenza Tunnels is and an unnamed viaduct of three 8-metre arches) and the line then enters the Rioro Spiral Tunnel.

The Rioro Tunnel forms a loop which describes a circle of 300-metre radius and accommodates a 30-metre drop.

Banaudo et al tell us that the tunnel “is officially divided into two sections: Rioro I (282 m) and Rioro II (1527 m), connected by an artificial tunnel with a lateral opening closed by a gate. At this opening, a ‘casello’ (a ‘hut’) was built into the mountainside to house a road worker and his family.” [1: p127]

Looking Northeast from the mouth of the Rioro spiral tunnel. [35]

The Northeastern portal of the Rioro sprial tunnel. [55]

The Rioro Spiral Tunnel between La Brigue and St. Dalmas de Tende is 1828 metres in length. [60]

Trains are within the tunnel for some minutes as they cover nearly two kilometres of turning track within the tunnel. This view comes from the cab of a South-bound train. [55]

Facing Southwest along the line at the mouth of the Rioro Spiral Tunnel. The picture is overexposed as the camera is reacting to daylight after running through the tunnel. [55]

The Southwest Portal of the Rioro Spiral Tunnel, seen from the cab of a North-bound train. [35]

The Rioro Spiral Tunnel opens onto the left bank of the Levenza River, just before its confluence with the Roya River.

To the Southwest of the tunnel, the line is carried alongside the River Levenza on a retaining wall. The parapet of this wall, protected by railings, can be seen on the right of this image. [55]

The River Roya is crossed by the San-Dalmazzo I viaduct. Banaudo et al tell us that “the seven 15-metre masonry arches of this structure were widened to carry three tracks to accommodate the approach to the station, built on a vast embankment. An underpass beneath it provides a route for the [E74/D6204].” [1: p127]

The line is retained above the Levenza River and then crosses La Roya on a viaduct of seven 15-metre masonry arches. A short tunnel under the wide embankment to the Southwest of the river allows the D6204 to pass under the railway. [61]

A postcard view of the viaduct and station at the centre of St. Dalmas de Tende. The station building is to the right of this image, the viaduct in the centre. The photograph was taken on the hillside to the North of the village. This image was shared on the Ferrovia internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Luisa Grosso on 1st November 2021. [63]

The bridge over La Roya on the approach to St. Dalmas de Tende. [55]

The bridge over the Avenue de France (the D6204/E74) seen from the North. The road is in tunnel as a large area was dedicated to the station complex at St. Dalmas de Tende as it was originally a border station in Italy. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

The same bridge/tunnel seen from the South on the Avenue de France. [Google Streetview, August 2016]

A long double-track section of the line runs through the station at St. Dalmas de Tende. A small yard remains on the North side of the line entered vis the point seen in this image. [55]

The final approach to St. Dalmas Railway Station from the Northeast. [55]

St. Dalmas de Tende Railway Station seen, looking Southwest, from the cab of a South-bound train. [55]

St. Dalmas de Tende Railway Station as show on OpenStreetMap. [62]

A postcard image overlooking the station site at St. Dalmas de Tende prior to the construction of the large station building. [5]

The station during construction work. There is scaffolding on the main station building, which appears to have been built in sections with a completed length nearest to the water tower. The engine shed is under construction, centre-right. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mauro Tosello on 12th June 2022. [6]

A postcard view of the Railway Station at St. Dalmas de Tende, taken from the East. The tunnel at the Southwest end of the station site can be seen on the left of the photograph. This image was shared on the Ferrovia internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Luisa Grosso on 1st November 2021. [63]

The locomotive Depot at St. Dalmas de Tende. The depot was on the Southeast side of the running lines opposite the railway Station and close to the Biogna River. The road shown on the OpenStreetMap plan of the modern station to the Southeast of the site is the road shown at the top of this plan. This drawing comes from From the December 1929 Technical Magazine of Italiane Ferrovie. It was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group on 13th February 2024 by Francesco Ciarlini Koerner. [4]

St. Dalmas de Tende Railway Station seen, looking Northeast, from the cab of a North-bound service. [35]

St. Dalmas de Tende (San-Dalmazzo-di-Tenda in Italian) was “the last station on Italian territory, before the northern border. This is where the French Forces would install a large-scale border station that will handle customs clearance operations in addition to the French facilities at Breil. In the first phase, a temporary passenger building and a small freight shed were built on the vast embankment created from the spoil from the tunnels upstream of the confluence of the Roya and Biogna rivers. The original layout includes four through tracks, one of which is at the platform, five sidings, three storage tracks, a temporary engine shed, a 9.50 m turntable, and a hydraulic power supply for the locomotives.” [1: p127]

It is here, at St. Dalmas de Tende, that we finish this third part of our journey from Cuneo to the coast.

Located at the confluence of the Roya River with the side valleys of the Levenza and Biogna, San-Dalmazzo-di-Tende “was built around a former Augustinian convent that became offices of the Vallauria mining company and then a spa. Since the border was established in 1860 a few kilometers downstream in the Paganin Gorges, first a few dozen, then hundreds of workers, employees, and civil servants gradually settled in San-Dalmazzo with their families. Jobs were plentiful, with the development of mining in the neighboring Val d’Inferno, the creation of a sawmill, the construction of dams and hydroelectric power plants, the emergence of tourism, and the permanent presence of a large number of police, customs, and tax guards. This influx … was reinforced during the railway works, which attracted many workers: earthmovers, masons, stonemasons, miners, carpenters, etc. These newcomers, who mostly came from other regions, sometimes far away, slowly integrated into the local population.” [1: p130]

The line to San-Dalmazzo-di-Tende was opened on 1st June 1915. The three of the four daily services were connected to the Southern arm of the line which by this time had reached Airole, by a coach shuttle. [1: p131]

A temporary station was provided as a terminus of the line from Cuneo. It was sited to the Northeast of the present large station building which was not built until 1928.

The next length of the line can be found here. [67]

References

Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 2: 1929-1974; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 3: 1975-1986; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
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TBA
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Franco Collidà; 1845-1979: the Cuneo-Nice line year by year; in Rassegna – Quarterly magazine of the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo; No. 7, September 1979, pp. 12-18.
Stefano Garzaro & Nico Molino; THE TENDA RAILWAY From Cuneo to Nice, the last great Alpine crossing; Editrice di Storia dei Trasporti, Colleferro (RM), EST, July 1982.
SNCF Region de Marseille; Line: Coni – Breil sur Roya – Vintimille. Reconstruction et équipement de la section de ligne située en territoire Français; Imprimerie St-Victor, Marseille (F), 1980.
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This image appeared on an Italian Facebook Group but I did not record which one and cannot now find the image or the group, accessed on 1st October 2025.

The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 2 – Vernante to Vievola

7 Replies

The featured image above is a 0-6-0 RM Locomotive No. 3375 ‘Pracchia’, with three driven axles and a tender, built in 1883 by Vulcan of Stettin. In 1905, it joined the FS fleet as Class 215, known as a Bourbonnais, along with 400 other locomotives with similar characteristics. It ended its career with the Porretta in 1927, © Public Domain. [26][27][1: p87] This class of locomotive was the predominant Class of engine used on the line between Cuneo and Limone in the early years of the line.

In the first article about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length from Cuneo to Vernante. The article can be found here. [9]

The Line South from Vernante to Limone

A schematic drawing showing the main locations on the line from Vernante to Limone. [17]

Banaudo et al write that “It was only in 1886, after the creation of the Rete Mediterranea, that the work on the fourth tranche from Vernante to Limone was awarded. It was 8,831 m long and had a gradient of 203 m, which was to be compensated for by a continuous ramp of up to 26 mm/m. This value would not be exceeded at any other point on the line. On this section, the rail remained constantly on a ledge on the steep slope on the right bank of the Vermenagna, where it was anchored by eleven bridges and viaducts totaling sixty-three masonry arches, as well as nine tunnels with a combined length of 4,416 m, or just over half the route:” [1: p28]

the Tetti-Chiesa tunnel which is 122 m long;
the Elicoidale tunnel (the Vernante Spiral tunnel) is 1,502 m long;
the Rivoira viaduct has fourteen 15 m arches and one 23 m arch;
the Rivoira tunnel is 251 m long;
the Santa Lucia viaduct has three 12 m arches;
a short span masonry arch over a minor road;
the Santa Lucia-Noceto tunnel is 348 m long with two openings;
the Noceto viaduct has six 8 m arches;
the Marino viaduct has two 8 m arches and two 12.50 m arches;
the Marino tunnel is 202 m long;
the Mezzavia viaduct, three 11 m arches;
the Mezzavia tunnel is 444 m long;
the bridge over the Ceresole valley has two 10 m arches;
the Boglia tunnel is 1,086 m long;
the San Bernardo viaduct over the Sottana valley has two 6 m arches and three 10 m arches;
the Cresta-Molino tunnel is 335 m long;
the Boschiera viaduct has twelve 10 m arches;

the Rocciaia tunnel is 126 m long;
the Rocciaia bridge is a single arch;
the first Rocciaia viaduct has four 8 m arches;
the second Rocciaia viaduct has eight 8 m arches.

We start this next length of the journey at Vernante Railway Station and head Southeast.

A plan of Vernante Railway Station. [10]

Vernante Railway Station: the route to Limone leaves at the bottom-right of this image. [Google Streetview, July 2025]

The view Southeast from the station car park, after demolition of the old goods shed. The main station building features at the centre of the image. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The main station building at Vernante seen from the West. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Photographs showing the station building and the goods shed prior to its demolition can be seen here. [58] “Inaugurated in 1889, the station served as the terminus for the Cuneo-Ventimiglia line for nearly two years, until it was extended to Limone Piemonte. The passenger building features classic Italian architecture, with two levels. It is square, medium-sized, and well-maintained. Its distinctive feature is the two murals depicting scenes from the Pinocchio fairy tale, adorning its façade. The lower level houses the waiting room and self-service ticket machine, while the upper level is closed.” [58]

A photograph from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train arriving at Vernante. The passenger building is on the left with the goods shed beyond. [8]

The view from Via Frederi Mistral which passes over the tunnel mouth at the Southeast end of Vernante Railway Station. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The very short tunnel (Tette-Chiesa, 122 metres in length) at the Southeast end of Vernante Railway Station. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The southern portal of the Tette-Chiesa Tunnel seen from a Cuneo-bound train. Immediately beyond the far portal trains would have to stop to manually engage a point for the running line or the train would end up on the safety siding provided for runaways on the steep downward gradient. [8]

The large retaining wall on the left of this image supports the railway as it runs immediately adjacent to the E74/SS20 but at a higher level. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The height of the retaining wall decreases as the E74/SS20 gains height. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Banaudo et al comment: “Leaving Vernante, the track describes a complete spiral loop at Rivoira, which allows it to rise about fifty metres over a circular length of two kilometres. This loop includes the 1,502 m long ‘Elicoidale’ tunnel, which was completed on 30th December 1889, and the imposing viaduct over the Salet torrent. With its fifteen arches, from the top of which the rail dominates the lower level of the loop by 45 m, this structure can be considered by its proportions as the most imposing of the whole of line. [25] It is built entirely of cut stone, with the exception of the intrados of the arches which are of brick, and its seven central arches are reinforced at their base by a series of arcades forming an additional level, following a technique very popular in the 19th century.” [1: p30] The lower arcades are seen clearly in the 1929 postcard below.

This photograph is taken from the road at the point that the E74/SS20 begins to turn away from the lower railway (which can be glimpsed through the undergrowth) the viaduct high above both the road and the railway comes into view. This view looks North from the E74/SS20. A spiral tunnel allows the railway to gain height at this location. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

This satellite image shows the portals of the Spiral tunnel to the East of Vernante. The line leaves Vernante Station and passes through a short tunnel before running alongside the E74 ‘Corso Torino’ to another tunnel mouth to the West of the side road. The line then climbs as it circles under that road twice and reappears high above the first length of line towards the top-left of this image. The height gained then means that the line needs to pass over a high viaduct before once again entering a tunnel (the Rivoira Tunnel) and then, at the bottom-right of the image, crossing another side valley on a bridge. [Google Maps, July 2025]

OpenStreetMap shows the same location and illustrates the spiral tunnel quite well. [44]

The lower portal of the spiral tunnel with the high viaduct (Rivoira Viaduct) visible to the left. [11]

The portal of the spiral tunnel at the top-left of the satellite image above, seen from a Cuneo,-bound train. Trains heading for Tende and beyond gained height while turning through 360 from the tunnel portal shown in the image immediately above. [8]

A 1929 postcard view of the Rivoira Viaduct in winter. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Nonna Nuccia on 6th March 2023. [15]

This photograph of the Rivoira Viaduct is taken from the road through the hamlet of Tetto Salet. [Google Streetview, 2012]

Closer to the viaduct it is possible to get a good impression of the height difference between the lower and higher arms of the spiral. [Google Streetview, 2012]

Rivoira Viaduct seen from a distance! [12]

A 1946 photograph of Rivoira Viaduct. This is the first train over the viaduct after the war. The fleeing Germans blew up part of the viaduct and the scaffolding which can be seen is a remnant of the repair work undertaken. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 11th June 2025, © Public Domain. [13]

A similar modern view of the viaduct. This is a still image from a video shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Luc Gentilli on 14th July 2024. [14]

The Southeast portal of the short tunnel at the bottom-right of the satellite image above. This is the Rivoira Tunnel. [8]

The Santa Lucia viaduct just to the Southwest of Rivoira Tunnel. [8]

Between the Rivoira Tunnel and the Santa Lucia & Noceto Tunnel, the line crosses a minor road serving a few small hamlets. [Google Streetview,

The Santa Lucia & Noceto Tunnel runs diagonally across this extract from Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The Southeast Portal of the Santa Lucia & Noceto Tunnel seen from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train. [8]

The Noceto Viaduct to the Southeast of the Santa Lucia & Noceto Tunnel spans a local stream. [8]

This bridge is a short distance further Southeast. [8]

The Marino Viaduct further to the Southeast. All these views look towards Vernante and are taken from the cab o a Cuneo-bound train. [8]

The Southeast portal of the Marino Tunnel. [8]

Another viaduct over a short side valley to the Southeast of the Marino Tunnel, this is known as the Mezzavia Viaduct. [8]

The East portal of the Mezzavia Tunnel. [8]

Immediately to the East of the Mezzavia Tunnel the line bridges a stream before entering the Boglia Tunnel. The bridge spans the Ceresole valley. [8]

The view of the line looking West from Frazione Ceresole, above the West portal of the Boglia Tunnel. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The Boglia Tunnel carries the line around a significant curve. This is the South-southwest portal of the tunnel from the cab of a train which has recently left Limone. Trains from Cuneo enter the tunnel traveling East and leave in a south-southwesterly direction. Just beyond the South-southwest portal the line bridges another side road serving a number of hamlets. It is the San Bernardo viaduct over the Sottana valley. [8]

The bridge shown in the image immediately above is at the centre of this satellite image. The tunnel to the North-northeast is Boglia Tunnel, that to the South-southwest is Cresta Molino Tunnel. [Google Maps, July 2025]

Looking East along the Sottana Valley, it is difficult to believe that the San Bernardo Viaduct has two 6 m arches and three 10 m arches, it is so well camouflaged by vegetation. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking West along the road through the structure, it is possible to see three of the five arches. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The Cresta Molino Tunnel curves throughout its length (see below). Towards the South portal, it has an open gallery facing out into the valley. [8]

The Cresta Molino Tunnel curves form a South-southwest bearing to just to the East of South along its length. The gallery shown above is at its southern end. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The South portal of the Cresta Molino Tunnel is the South end of the gallery. [8]

After a very short length of track open to the elements, the line enters another short tunnel, the Rocciaia Tunnel. This tunnel is also on a curve with the line leaving the tunnel heading Southeast. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The Southeast portal of the Rocciaia Tunnel. After this tunnel the line crosses a bridge and two viaduct on its way into the station at Limone. [8]

The length of the line from Rocciaia Tunnel to the station throat at Limone is shown on the satellite image below. The parapet railings associated with the Rocciaia Bridge can be seen on the image of the South portal of the tunnel above. There are then two viaducts, as shown on the satellite image below. They cast shadows onto the valley side to the east of the line.

The bridge mentioned above, seen Looking Northwest from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train. [8]

The viaduct immediately to the North of Limone Railway Station, also seen looking Northwest. [8]

Limone Piemonte as shown on OpenStreetMap. Note the bridge at the South end of the station site and the tunnel that trains enter soon after crossing that bridge. [18]

The good shed at Limone Station with the passenger facilities beyond. This image is a still from a video taken from a train heading for Breil-sur-Roya. [31]

Limone Railway Station as it appears on Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, July 2025]

Looking North from the end of Via Colonello Domenico Rosetto.The goods shed is close to the centre of this image. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Limone Railway Station building and forecourt. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A very early view of Limone Railway Station which shows the civil engineering work necessary to make room for the station, © Public Domain. [6]

Limone Railway Station, seen from the East. This image was shared on the Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook on 24th July 2024, © Public Domain. [20]

Steam at Limone! © Unknown Photographer. [7]

Limone Railway Station in 1980: this image comes from the cover of the March 1980 edition of La Vie du Rail. It was shared on the Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Internazionale Facebook Group by Limone Piemonte in Foto Color Vintage on 15th July 2024. [21]

The station of Limone Piemonte (Italy), seen from the South with all of its four tracks occupied, April 1989. Left to right, on Track 1 the Espresso 981 Torino-Nice/Imperia (formed by four ALn 663 DMUs, which were separated at Breil-sur-Roya), on Track 2 the Locale 4396 Cuneo-Ventimiglia (two ALn 663), on Track 3 some more ALn 663 parked, and on Track 4 the car shuttle for Tende (since the road tunnel was closed for a few months), with a D.345 Diesel locomotive at its head. … An interesting detail is the shape of the supports for the overhead line, still the adapted AC three-phase 3.6kV ones that had been adjusted for DC working (basically removing a wire and placing the other in the middle) in 1974, when the line was converted. Under it, it was mandated for locos and EMUs to keep both pantographs up, © Mauro Tosello. [19]

A few more photographs of Limone Railway Station can be found here, [22] here, [23] and here. [24]

Express services took 1 hour 30 minutes to travel from Cuneo to Limone, mixed goods and passenger trains were scheduled to take 2 hours. Services from Limone to Cuneo were scheduled for 1 hour 20 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes respectively [1: p31]

Banaudo et al tell us that a single third class ticket between Cuneo and Limone cost 1.65 lire. The service was deemed to be a local service and as a result the RM allocated older stock to the line, “consisting mainly of single-axle coaches, side door stock, and brake vans acquired from other companies. Traction was provided by 030 [in the UK these would be 0-6-0] locomotives coupled to two- or three-axle tenders, from the RM 3201 to 3550 series (future 215 FS Class),” [1: p31] out-stationed to the Cuneo shed by the Turin Shed. These locos had a range of different manufacturers in Italy, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Austria and Germany. [1: p31]

The construction costs for the length of line from Cuneo to Limone “did not exceed 10 million lire, a remarkable figure given the difficulty of the work and the number of engineering structures completed over nine years: nineteen bridges and viaducts, fourteen tunnels, and a large number of culverts, aqueducts, road overpasses and underpasses, and level crossings. The buildings of the seven stations are of classical design, conforming to the standard plans with hipped roofs used in Italy, as are the twenty-four ‘caselli’, roadside houses, distributed along the line near the level crossings and the main underpasses to house the track maintenance workers and their families. The bridges and viaducts, with the exception of two brick structures, are made of stone masonry with brick arch vaults and metal angle railings. The single track tunnels are lined with brick vaults and dressed stone portals, except where the solidity of the ground allows the exposed natural rock to be preserved.” [1: p32]

Banaudo et al note that “the first years of operation were not easy, … snow and falling rocks sometimes hampered train traffic. On 2nd October 1898, following torrential rains in the high valleys of Piedmont, the Gesso overflowed and the bridge between Boves and Borgo-San-Dalmazzo was destroyed. By December, the installation of a temporary wooden bridge by contractor Salvatore Vignolo of Genova-Sampierdarena allowed service to be restored. A permanent structure would be rebuilt the following year in the form of a single-span 74-metre steel truss bridge.” [1: p32]

Limone to Vievola: Crossing the Col de Tende

The next length/tranche running South from Limone was 10.5 kilometres long and extended the line from Limone to Vievola(in the valley of the River Roya).

Looking into Limone Railway Station from the tunnel mouth South of the Station. A short two-span bridge

At the South end of the Limone Station site the railway bridged Piazza Risorgimento/Viale Valleggia at the East end of Piazza Risorgimento and the River San Giovanni (Valleggia Torrent) on two adjoining bridges. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The two bridges carrying the railway over both the road and the river. [Google Streetview, August 2011]

Omitting mention of the section of the bridge over the road, Banaudo et al tell us that, leaving Limone Station, “the line crosses the San Giovanni valley … on a 13-metre masonry single-arch bridge, then enters the 423-metre-long Limone Tunnel which passes under the San Secondo hill. A 26 mm/m gradient leads to the tunnel under the ‘Colle do Tenda’ … where the gradient eases to 2 mm/m as far as the highest point on the line, 1040 [metres above sea level, in the tunnel]. From this point a 14mm/m gradient extends to the South portal of the tunnel … at 990 [metres above sea level]. At the Southern end of the tunnel, … a single-span 19.90 m steel truss bridge crosses the Roya River. … A short 25 mm/m slope then leads to Vievola Station.” [1: p34]

The North Portal of Limone Tunnel seen from the station platform on 10th July 2019, © Eugenio Merzagora and licenced by Structurae for non-commercial use. [28]

Limone Piemonte Tunnel: the tunnel mouths are marked by red flags. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The railway is protected by two galleries at the South end of Limone Tunnel. The first effectively extends Limone Tunnel southwards. This is the South portal seen from a train approaching Limone Railway Station. [8]

Also seen from the South from the cab of the same train, this is the South portal of the Short second gallery. The gallery entrance to the tunnel above can be seen only a very short distance beyond this gallery to the North. [8]

A level-crossing on the line just to the South of the galleries illustrated above and also seen from a Limone-bound train. [8]

The line continues South climbing towards the tunnel under the Col de Tende, © Franco Papalia, July 2017 [Google Maps]

An early postcard image of the North portal of the tunnel under the Col de Tende. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 10th June 2014. [45]

The northern approach to the tunnel under the Col de Tende as it appears on Google’s satellite imagery. Sadly, the tunnel mouth, in the top-left quadrant of this image, is in shade. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

Open Streetmap shows the line heading South into the tunnel. [32]

This image shows the North Portal of the tunnel under the Col de Tende. It is taken from the cab of a train heading for Breil-sur-Roya in the late 20th century. [31]

Interestingly, the two tunnels on this length of the line are large enough to accommodate two tracks – this facilitates ventilation but also allows room for expansion should traffic levels later require it. [1: p34]

Another schematic drawing which this time shows the main locations on the line from Limone to Vievola. [17]

While all the previous construction tranches ended up in populated locations, Vievola was just a place name in the commune of Tende with a few farms and a chapel dedicated to the Visitation of the Madonna scattered in a small green area at the confluence of the Roya and the Dente rivers. Nowhere was available to house workers on the railway. So before works began at the southern end of the tunnel under the Col de Tende, the contractor had to construct a temporary village.

After initial surveys were completed late in 1889, tunneling under the Col de Tende began at both ends. Banaudo et al explain that the 8.1 kilometre tunnel passed through various different strata: “Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous limestone, Permian quartz, Liassic marly schists and Eocene sandstone. The work progressed normally until September 1893, when the works reached a dislocated gneiss bed interspersed with clayey layers made fluid by the infiltration of water from the Roya, whose bed passes three times above the axis of the tunnel. Soon, mud floods invaded the approach tunnel with each attempt to advance over the course of ten months. The working face advanced only a dozen meters, while some forty flows of various materials obstructed the tunnel, sometimes over a length of 40 metres, while the vault suffered as much as 1.7 metres subsidence in places.” [1: p32][33]

The works from the South were suspended in July 1894 about 1.6 km from the tunnel mouth. Attempts were made to divert ground water from the route of the tunnel with little success and a further collapse occurred in October 1894. [33]

Meanwhile, work progressed from the North until at about 2.7 km from the tunnel mouth ground water started entering the tunnel at a rate of 60,000 litres/minute. The bed of the River Royal above the tunnel began to collapse. The contractor admitted defeat and refused to continue work on the line. [1: p34][33]

After a few months delay and with the work now being undertaken by the state a renewed effort was made to take the work-faces forward. The solution was to bore the tunnel using compressed air drills inside a metal shield and with water being removed by a parallel collector channel. It took 470 days to progress the works beyond the difficult strata. Banaudo et al say that once work was 43 metres beyond the critical zone, the contract was handed back to the original contractor on 31st March 1896. The total delay was 34 months at a cost of 300,000 lire! [1: p34][33]

On 15th February 1898 at 1pm, the team working from the North end of the tunnel broke through the remaining rock to meet the team working from the South.Remaining contract works would mean that opening of the line between Limone and Vievola would not take place until 1st October 1900. [33][34: p116][1: p35]

When trains left the confines of the 8 kilometre tunnel their crews were probably grateful for the fresh air. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the crews of steam engines on the line. Electrification could not come soon enough. “The tunnel was equipped with a two-wire contact line when the electrification of Cuneo Gesso – San Dalmazzo di Tenda line in three-phase alternating current 3.6 kV – 16⅔ Hz took place with electric traction starting from 15th May 1931.” [33][35: p171-172]

The South Portal of the tunnel under the Col de Tende, © Eugenio Merzagora and licenced by Structurae for non-commercial use. [30]

In the 1960s, this was the view South from the South portal of the tunnel. This image was shared on the Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mauro Tosello on 21st April 2018. [36]

South of the tunnel, the railway crosses the River Roya before entering Vievola Railway Station.

This satellite image shows the line leaving the tunnel (at the very top of the image) and crossing La Roya (towards the bottom of the image). [Google Maps, July 2025]

It is not possible to see the tunnel mouth in this panoramic photograph taken from the E74 (D6204), nor is it possible to see the railway bridge over La Roya. The railway can be seen, as can the buildings close to the tunnel mouth on the East side of the line. The railway bridge over the river is behind the trees in blossom one a line from the camera to the red-roofed buildings. [Google Streetview, April 2008]

As the E74 (D6204) descends along the valley of the Rya, the railway bridges it, adjacent to a road (off to the right of the picture) which serves Vievola Railway Station. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

The completion of the fifth contract still required the development of Vievola station. It was to be built on a large platform created using spoil from the tunnel works on a vast embankment formed from the tunnel spoil, with an underpass provided for the then SS20 (now E74/D6204) and shown above.

Vievola Railway Station seen from the North on the minor road which links the station to the E74(D6204). The goods shed fronts onto the road and the passenger building is beyond. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

An early postcard view of the road side of the station building with horse drawn transport seating the arrival of a train from Cuneo. [4]

The station building, seen from the Southwest – a similar view to the postcard above. [Google Streetview, October 2008]

Two early postcard views of Vievola Railway Station, © Public Domain. [4]

Vievola Railway Station, a similar view to the view on the two postcard images above, © Baptiste, July 2023 and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Google Maps, July 2025][5]

Vievola Railway Station, © Diego Fernández, November 2024. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The station at Vievola, excavated material from the tunnel was used to create a platform for the new station. This photograph is taken looking South and shows a water column and water tower a red roofed building and a toilet block as well as the main station building and the goods shed. The three buildings nearest to the camera have gone, as has the water column. This image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 16th June 2014, © Public Domain. [29]

The approach to Vievola Railway Station from the South, as seen from the cab of a Northbound train. [8]

Banaudo et al tell us that, at the station, “The two platform tracks for passenger service were supplemented by two sidings and a dead-end track running alongside the goods shed and the military platform. At the western end of this section, a small wooden shed, an 8.50 m temporary turntable, a water tower, and two hydraulic cranes allowed locomotives to use this temporary terminus as they would at any terminus. In the same area, a wooden buffet building was built, which a shrewd manager, no doubt hoping to take advantage of the cosmopolitan movement of connecting passengers, dubbed a ‘restaurant’ in French.” [1: p40]

Vievola was a railway terminal for traffic to and from Piedmont and a hub for road connections onwards to Nice and Liguria. Banaudo et al point us to a magazine published in 1899, which mentions a trial of a steam-powered road vehicle which it was hoped would provide a service to Nice and the coast until such time as a railway was built. [1: p40][37] The service was a trial organised by the House of Ascenso et Cie, and ran from Vievola to Ventimiglia. The journey, lasted a total of six hours, including a 43-kilometre climb. The vehicles used were Scotte trains. The car wagon carries a 27-horsepower engine and seated 14 passengers; it also towed a second 24-seater wagon. [1: p40][38]

“Due to their slowness, the difficulties of driving cars on the narrow roads of the time and the damage caused to the cobbled and cylindered roads,” [1: p40] the ‘Trains Scotte’ were not a success, they probably did not circulate for more than a few months or weeks. ….

The next length of the line can be found here. [46]

RM 3201-3519 (FS 215) Locomotives

Banaudo et al tell us that throughout the 19th century and on into the 20th century passenger stock and freight wagons were unchanged. Improved 0-6-0 tender locomotives came available as they were delivered by the Breda and Mavag companies, these were more powerful and faster locomotives than the RM Nos. 3201 to 3519 (which became group 215.001 to 215.398 at the FS). They were given RM Nos. 3801-3868 (which became the FS 310 series).

An ex-works photograph of 0-6-0 Tender Locomotive No. 3804,© Public Domain. [40]

RM 4201-4487 (FS 420) Locomotives

Banaudo et al also comment that “genuine mountain locomotives made occasional appearances: these were 040s [ in UK annotation 0-8-0s] with a three-axle separate tender, series RM 4201 to 4487 (future series 420 FS), built from 1873 to 1905 based on an Austrian model by a dozen Italian, Belgian, German and Austro-Hungarian firms. These machines, reserved primarily for the main lines of the Alps and the Apennines, occasionally intervened on the Col de Tende line, during bridge tests for example. At this time, Cuneo still had no allocation of machines and those going up to Limone and Vievola were attached to the Torino depot and the Moretta shed, on the Cuneo Airasca line.” [1: p41]

“In the early 1870s, the SFAI needed a locomotive suitable for heavy work on the most important mountain lines, such as the Giovi railway and the Turin-Modane railway, for which the 0-6-0 locomotives were becoming increasingly inadequate. The Ufficio d’Arte di Torino chose a 0-8-0 locomotive of the Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik (then known as “Sigl”), very similar to the Südbahn Class 35 a that it already produced.” [41][42: p190][43: p31]]

“The Class 420 was a typical long-boiler, inside-frame 0-8-0 locomotive of the era, that showed its Austrian derivation with its two-shutters smokebox door, and its outside Stephenson valve gear. The locomotives built before 1884 had the distinction of having curved foot plating over the wheels, while later units had straight foot plating and small splashers. Some of the locomotives were given a replacement boiler before 1914, but their performance remained mostly unchanged.” [41][43: p31]

“The first 60 locomotives were built by Sigl (from which they derived the nickname with which they were known for their whole career) for the SFAI. Production continued until 1890, from both foreign (such as Maffei) and Italian firms (such as Ansaldo and Breda), for a total of 189 locomotives; all these were divided in 1885 between the Rete Adriatica and the Rete Mediterranea. Building of further locomotives for the RM resumed in 1897, and continued until 1905, bringing the total of the Class to 293.” [41][42: p190-192]

References

Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 2: 1929-1974; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
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Structures on the french side of the border would, when built, compete with the dimensions of the Rivoira Viaduct. The Eboulis Viaduct is 270 metres long and the bridge at Saorge is 60 metres high. However, the combination of these two dimensions (length and height) makes Rivoira Viaduct the most imposing on the line.
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La Locomotion Automobile, 1899, p467; via https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t53333638/f5.item, accessed on 25th July 2025.
Industrialist Joanny Scotte, originally from Epernay in the Marne department, began his business in the mid-1880s producing steam-powered cars. From 1897, he offered road trains consisting of a tractor or a steam-powered car, pulling one or more trailers designed for the transport of passengers or goods. These vehicles travelled on roads using solid tyres. They never really went beyond the experimental stage due to their slowness, the difficulties of driving the vehicles on the narrow roads of the time and the damage caused to the cobbled and cylindered roads. [1: p40] Scotte road train services were reported in the last decade of the 19th century in the Île-de-France region (Fontainebleau, Pont-de-Neuilly, Courbevoie), in the Aube region (Arcis-sur-Aube – Brienne-le-Château), in the Manche region (Pont-l’Abbé-Picauville – Chef-du-Pont), in the Drôme region (Valence – Crest), and for military use. Scotte partnered with the Lyon-based car manufacturers Buire and Audibert-Lavirotte to produce some of its vehicles. [1: p41]
https://ventimigliaaltawords.com/2013/10/14/all-steamed-up-about-the-ventimiglia-cuneo-rail-link, accessed on 25th July 2025.
https://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/Gr310.html, accessed on 25th July 2025.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FS_Class_420, accessed on 26th July 2025.
Giovanni Cornolò; Locomotive a vapore; in TuttoTreno (in Italian), May 2014.
P. M. Kalla-Bishop; Italian state railways steam locomotives: together with low-voltage direct current and three-phase motive power; Tourret, Abingdon, 1986.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/44.24035/7.54461 accessed on 26th July 2025.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AuQG8SLDb, accessed on 27th July 2025.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/08/06/the-railway-from-nice-to-tende-and-cuneo-part-3-vievola-to-st-dalmas-de-tende/

The Railway between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Part 1

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The featured image above shows the inaugural train arriving at Breil-sur-Roya in March 1928, © Public Domain, shared by Jean-Paul Bascoul in the Comte de Nice et son Histoire Facebook Group on 25th January 2017. [15]

The railway from Nice PLM Station to Tende was completed in 1928. It was long in the gestation and in construction. The story stretches back more than a century and a half. ‘Le Chemin de fer du Col de Tende’ is historically a significant local and international line. Its inverted Y-shaped layout and its crossing of international borders means that it is known by a number of different names:

in Nice it is known as the Nice – Coni Line;
generally in Italy it is officially Ferrovia Cuneo Ventimiglia
in the Piedmont city of Cuneo’s economic/political circles, sitting at the top of the inverted ‘Y’, it is often referred to as the Cuneo – Nizza line in recognition of good relations with the community of Nice.

Its story is a saga of significant technical achievement: gaining 1000 metres in height ; having a dozen tunnels longer than 1 kilometre (including those of the Col de Tende (8098 m), the Col de Braus (5939 m) and the Mont Grazian tunnel (3882 m), which are among the longest structures on the French and Italian networks); having four complete helical loops, several S-shaped loops and a multitude of bridges and viaducts (some of which, such as those of Scarassouï or Bévéra, are architecturally significant railway structures. Of a total route of 143.5 km, 6.5 km are on bridges or viaducts and over 60 km are in tunnels. This means that close to 42% of the journey along the line(s) is on or within structures.

The line warrants a comprehensive detailed treatment and Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos have provided just such a work. The 3 volumes of their work cover three distinct periods in the life of the line:

Volume 1: 1858 until the completion of construction in 1928; [1]
Volume 2: 1929 through to 1974 [2]
Volume 3: 1975 to 1986. [3]

The line’s construction spanned over 40 years and as a result a variety of different structural techniques were used. The first length built in Italy in the 19th century has some substantial stone and brick structures. Later work on the length from Nice to Fontane which was built between the two world wars employs much lighter design techniques. Then even later, after sections of the line were destroyed in the second world war, prestressed concrete construction techniques were used in the rebuilding of the line. [1]

The history of the area through which the line has been built has been tumultuous. This meant that the process of developing the line was tortuous. It took more than 75 years for the line(s) to be completed and then after a few short years of operation, the lines usage was disturbed by the machinations of dictatorships and then the second world war literally destroyed the region. Post war recovery was slow but nowhere more so than the length of the line between Ventimiglia and Breil-sur-Roya which was not fully reopened until 35 years after the end of the second world war. [1]

The reopening of the line after the second world war was vital for the economic development of Piedmont, the Riviera dei Fiori, and the Côte d’Azur – between which there was no efficient road connection and where the difficult terrain favored rail access. [1]

The immediate area offered tremendous tourism potential, both the train itself and the region it served. Ski resorts became accessible, particularly Limone, excursion trains came from all over Europe. But, after just a few decades of development the approach of the 21st century saw increased bureaucracy, financial disputes between the increasing number of partners, contradictory regulations and increased journey times. The result was that the line’s value and existence was called into question and that too sparked further conflict. “Paradoxically, European unification, which should have fully promoted this symbolic communication route, marginalized it!” [1: p5]

In 2014, my wife and I stayed in the village of Saorge in the valley of La Roya for the first time. We had travelled by train from Nice to Tende in an earlier year. In 2014, we had a hire car and on one occasion we followed the old road to the Col de Tende. In subsequent years it was not possible to drive up the old road as works on the much more modern tunnel seemed to have blocked access to the old road. On a more recent visit, we stayed in Saorge a year after serious flooding had destroyed much infrastructure in the valley. Travel towards the Col de Tende from Tende was not possible.

Early attempts to create a route from Cuneo to Tende

In 2014, we drove up a road which was constructed by le duc Charles-Emmanuel 1er de Savoie (Duke Charles Emmanuel 1st of Savoy). It seems that he constructed a road over the pass between 1592 and 1616. Of this road, Banaudo et al say that, “the northern road [up to the pass] has about twenty hairpin bends, while access from the south requires an extraordinary … sixty hairpin bends.” [1: p9]

Our hire car was a very small vehicle, but nonetheless needed some careful manoeuvring at each hairpin bend. Once at the top, we were able to walk quite a distance between the different forts that stood on the ridge.

Banuado et al, tell us that since that route was constructed, a series of attempts were made to tunnel from lower points on the pass. Attempts from the North were made: in 1612 (achieved just 75m of tunnel before being halted); in 1781 which was abandoned 3 years later (164m of tunnel was achieved). [1]

In 1784, a carriage managed to traverse the pass for the first time.

Banaudo et al. Tell us that “the public works engineer Deglioli submitted an initial report on 3rd June 1852, supported by the diplomat Francesco Sauli (1807-1893), on the extension of the Marseille-Var railway, then planned in France, to Nice, Ventimiglia, the Roya Valley, and Piedmont, namely Cuneo or Mondovì.” [1: p11]

In 1854, the first train of the Società della Ferrovia Torino Cuneo arrived in Cuneo from Turin (via Trofarello, Savigliano, and Fossano). The first terminus was built in the Cuneo suburb of “Madonna-dell’Olmo, on the left bank of the Stura below the city. Ten months later, the time required for the completion of the viaduct over the Stura, Cavour and the Minister of Public Works, Pietro Paleocapa (1788-1869), presided over the inauguration of the new Cuneo platform/station on 5th August 1855, established in a temporary location at Basse-di-San-Sebastiano. The permanent station would not be built until 1870 on the plateau preceding the confluence of the Stura and Gesso rivers.” [1: p11]

In 1856, “Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia, Cyprus and Jerusalem, Duke of Savoy and Aosta, Prince of Piedmont, Count of Nice and Tende, visited [Nice and] personally promised [a] railway to the people of Nice and distributed a lithograph depicting him, ostentatiously bearing a map bearing the dedication ‘Ferrovia da Cuneo a Nizza. Ai Fedeli Nizzardi’. … The Minister of Public Works commissioned a Roman military engineer, Filippo Cerrotti (1819-1892), to conduct a more in-depth study. On 29th May 1856, Cerrotti submitted a preliminary design for a standard-gauge line from Cuneo, ascending the Gesso and Vermegnana valleys, crossing the Col de Tende through a 6.5 km tunnel accessible by inclined planes powered by hydraulic funiculars, to emerge in the Roya River, which it followed to Airole. From there, two tunnels successively would take it through the Bévéra Valley and then into the Latte Valley, through which it reached the coast, which it then followed to Menton, Monaco, and Nice.” [1: p11]

The Nicois authorities accepted the proposed scheme in September 1856, their counterparts in Cuneo quickly endorsed the plans in principle but asked that an alternative route via the Col des Fenestres and the Vésubie, be explored and that a modification to the initial proposal should be explored, specifically a locomotive-powered line without the use of inclined planes. The municipality of Nice then commissioned another survey of alternative routes by Louis Petit-Nispel, but proposals were rejected by the Ministry of Public Works on 4th March 1858. [1: p11, p14]

Nothing happened, so the Nice authorities sent a petition to the Sardinian parliament (16th July 1858) but the request got lost in the midst of political machinations which surrounded the cession of Savoy and the County of Nice to France which was eventually confirmed on 22nd April 1860.

“During his first visit to the new border department in September 1860, the French Emperor promised the people of Nice a rapid connection to Marseille and the rest of the country via the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean Railway Company (PLM) line, whose construction was then well advanced beyond Toulon.” [1: p14]

Nice got its connection to Marseille by 18th October 1864, but hopes for a Nice to Cuneo link were overshadowed by the desire to have a direct link between Marseille and Turin via Sisteron, Gap, Briançon, the Col de l’Echelle, and Bardonecchia – a plan was eventually shelved (even though it was favoured by the French government and the PLM company) as a result of the deal-making associated with the Saint-Gothard line.

In the mid-1860s the Piedmontese railway network became part of the Società per le Ferrovie dell’Alta Italia (SFAI). Its focus became developing internal infrastructure in Italy, with the exception of a very large project … a 13.7 km (8.5 mile) long tunnel, carrying the Turin-Modane railway line under Mont Cenis, linking Bardonecchia in Italy to Modane in France under the Fréjus. [1: p17][8]

Despite this, economic and political groups in Cuneo remained committed to having a rail link and in 1868 proposed a joint commission of French and Italian engineers. The following year, “the provincial authorities granted a loan of 500,000 lire to the Lombard engineer Tommaso Agudio (1827-1893), who sought to develop the possibilities offered by funicular traction. He, in collaboration with the engineer Arnaud, recommended the construction of a narrow-gauge railway alongside the SS 20 national road, along its entire route from Cuneo to Ventimiglia. This hypothesis suggested curves with a radius of less than 50 m and gradients of 45 mm/m. The Tende Pass was to be crossed by the planned road tunnel, with two access ramps sloping at 87.5 mm/m, on which traction would be provided by a hydraulically counterweighted cable.” [1: p17]

His project was approved by the Italian parliament in 1862 but no progress was made on the French side of the border. The project failed and Tommaso Agudio moved on to other things, “experimenting with his cable traction system in 1874 in Lanslebourg, then by applying it in 1884 to the railway linking the Turin suburb of Sassi to the famous Basilica of Superga.” [1: p17]

With little progress being made on a rail link, road links became paramount, a commission chaired by the civil engineering inspector Sebastiano Grandis (1817-1892) renewed interest in 1870 in a road tunnel under the Col de Tende which Grandis imagined would obviate the need for a railway.

“Following the fall of the Empire, France and Italy were finally connected by rail, first through the Fréjus Tunnel, opened between Modane and Bardonecchia on 17th September 1871, and then through the Menton and Ventimiglia on the coast on 23rd February 1872. At the same time, traffic between Piedmont and the former County of Nice was growing at an encouraging pace: the Fontan customs post recorded an annual transit of 22,000 tons of goods and 76,447 head of cattle. Under these rather favorable conditions, Nice’s business community sought to revive discussions with a view to attracting to their port a share of the benefits of the upcoming opening of the Saint-Gothard line, whose traffic, they feared, would exclusively benefit Genoa via the Via Giovi, or Marseille in the event of the construction of the Col de l’Echelle route. In April 1871, a group of industrialists and politicians from the region, including the mayor of Nice, Auguste Raynaud (1829-1896) and his counterpart from Toulon, Vincent Allègre (1835-1899), founded a Syndicate for the Nice Cuneo Line with the support of the Alpes-Maritimes Chamber of Commerce. On 7th November, the municipal council sent a personal letter to Adolphe Thiers, the new President of the French Republic, to express the desire of the people of Nice to see this project, which had been on hold for some twenty years, realized. On 29th November, the syndicate appointed a study commission headed by engineer Joseph Durandy (1834-1912), … to establish contacts with interested Italian parties and determine the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed route.” [1: p19]

“In March 1872, the engineer Henry Lefèvre (1825-1877), a public works contractor and member of parliament for the Alpes-Maritimes, published an ambitious programme comprising two railway lines, Nice – Digne and Nice – Cuneo. They would run as a common trunk up the Var valley to the confluence of the Vésubie; from there, the branch towards Piedmont would follow this river to its source, crossing the Pagari pass under a 7000 m tunnel drilled at an altitude of 1300 m, to then reach Cuneo via the Gesso valley. The gradients would not exceed 35 mm/m, which would however require several reversals from Venanson, as well as the use of articulated Fairlie locomotives.” [1: p19][9]

Lefèvre’s project was based on poor maps and went through areas with a high risk of avalanches and heavy snowfall. Durandy suggested that a longer tunnel (almost 15km long) could be employed, Delestrac suggested following the undulations/contours on the left bank of the Vésubie as much as possible to reduce the number of engineering structures and limit the gradients to 25 mm/m.” [1: p19] Both these suggestions significantly increased the costs of Lefèvre’s 120 km project.

Other projects were proposed:

In 1872, Séraphin Piccon proposed a “103 km long narrow-gauge route, crossing the Col de Tende through a 5100 m tunnel at a height of 1150 m. Descending the valley of la Roya to Piena, reaching the Bévéra basin and Sospel through a 1300 m tunnel under the Col de Vèscavo, then heading up the Merlanson valley to pass under Mont Méras through a new tunnel leading to Peille, and thence to Nice through down the valley of the Paillon. Access to the Col de Tende would be via two inclined planes with inclinations of 40 to 85 mm/m totaling a length of 6100 m, while a 60 mm/m gradient over 4700 m would allow the line to gain altitude north of Peille.” [10] On these steep gradients, traction would be assisted by a rack or an auxiliary central rail (the Fell System). [11][1: p20]
Also in 1872, Baron A. Cachiardy de Montfleury of Breil submitted a renewed proposal to the Conseil General, based on the Narrow-Gauge route between Cuneo and Ventimiglia funicular sections developed by engineers Agudio and Arnaud. [12][1: p20]
Then in April 1873, Baron Marius de Vautheleret. presented a proposal for a narrow-gauge Cuneo-Ventimiglia line using the planned Col de Tende road tunnel, passing through Briga, then through a 13,000 m tunnel under the Marta peak and then along the Nervia valley to its mouth near Ventimiglia. This route aimed to simplify administrative procedures by bypassing French territory, even if it meant creating a costly underground tunnel to connect the Roya to the Nervia river valleys. Gradients would not exceed 35 mm/m except for 22 km on either side of the Col de Tende, where gradients of 38 to 40 mm/m would require the adoption of a rack or hydraulic funicular. [13][14][1: p20]

These last two projects were discarded, partly because they were narrow gauge and required steep gradients, neither of which would suit the anticipated important international traffic and partly because they only linked two Italian cities while passing through French territory and not serving Nice. Both the protagonists continued to push their case until the end of the 19th century.

The first project proposal by Piccon was also deemed incompatible with heavy traffic flows but in its favour was the intent to link the railway to Nice. The “Durandy Commission preferred this option, subject to significant technical adjustments, such as adopting the standard gauge and replacing the inclined planes with longer base tunnels. On this route, the syndicate hoped for annual freight traffic of 90,000 tons despite a higher cost per kilometre than the routes via the Tinée or the Careï, as well as a revival of passenger traffic.” [1: p20]

The PLM had little enthusiasm for the proposed line as their experience of lines in the Alps encountered technical difficulties and had profitability problems

In 1878, the Minister of Public Works, Charles de Freycinet (1828-1923), asked regional authorities to consider possible lines to become part of a network of secondary lines across the country. The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes submitted the line ‘from Nice to the Italian border’, running from Nice to Turin via the Paillon Valley, the Col de Nice, L’Escarène, the Col de Braus, Sospel, the Col de Brouis, Breil, the Roya Valley, and the Col de Tende. This route was registered No. 142 in the network in the law of 17th July 1879, where it appeared alongside the Nice – Digne via Saint-André and Nice – Draguignan via Grasse lines. [1: p21]

While the Cuneo-Nice line was a low priority for the national government in Italy, but Piedmont and Liguria did not give up, encouraged by the interest on the French side of the border. A number of different schemes were considered (from Baron de Vautheleret, Giacomo Pisani and Domenico Santelli).

Renewed interest at a national level led, in April 1876, the ‘conseil superieur des Travaux Publics’ approved the principle of a Cuneo – Ventimiglia railway, following the Roya along its entire course, including crossing French territory. The estimated cost for the 86 km on Italian soil was 38 million lire.

Two years later, while France was preparing its “Freycinet plan”, Italy had its ‘loi Baccarini’ (law 5002) which was passed in parliament on 25th July 1879 and included for a secondary line ‘from Cuneo to the sea’, “leaving all options open South of the Col de Tende so as not to prematurely offend any interests.” [1: p23]

By the end of July 1879, the process seemed well underway but no one allowed for the political machinations that would follow.

“The first disappointments emerged in France in 1880 during the budget debates, where the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Léon Gambetta (1838-1882), postponed the vote on construction funding. On 22nd July, the General Council of Bridges and Roads rejected an initial project, which included 30 mm/m gradients and 300 m radius curves, as too costly. In November 1881, the Ministry of War was even more categorical, formally opposing the extension of the railway beyond Sospel, and demanding that it serve the village of Lucéram from L’Escarène, the supply base for the defensive sector of L’Authion, Turini and Peïra-Cava. In this case, the line would have to adopt even more severe characteristics: 40 mm/m gradients, 150 m radius curves, switchbacks to cross the Col de Nice and helical loops to reach Lucéram…” [1: p24]

“In 1882, an important step towards opening up the Haute Roya region was taken with the commissioning of the Col de Tende road tunnel. … This structure, remarkable for its time, was designed for the movement of carts, horses, pedestrians and. cannons, because the defense of the Tenda and Briga area was a major concern for the Italian general staff! The journey now avoided the countless hairpin bends of the pass and the risk of snowstorms and avalanches.” [1: p24]

The Col de Tende Road Tunnel and the border between France and Italy. [17]

But while economic and emotional ties remained strong between Cuneo and Nice, they were weakening between Rome and Paris due to political, commercial, and colonial rivalries that would poison relations … for about fifteen years. The attitude of the city of Marseille was also difficult. The business community in Marseille was hostile to a new rail link between Nice and Italy. Fearing the expansion of the port of Nice at their expense. They lobbied against any possible expansion of the port of Nice, even to the extent of thwarting standard-gauge lines from Nice to Digne and Draguignan, ensuring that the lines were built to metre-gauge (with less transport capacity and obligatory double-handling of loads). [1: p24]

Locally, in Nice, some pushed for the line to be metre-gauge, thinking that might iron out the technical difficulties and strategic objections. [1: p24] Faced by the administrative impasse which stalled the project in France , the French Ministry of Public Works decided to close its Nice design office on 1st September 1887. Italy, however, worked unilaterally with the intention of opening up the Haute Roya without prejudging the continuation of the route towards France. [1: p24]

From 1882 until 1900 it was the Italians that took the initiative. A delegation from Cuneo secured 29.5 million lire from the Italian Minister of Public Works. The first length of the scheme received local approval on 25th March 1882. Work on site started in April 1882 on the length of the line from Cuneo to Vernante.

The first length of the line – Cuneo to Vernante

The present passenger station building in Cuneo seen from the East, © Neq00 and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence,(CC BY-SA 4.0). This railway station was built in the 1939s and opened in 1937 by the Communications Minister, Antonio Stefano Benni. At the same time the new Madonna Olmo–Plateau Cuneo–Borgo San Dalmazzo line was opened. It replaced the old Cuneo Gesso–Boves–Borgo San Dalmazzo line. [18]

The present railway station in Cuneo dates from the late 1930s the older station is known as Cuneo Gesso Statzione. At the time of the building of the Line from Cuneo towards Nice and Ventimiglia, Cuneo’s railway station sat alongside the Gesso River across the town from the present station.

The original Cuneo Railway Station from which the line to Nice and Ventimiglia left in a southerly direction. This image was taken in 1903. It was shared on the Facebook Nel dipartimento della Stura – Cuneo – pagina. [19]

This second photograph of Cuneo’s original railway station which was on the banks of the River Gesso shows both the station building and the bridge which carried the railway over the river. This image was taken in 1905. It was shared on the Facebook Nel dipartimento della Stura – Cuneo – pagina on 16th November 2017. [20]

Although dated 6th October 1979 this postcard image originated in the early years of the 20th century. It shows the Cuneo Gesso Station as it was at the turn of the 20th century. The postcard was made to commemorate the reopening of the international railway line that connects the city of Cuneo with the city of Nice. This image was shared on the Facebook Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza page on 11th December 2017. [21]

The railway initially arrived from Turin, via Fossano. It came as far as Madonna dell’Olmo opposite Cuneo across the Sturia River on 16th October 1854 where a small building was built to serve as a temporary station. On 5th August 1855 the inaugural train from Cuneo left for Turin. In the same year the municipality built a bridge over the Sturia (at its own expense). After the construction of the bridge over the Stura, a second temporary station was built on an embankment in the San Sebastiano plain (where Giuseppe Garibaldi had arrived to visit his “Alpine Hunters” in 1856). Only in 1870 was a significant edifice completed which became Cuneo’s railway station. It was alongside the Gesso River and it was again built entirely at the town’s expense. [19]

Cuneo Gesso Stazione in 2010, © Luciano Marco and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). The lines curving off the right of this photograph head towards the bridge over the Gesso River. [22]

The complete opening of the Cuneo-Ventimiglia line, which took place on 30th October 1928, caused significant logistical problems for both travellers and rolling stock at Cuneo station. The old depot, dating back to 1864, soon became insufficient to house the locomotives of the new line, [23: p41] a hastily built locomotive depot was provided (because of delays creating the new line and new railway station, and in the construction of the large mixed-use viaduct over the Stura di Demonte. [24][25]

The Locomotive Depot at Cuneo Gesso Station which was used until the new depot close to Cuneo Altipiano Railway Station was opened. The site was repurposed – it became a sawmill. This plan comes from From the December 1929 *Technical Magazine of Italiane Ferrovie*., It was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group on 13th February 2024 by Francesco Ciarlini Koerner. [62]

The new depot was placed beyond the embankment of the road to Mondovì. A double track arched bridge took the tracks under the road. [26][27] On 7th November 1937[24] the new Cuneo Altipiano station was opened, located to the west of the city centre and connected to the new locomotive depot built on the right side of the Stura River. [24][25]

Cuneo Gesso quickly lost importance, remaining active only as a stopping point for the lines to Mondovì and Boves , the latter closed to traffic in 1960. [23: p55-57][25]

Near the station was the terminus of the Cuneo-Dronero, [28] Cuneo-Saluzzo [29] and Cuneo-Boves [30] tramways, active for different years between 1879 and 1948 [25][31: p120]. The Cuneo Boves line opened in 1903 and closed in 1935.

Ex Stazione Ferrovia Di Cuneo Gesso as it appears on Google Maps satellite imagery. he river is the Gesso Torrent and a modern concrete bridge now spans the river. The line heading South from the station originally served a temporary Locomotive depot but now serves the sawmill that replaced the depot. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The old station buildings seen from the Southwest. The building is in use as a cafe/bar. Tracks remain in place beyond the building. [Google Streetview, May 2025]

The bridge which now carries the railway over the River Gesso. [Google Streetview, 2022]

Construction of the new line started in 1882, it left the station to the South curving sharply to the left to cross the Gesso River on a 3-arch brick viaduct (each span was 24.8 metres) shared with the line from Cuneo to Mondovi which was under construction at the same time. [1: p25]

The line to Mondovi remains today, but no passenger trains use the line any longer. The line we are following from Cuneo to Vernante, left the line to Mondovi heading Southwest and passing through the villages of Boves and Fontanelle-di-Boves. Provision for freight and passengers was made at Boves, just for passengers at Fontanelle-di-Boves.

Preparing for this article, I found a document from 1904 which included the plans and profiles of the line on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group. It was shared as a series of photographs by Davide Franchini on 2nd March 2022.

The first plan shows the bridge crossing the River Gesso with the line heading for Nice and Ventimiglia bearing away from the line to Moldovi. [47]

The route of the old railway from Cuneo Gesso to Borgo-San-Dalmazzo, (c) Ale Sasso and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 4.0). [32]

As far as I can tell, the line to Boves has been built over. It seems to have followed the route of Via del Borgo Gesso South from the river bridge, then Via Bisalta, then Highway SP21 to Boves where the line curved back towards the River Gesso. Boves station was on a relatively sharp curve in the line. [33]

A similar view of Boves Railway Station in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The altered station building as seen from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, 2012]

The goods shed/warehouse seen from the East. [Google Streetview, 2012]

The goods shed at Boves, seen from the West on the SP21. The original station building can be seen on the left of this image. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The location of Boves Railway Station in the 21st century. Via Gastalato (SP21) runs along the old railway line. The main station building has a silver coloured roof and sits at the centre of this satellite image. The goods warehouse costs to the West of the main station building and has a red roof. [Google Maps, July 2025]

Boves station had a passing loop and two sidings. The passenger building, converted into residential housing several years ago, was adjacent to a goods warehouse, now used as a provincial warehouse. [35]

The line beyond Boves Railway Station ran through Fontanelle di Boves and then crossed the River Gesso again. [47]

The hamlet of Fontanelle di Boves was just a short distance beyond Boves Railway Station. It had its own passenger station which opened in 1942 after the line from here back to Cuneo was replaced by a new line on the other side of the River Gesso which ran into the new station at Cuneo. Just a short distance further down the line was the viaduct which took the line back over the River Gesso. Originally, this was a masonry structure of three 24.8 metre arched spans. [1: p25] The viaduct was overwhelmed and destroyed by a flood of the Gesso on the afternoon of 2nd October 1898. It was then replaced with the current 74 m metal truss girder bridge. [34]

This photograph shows the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the bridge between Fontanelle-di-Boves and Borgo San-Dalmazzo. It was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 29th February 2024. As well as appearing on the Facebook Group, Banaudo et al include the picture in their book. They comment: “On 2nd October 1898, the Southern Alps suffered violent floods that swept away the three-arched masonry viaduct over the Gesso between Boves and Borgo San-Dalmazzo, built in 1883. It was rebuilt as a metal truss bridge, but initially trains used a temporary structure on wooden beams. In December 1898, this was tested by the passage of locomotive No. 4333 of type 040, series 4201 to 4493 of the Rete Mediterranea. (Photo Giacinto Garaffi – Diego Garel collection).” [37][1: p26]

The bridge is known as Ponte di Sant’Andrea, a second truss was positioned alongside the railway bridge and together the two bridges now carry the SP21.

After crossing the River Gesso and at about 12 km from Cuneo the line arrived at Borgo-San-Dalmazzo.

This schematic map shows the two rail routes. The solid line shows the original alignment that we have just been following. The dotted line shows the route built at the end of the 1930s. The two lines met to the West of Pont Sant’Andre. The 1937-built station is on the banks of the Stura River on the West side of Cuneo and on the dotted line. [34]

The bridge (Ponte di Sant’Andrea) is flagged in the bottom-right, the newer line from Cuneo enters this image middle-top and runs down to the bottom-left. The older line curved round from the SP21 and its route is marked by the curved field boundary. [Google Maps, July 2025]

Returning to the 1937-built Cuneo Railway Station, the line from that station leaves Cuneo in a South-southwest direction. It is easiest to see the route of the line on a sequence of extracts from global mapping provided by OpenStreetMap. …

Cuneo’s Railway Station in the 21st century. [OpenStreetMap, July 2025][38]

A twilight view of Cuneo railway station taken from the cab of a multiple unit entering the station from the Southwest. [45]

The line runs alongside the locomotive depot to the South of the passenger facilities at Cuneo Railway Station and then enters a tunnel which turns South under the city. [39]

The tunnel mouth to the South of Cuneo Railway Station can be made out at the centre-top of this image. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

This time looking North, the Southern portal of the tunnel to the South of Cuneo Railway Station can be made out below the roundabout at the centre-top of this image. [Google Earth 3D, July 2025]

A rain-spattered cab view from the South, taken in the late evening, of the Southern portal of the tunnel which sits to the South of Cuneo Railway Station. [45]

After leaving the tunnel, the line began to curve round to the Southwest passing under Via Fontanelle and then under the roundabout at the junction of Via Mellana and Viale Federico Mistral. [40]

Looking North in the evening light under a footbridge close to Via Giuseppe Scagliosi through the cab widow of a multiple unit on the line. [45]

The view North from the bridge carrying Via Fontanelle across the line. [Google Streetview, 2019]

Looking South from the bridge carrying Via Fontanelle over the line. The bridge in the distance sits underneath a roundabout at the junction between Via Mellana and Viale Federico Mistral. [Google Streetview, 2019]

A three arch bridge carries Via Fontanelle over the railway, seen again in the evening light from the South through the rail-spattered cab widow of a multiple unit. [45]

A short tunnel carries the roundabout at the meeting of Via Mellana and Viale Federico Mistral over the railway, seen again from the South through the rail-spattered cab widow of a multiple unit. [45]

Vegetation around the roundabout means that it it not possible to see into the cutting from the road.

The line continues in a Southwesterly direction running alongside Viale Federico Mistral. [41]

A brick-ringed arch bridge carries the railway over a side road off Viale Federico Mistral. This view is from the Southeast. The structure is at the top-right of the map extract immediately above. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A very similar arch bridge carries the railway over a further side road off Viale Federico Mistral. The bridge is located in the bottom-left quadrant of the map extract above. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Now on a more Southwesterly course the line passes under a footbridge, obscured on the map extract by the words Tetto Bidetti in the top-right corne of the extract.

Silhouetted in the evening light, this bridge crosses the line carrying a footpath over the railway. The image, again comes from the cab of a multiple unit heading for Cuneo. [45]

Close to Cascina Tallone, the line crosses Lungo Gesso by means of another brick ringed arch. This view looks under the railway from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, May 2022]

Near Cascina David another brick-arched bridge pierces the railway embankment where Via David passes beneath the railway. Again this view is from the Southeast on Via Sant’Andre. [Google Streetview, May 2022]

Near Cascina Landra another brick-arched bridge pierces the railway embankment. Again this view is from the Southeast on Via Sant’Andre. Thestructure appeasr bottom-left on the map extract above and top-right on the extract below. [Google Streetview, May 2022]

And close to where the line of the older route meets the newer route the line is heading South-southwest and turns towards the Southwest. [43]

Now in Borgo San-Dalmazzo we have reached the point where the older line curved in from the East having crossed the River Gesso. [44]

Via Sant’Andrea passes over the line. This view looks Northeast towards Cuneo. [Google Streetview, May 2022]

Also taken from the bridge carrying Via Sant’Andrea over the railway, this view looks across the road SP21 towards Borgo San-Dalmazzo. [Goog;e Streetview, May 2022]

The view Southwest from the bridge carrying the SP21 over the railway. The route of the older line is marked by the field boundary visible to the left of the line. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The older line curved round to the Southwest and followed a straight course towards Borgo-San-Dalmazzo Railway Station. The newer line has taken its place on the approach to the Station from the Northeast.

Looking back to the Northeast towards the bridge carrying the SP21 from the bridge carrying Via Don Giovanni Minzoni. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking Southwest towards Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station from the bridge carrying Via Don Giovanni Minzoni. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

At the Northeast boundary of the Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station site the Via Rocchiuse passes under the station throat by means of this brick-arched subway/tunnel. This is the view from the Southeast through the tunnel. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station in 1906. This old postcard image was shared on the Ferrovia Internazionale Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nizza Facebook Group by Mario Zauli on 31st March 2025. [52]

Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station passenger building in 2012, © Luigi Tuby and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [46]

Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, July 2025]

In the plans/profiles that we came across earlier the station is shown with the North point reversed. [47]

San-Dalmazzo is a very old trading town located at the crossroads of three valleys: the Stura, the Gesso and the Vermenagna. The station had three platforms, a goods yard, a 5.50 m turntable and a large overflow yard that could be used for the embarkation and disembarkation of military units deployed in the area. “When the railway arrived in Borgo-San-Dalmazzo, this small town had already had a rail service for several years. In fact, private entrepreneurs Ercole Belloli and Carlo Chiapello opened a 1.445 m gauge horse-drawn tramway between Cuneo and Borgo in 1877, passing through the San-Rocco-Castagnaretta district on the left bank of the Gesso. Horse-drawn traction was replaced by steam locomotives on this modest 8-km line in 1878.” [1: p27][48]

The Cuneo-Borgo San-Dalmazzo-Demonte tramway linked the cities of Cuneo, Borgo San Dalmazzo and Demonte from 1877 to 1948. In the late 1870s, following the success of similar initiatives in the Turin area, the construction of tramways was pursued in the province of Cuneo. [48] As we have already noted, this was just one of a number of such tramways in the area.

The Cuneo Borgo-San-Dalmazzo tramway was extended in 1914 to Demonte (26.4 km) and converted on this occasion to a 1.10 m gauge to facilitate the exchange of goods with the Compagnia Generale dei Tramways Piemontesi (CGTP) which operated the Cuneo Boves line (8.3 km) from 1903. The Boves steam tramway disappeared in 1935 and that of Borgo and Demonte in 1948. [1: p28] The story of these tramways seems worth investigating, but their histories are a matter for a different article!

The station had an ignominious place in history. During the Second World War two convoys of Jewish deportees departed from the Borgo San Dalmazzo railway station bound for Auschwitz , coming from the adjacent Borgo San Dalmazzo concentration camp. The first convoy, on 21st November 1943, completed its journey via Nizza Drancy with 329 people on board. Only 19 survived. The second convoy, on 15th February 1944, with 29 people on board, headed instead for the Fossoli transit camp where it was combined with transport no. 8 bound for Germany. Only 2 survived. [49][50]

The *Deportation Memorial* , with a row of cattle wagons similar to those used then (the wagons are from 1953) commemorates the names of the deportees, their age and nationality and their family relationships. [50][51]

Burgo San-Dalmazzo to Robilante: The second construction contract covered the length from Borgo San-Dalmazzo to Robilante. Work began in late 1883. From Burgo San-Dalmazzo the line leaves the plain and begins its ascent up the Vermenagna Valley, heading towards the Tende Pass. The route, was designed to accommodate heavy traffic, so the line does “not include any curves with a radius less than 300 m, with two exceptions: one at the southern end of Cuneo station and one at the exit from Borgo station, where the route curves sharply to the left in a 257-meter curve to reach the left bank of the Gesso River. There, a 21 m three-arched masonry viaduct, shared by the railway and the SS20 road, crosses this Alpine torrent for the third and final time.” [1: p27]

This satellite image shows the sharp curve from the Railway Station at Borgo San-Dalmazzo to the viaduct across the River Gesso. [Google Maps, July 2025]

As the railway curves round towards the river its embankments are pierced twice to allow local roads to pass beneath the line.

This is the first structure. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The second structure, closer to the River Gesso. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The southern approach to Borgo San-Dalmazzo Railway Station, seen from the cab of a multiple unit. The line to the right of the image is a siding which terminates close to the River Gesso. [45]

The 3-span viaduct across the River Gesso carries both the railway and the SS20. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking South along the SS20 as it crosses the Gesso. The railway cantenary is on the left with the tracks hidden behind the dividing fence. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A view from the South showing the road on the left. This is a view from the cab of the multiple unit again. [45]

Once over the river the road and railway remain at a high level with an access road to the SS20 passing under both the railway and the road. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

After crossing the river the line ran on through Roccavione. …

The line bridges a minor road. The brick arch structure is seen from the Southwest. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The line crosses Via 8 Agosto at level. The view looks Southwest over the level-crossing. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The view North-northwest from the level-crossing, looking back along the line towards Borgo San-Dalmazzo. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The view South-southeast from the level-crossing, looking towards Roccavione Railway Station. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking Southeast from Roccavione Railway Station car park. The station building is to the right of centre, the platforms are camouflaged by the fencing to the left of the parked vehicles. [Google Streetview, September 2023]

The station building and forecourt seen from the Southwest. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A view South along the platform of Roccavione
Railway Station © Mattia Vigano. [Google Maps, 2019]

Roccavione Station is a simple station with two public platforms and one track serving a military platform. Another level crossing sits beyond the South end of the station site.

Looking back from the level-crossing at Via Piano Sottano towards Roccavione Railway Station. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A similar view looking North into Roccavione Railway Station from the cab of the multiple unit. The station has no passing loop. [45]

The view Southwest across the level-crossing. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking South-southeast as the line continues up the Vermenagna valley. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The line follows an easy gradient between the SP259 (which used to be the SS20) and the left bank of the River Vermenagna to Robilante Railway Station. [1: p27]

The line runs Northwest to Southeast across this extract from Google Maps satellite imagery. It runs close to the SP259 between Roccavione and Robilante. [Google Maps, July 2025]

A link road under the railway and under the SP259 beyond. It provides access from Via Piano Sottano to the SP259. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

What in the UK we might choose to call an underpass or cattle-creep under the railway. Apologies for the slight distortion of the image which comes from the way in which Google’s algorithm merges the 360° camera photographs. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Robilante Railway Station had three platform tracks, a small goods yard, a water feed, a 8.50m turntable and an engine shed. Beyond the station track gradients increased significantly and provision needed to be made for banking engines in steam days. [1: p27]

Robilante Railway Station. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The station building sat on the Southwest side of the line, This view looks through the station to the Southeast, (c) Gum Gum. [Google Maps: July 2023]

Robilante Station building and forecourt seen from the Northeast on Via Roma. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

This view looks Northwest through the station towards Cuneo, (c) Mattia Vigano. [Google Maps: April 2019]

A similar view to that immediately above but taken from the driver’s cab on a multiple unit. In the distance in this image the old goods shed can be seen to the left of the line. The shed is no longer present in the more modern image above. [45]

A station plan for the station at Robilante. The line is oriented Northwest to Southeast. The turntable is located at the Northwest end of the yard. The engine shed is opposite the passenger building. The goods shed was Northwest of the passenger facilities and is shown here with a single siding passing through the building. The bridge, shown in images below crosses the station throat at the Southeast end of the station site. Not shown on this early plan are five sidings added for clinker wagons from the Buzzi Unicem cement plant nearby. [47][53]

Robilante Goods Shed seem from the cab of a multiple unit. As noted above, the shed has now been demolished. [45]

This image taken from the Southeast of the station from the cab of an approaching Cuneo service gives a broader view of the station site. [45]

A broader view of Robilante Station taken from a road at the Southeast corner of the station site. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The road overbridge at the Southeast end of the station site. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The view Northwest from the road bridge which carries Via Luigi Emina over the line. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The view Southeast from the same road bridge. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The bridge which carries Via Luigi Emina over the line, seen from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The second phase of the construction work on the line terminated in Robilante. “The preliminary design for the third phase from Robilante to Vernante was submitted to the Ministry of Public Works on 11th January 1884, and work began the following summer. On this 6,419-meter-long section, the railway crosses the mountain with gradients of 25 mm/m.” [1: p27]

This extract from Google Maps satellite imagery shows the length of the line from Robilante to Vernante

Via Ferrovieri runs immediately adjacent to the railway for some distance, passing under a road over bridge along with the railway. This view looks ahead up the Vermenaga valley. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The same bridge seen from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The two images immediately above were taken at the end of a road serving a small industrial area. The first looks Northeast, the second, Southeast. [Google Streetview, September 2023]

After passing under the SS20, the line runs alongside the road for a kilometre or so.

Trains can be seen passing immediately adjacent to the road. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

A short distance further South a side road from the SS20, Via Tetto Pettavino, bridges the line. The two photographs below were taken from the bridge.

Looking North towards Robilante. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking ahead along the line towards the viaduct over the River Vermenagna. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The railway crossed the Vermenagna River by means of a viaduct of 5 arched spans – three of 21 metres flanked at each end by an 8 metre span. [Google Maps, July 2025][1: p27]

A photograph of the viaduct over the Vermenagna surrounded by trees can be found here on Flickr. [54]

Banaudo et al tell us that seven further significant structures were included in the contract which covered the line as far as Vernante [1: p27] all of which sit within approximately 3 kilometres along the line:

the Rio Vermanera masonry viaduct, with three 8-metre arches;
the Ponte Nuovo Tunnel, 425 metres long;
the Brunet Tunnel, 161 metres long;
the Corte-Soprano Tunnel, 95 metres long;
the San Giovanni masonry viaduct, with six arches measuring 7.90 m, three measuring 13.75 m, and one measuring 6 m;
the San Giovanni Tunnel, 138 metres long; and
the Costa Tunnel, 147 metres long. [1: p27]

The first of these – the Rio Vermanera Viaduct is pictured below.

The Rio Vermanera masonry viaduct, seen from the West, one span of which crosses the Strada Vermanera, another spans the Vermaners stream. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The same viaduct seen from the East. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Strada Vermanera provides road access to a number of small hamlets to the East of the railway line. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The Ponte Nuovo Tunnel: this extract from OpenStreetMap shows the tunnel curving significantly. It ran from just to the South of the Rio Vermanera Viaduct to open out immediately adjacent to the SS20/E74 but at a higher level. [55]

Immediately beyond the southern portal of the Ponte Nuovo Tunnel, a masonry retaining wall supports the railway above the SS20/E74.

Looking back towards the South portal of the Ponte Nuevo Tunnel the parapet railings of the retaining wall can be seen on the left of this image. [45]

The southern portal of the Ponte Nuovo Tunnel is at the far end of this retaining wall. Immediately at the Southeast end of the retaining wall is the short Brunet Tunnel (161 metres long) [Google Streetview, June 2025]

The Brunet Tunnel is shown dotted on this extract from OpenStreetMap. [56]

The South Portal of the Brunet Tunnel. [45]

The next tunnel is only 200 metres or so along the line, the Corte-Soprano Tunnel is even shorter at only 95 metres in length. [57]

The South Portal of the Corte-Soprano Tunnel. [45]

Just to the Southeast of the tunnel portal is the next structure, the San Giovanni Viaduct. masonry viaduct, with six arches measuring 7.90 metres, three measuring 13.75 metres, and one measuring 6 metres. [Google Maps, July 2025]

It is not feasible to get a photograph of the full length of the viaduct. The three images below give a good impression of its length and height.

Two further short tunnels, the San Giovanni Tunnel (138 metres long) and the Costa Tunnel (147 metres long) follow in the next few hundred metres.

The two tunnels are only separated by a short length of the line. [Google Maps, July 2025]

The South portal of the San Giovanni Tunnel. [45]

The South portal of the Costa Tunnel. [45]

The railway continues to climb higher on the eastern slope of the Vermenagna Valley and reaches Vernante, about 23 km from Cuneo.

Another of the plans and profiles that we encountered earlier in this article. This one shows the final approaches to Vernante Railway Station. Some of the structures described above can be seen on this plan. [47]

On the final approaches to Vernante Railway Station two further structures can be seen on the plan above. They carry the line over minor roads. The first spans Via La Tina, the second spans Vicolo Castello/Strada da Castello.

Looking East through the underpass which takes Via La Tina under the railway. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Looking East through the structure that carries the railway over Strada da Castello. [Google Streetview, June 2025]

Vernante Railway Station was the end of the third tranche of works on the railway. Vernante is “a busy centre of livestock breeding and craftsmanship where renowned knives are produced. Vernante station … has two platform faces with a passing loop, … [a goods shed] and platform for goods traffic, a 5.50 m turntable and a curious installation, unique on the line, the “binario di salvamento”. This is a counter-slope safety [line which leaves the main running line close to the station throat] on the Limone side. The switch is permanently positioned to provide access to the safety line, so that any vehicle drifting down the 26 mm/m gradient south of the station can enter it, be slowed down by the opposite gradient and then come to a stop. Each descending train must stop before the switch, so that it can be maneuvered on site to allow normal entry into the station. This simple but effective precautionary measure applies to other steep-gradient lines on the Italian network, in the Alps and the Apennines.” [1: p27]

A plan of Vernante Railway Station. [47]

Vernante Railway Station. [Google Streetview, July 2025]

A photograph from the cab of a Cuneo-bound train arriving at Vernante. The passenger building is on the left with the goods shed beyond. [45]

While construction work was underway on the first three tranches (Cuneo to Vernante), the Italian rail network was undergoing a major reorganization. The Law passed on 27th April 1885, placed control of the railways into the hands of “the new Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo, more commonly known as Rete Mediterranea (RM), … including the route ‘from Cuneo to the sea’.” [1: p28]

In 1887, the time had come for the first trains! “The Cuneo-Robilante section was inaugurated on Saturday, 16th July 1887, and opened for service on Monday 18th. Less than two weeks later, Francesco Crispi became President of the Council of Ministers, and relations between Italy and France would soon be strengthened. Then came the beginning of the future Cuneo-Mondovi line, which opened on 2nd October 1887, as far as Roccadebaldi. The Roccadebaldi and Robilante lines thus formed a common section for 359 meters, starting from Cuneo [Gesso] station and crossing the Gesso River on the same viaduct. … Two years later, the Robilante-Vernante section was … opened on 1st September 1889.” [1: p28]

As footnotes to this article we note that:

Banaudo et al comment: “construction of the Ceva Ormea branch line began in the upper Tanaro Valley. With a terminus about 30 km from Vernante or 25 km from Tenda and Briga, this line would play an important role in the battle of interests that would unfold in the final years of the century to confirm a definitive route to the sea.” [1: p28]
They also give details of the locomotives used on the line in these very early years, by Rete Mediterranea (RM). The locomotives were 030s (in the UK 0-6-0s) with tenders and came from the roster of the Turin depot and loaned to the Cuneo-Gesso Locomotive depot. They belonged to just one series: “Nos. 3201 to 3519 RM, which became group 215.001 to 398 at the FS. [The series was built] between 1864 and 1892 based on a model derived from the French “Bourbonnais” locomotives of the PLM. These 450 hp engines were equipped with saturated steam, single expansion, and Stephenson internal distribution. The [later] Cuneo depot, established in 1907, still had five type 215 locomotives in 1922, mainly operating service trains.” [1: p86] It is also worth noting that some of the locos used on the line after 1899 came from a second series of locomotives (“Nos. 3801 to 3869 RM, later 3101 to 3169, then group 310.001 to 069 at the FS, built from 1894 to 1901 [1: p86]). While these locomotives were old enough to have served in the period from 1887 to 1891, they only arrived on the line during 1901. … I anticipate there being a separate article about motive power on the line in due course.

0-6-0 RM Locomotive No. 3375 Pracchia, with three driven axles and a tender, built in 1883 by Vulcan of Stettin. In 1905, it joined the FS fleet as Class 215, known as a Bourbonnais, along with 400 other locomotives with similar characteristics. It ended its career with the Porretta in 1927, © Public Domain. [59][60][1: p87]

We finish this first part of the journey from Cuneo to the sea at Vernante. The next article about the line will begin at Vernante and head South towards Limone and Vievola. It can be found here. [61]

References

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“The locomotive developed by the Scottish engineer Robert Francis Fairlie (1831-1885) from 1869 on the Ffestiniog narrow gauge railway in Wales, had two boilers connected by a single central firebox. Each boiler supplies steam to a pair of cylinders driving an independent group of axles. This system was developed in France from 1888 by artillery captain Prosper Péchot (1849-1928) and engineer Charles Bourdon (1847-1933), creators of an articulated narrow gauge locomotive widely used by the French army.” [1: p21]
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The locomotive depot area, left vacant after the opening of the new Cuneo station, was later reused by a sawmill connected by a siding to the Gesso station. [25]
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