In our many trips to Nice and Les Alpes Maritimes, my wife and I have seen a significant amount of engineering works, bridges, viaducts and tunnels all on lines which were neither part of the PLM network of standard gauge railways, nor part of the general metre-gauge network. It turns out that there were a significant number of lines operated by two main tramway companies in Provence, Tramways de les Alpes Maritime (TAM) and tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL). These tramways ran on metre-gauge tracks but had a loading gauge not much wider than the track-gauge. In many places they ran alongside roads or withing the highway itself, but often they deviated away from the highway or their own formation. The one which first drew our attention was the Sospel to Menton Tramway which was operated by the TNL. This is the story: https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51
There were two different tram networks in the Nice area. The TAM network (Tramways of the Alpes-Maritimes) is part of the Railway of the South of France. The other network was the Tramway Company of Nice and Littoral (NL). This post covers the history of the entire TNL network. The other posts will cover specific lines on the TAM and TNL networks. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-53.
The tram from Vence to Cagnes-sur-Mer was part of the TAM network. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...d-cagne-sur-mer-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-17 Grasse was at one stage full of different rail transport. Two tramways, one from Cagnes-sur-Mer and one from Cannes approached the town from the south. A PLM branchline also linked Grasse to Cannes. There was a funicular railway linking the PLM (SNCF) railway station to the town centre, and there was the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France Central Var line crossing the town on its way between Nice and Meyrargues. This next post covers the first part of the story of the TAM tramway between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Grasse: https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/the-tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-20 The second part of the story of the TAM tramway between Grasse and Cagnes-sur-Mer: https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/the-tramway-between-grasse-and-cagnes-sur-mer-part-2-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-21
The city of Grasse was connected to a variety of palces by different transport linkslinks. The first and last relate to the metre-gauge line which passed through the town on its journey from Nice to Meyrargues. The middle three cover the PLM/SNCF line, the funicular and another tramway. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-4-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-19 https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ndard-gauge-line-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-24 https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ailway-in-grasse-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-23 https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...rasse-and-cannes-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-22 https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-5-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-25
The TNL built a line from Nice to Levens, it extended the urban line that went from Nice to Saint-André-de-la-Roche. This is the first of two posts that focus on the line and covers the length from Nice to Tourrette-Levens. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/the-nice-to-levens-tramway-part-1-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-54 The remainder of the TNL tramway line from Tourette-Levens to Levens follows below. As part of the blog, I have used what railway modellers sometimes call 'modeller's license' ... the freedom to use our imagination. The first half of the blog follows the tramway that might have been built via Aspremont and Saint-Blaise to Levens. It was certainly planned. The second half of the blog focuses on the current route along the M19. I hope you like it! https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/the-nice-to-levens-tramway-part-2-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-56
This post is the first about the tramway system in Toulon. A further post about Toulon will be required at some stage to complete the story of the whole network. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/23/ligne-du-littoral-toulon-to-st-raphael-part-3-trams-in-toulon-and-hyeres-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-38
As part of my birthday present last year my wife gave me two books written in French about the Trams of Nice. I am enjoying working out what the books say! This post relates to the relatively unusual practice of regular transport of goods on a tram network, which was common practice in Nice. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/goods-services-on-the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-60
Reading the book in French by Jose Banuado, I have discovered more about the Sospel to Menton tramway. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61 This post builds on previous ones, particularly ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51
The TNL grew in size in the years before the first world war but had great difficulty in getting new lines authorised and built https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-tnl-at-its-height-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-62
This post covers a short-lived tramway which left the Nice to Digne line of the Chemin de Fer de Provence at Plan du Var. It travelled up the Valley of the River Vesubie as far as St. Martin Vesubie. The line lasted no more than 20 years but was effective in opening up the valley of the Vesubie to tourism and vastly aided the agrarian economy. The post below has also been included in the story of the Nice to Digne metre-gauge main line. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/tam-tramway-from-plan-du-var-to-st-martin-vesubie-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-64 This post covers another short-lived tramway which provided a service up the valley of l'Esteron from Pont Charles Albert over the River Var to Roquesteron, a distance of more than 20 kilometres. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/tam-tramway-in-the-valley-of-the-river-esteron-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-66
Another of the branch tramways left the Nice to Digne line close to La Mescla Station and travelled up the valley of La Tinee. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/tam-tramway-from-la-mescla-to-saint-sauveur-sur-tinee-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-67 The available imagery from the time of the tramway is limited in extent and is supplemented by images from later dates.
I am continuing to work slowly through the book written in French about the tramways of Nice and the Cote d'Azur written by Jose Banuado. Sadly the book is only available in French. I have to use an internet based translation package to understand the book as my French is very limited. This post is based on Jose Banuado's book and covers the period of the First World War. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/28/tnl-tramways-during-the-first-world-war-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-80
This next post reflects on the conditions on the tramway network in Nice in the years after the war: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/12/28/tnl-tramways-recovery-after-the-first-world-war-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-83 It was not long before the tramways around Nice began an inexorable decline. The early 1930s saw the loss of many of the tram routes outside the city of Nice. Buses were the new thing as far as public transport was concerned. The car became gradually more important. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/09/the-tnl-tram-network-the-beginning-of-the-decline-1927-1934-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-84
Further decline in the urban tramway network in Nice occurred from the late 1920s into the 1930s. Buses became politically more acceptable than the trams. ... This post continues my reflections based on a translation of the work of Jose Banaudo from French into English. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/10/14/the-tnl-tram-network-the-changes-in-the-urban-network-1929-1934-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-86