Another of the branch tramways. This left the Nice to Digne line close to La Mescla Station. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...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.
The next length of the line from Nice to Digne takes us from La Mescla to Le Pont de Gueydan. It is at Le Pont de Gueydan that the line leaves the banks of the River Var and follows one of its tributaries. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...pont-de-gueydan-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-68 Although I have travelled on this line a number of times, I have only once travelled beyond Entrevaux and that was in 2001. So looking at the line today, I am almost in virgin territory by the end of this post!
New territory for me. The now removed TAM tramway from Pont de Gueydan to Guillaumes up Les Gorges de Daluis ..... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...n-to-guillaumes-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-69 One of the bridges on this route has the distinction of being one of the earliest reinforced concrete arch structures in France.
After a detour up the tramway to Guillaumes we continue on our way towards Digne and travel as far as Annot. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ueydan-to-annot-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-70 The line has left the River Var behind and now wends its way along a number of different watercourses.
https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...not-to-meailles-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-71 We are close to the highest point on the route by the time we complete this section of the journey. Soon, after a long tunnel we will be on a downward ruling grade.
This is an aside from the string of posts about the Nice to Digne Line. The valley of the River Var has been prone to flooding over many years. A friend mentioned landslips which occurred at Annot in 1994 and 1996 as a result of heavy rains. The 1994 incident was part of a much wider catastrophic event affecting the whole River Var catchment area. The link below provides some details of the 1994 floods: https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...-and-landslides-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-72
The next stage of our journey takes us out of the catchment of the River Var and into the Valley of the River Verdon. .... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...o-thorame-haute-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-73 The centre piece of this section of the line is the 3.5 kilometre long tunnel which links the valleys of the Verdon and the Vaire together - the Tunnel de la Colle Saint Michel.
This next post focusses first on the Station and buildings close to it at Thorame-Haute. It highlights a local festival and the importance of the chapel adjacent to the railway station. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...andre-les-alpes-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-75 The blog then takes us on from Thorame-Haute to Saint Andre les Alpes. In a number of these posts I have been picking up some images from www.railsim-fr.com as there is now a rail simulator version of the Nice to Digne line.
The next step along the Nice to Digne railway line takes us from Saint-Andre-les-Alpes into the next valley - the valley of L'Asse. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/...lpes-to-barreme-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-76
The next post in the series on the line from Nice to Digne covers the length of the route from Barreme to the station at Mezel. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/1...arreme-to-mezel-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-77 Barreme Station has been used as the source for a model by Aubertrain: http://aubertrain.com/modules.html The diorama is 602 x 400 x 250 mm in size and costs 875 euros.
This is the final post covering the length of the Nice to Digne line. I hope to cover the motive power and rolling stock on the line in one or more additional posts. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/2...-mezel-to-digne-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-78
In order to complete this series of posts on the Metre Gauge Railways of the Cote d'Azur and Var in Provence I have been working on a series of posts about the locomotives and rolling stock on the Nice to Digne-les-Bains Line. I have just posted the first of these: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/12/1...ing-stock-steam-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-79 This post focusses on the Steam locomotives used on the line between Nice and Digne-le-Bains. It is unlikely to be comprehensive and I'd be grateful of any contributions by others which will add to my knowledge. I am hampered particularly by not having access to the seminal work on the network by Jose Banaudo, "Le Siecle du Train des Pignes." [25] The text of this book is in french and as it is out of print a good copy will cost well over 50 euros. If anyone has access to this book and is prepared to add to the text of the blog, please feel free to do so, or email me direct and I will update the post. I would be particularly interested in details of locomotives which ran on the Nice to Digne Line throughout its life and which are nor properly covered within the text below. As part of studies on the two other main-lines which made up the network of the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - the Central Var line and Le Macaron - we covered a lot of ground investigating early traction and steam power on the lines of the whole network and provided as much information as possible about rolling stock on the system. The relevant posts are: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/02/2...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-50 http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/03/0...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-52 http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/03/0...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-54 http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/2...nd-rolling-stock-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-49 These posts are as comprehensive as possible for the era of operation of those lines and cover the period up to their closure after the Second World War. However, they are focussed on the two lines which closed. It make sense, therefore to review those posts in the light of a focus on the Nice to Digne Line. This article sets out to do just that.
This next post on the locomotives and rolling stock on the Nice to Digne line focusses on the diesel locomotives in use on the line at different times during its development - shunters, locotracteurs, draisines, etc. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/12/2...diesel-traction-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-82
The Nice to Digne-les-Bains Line has been in the news in France over the past 18 months. In February 2019 there was a collapse of the tunnel at Moriez while strengthening work was taking place. In November 2019 the already closed line suffered some further damage as a result of bad weather. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/03/09/les-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-an-update-on-maintenance-work
