# FRANCE | Railway History



## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

This thread is suggested as a way of engaging with the history of railways in France. Across the whole of France there was a network of Metre-Gauge Lines. Many of thee Ines closed in the middle of the 20th Century.

This is a celebration of those lines, closed in the main, some of which are still open. The first of these lines is:

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

My wife and I travel each year to Nice or other towns/cities in Provence and on the Cote d'Azur. Out of these regular Autumn visits has grown an interest in the extensive network of metre-gauge lines which all were lost by the late 1950s with the exception of the Nice to Digne line.

I have been working on a series of blogs about the different lines. The post below is the first in a series about the Central Var line of Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de La France. ...

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


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The second post in a series about the Central Var line in Provence:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-2-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-14


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

Here is the third post in the series about the Central Var Line. There were a number of metre-gauge tramways that met the Central Var line along its route. This is the first of these. No account of the line would be complete without these tramway connections.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...d-cagne-sur-mer-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-17

This tramway links in with the Central Var at Vence.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The next length of the Central Var Line takes us from Vence to Le Pont de Loup, the iconic viaduct which for many people defines the line:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-3-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-18

And this next length covers the length of the line from Le Pont de Loup to Grasse. Grasse was the perfume capital of the South of France.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-4-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-19


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

A number of different railways met at Grasse. 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 Tramways des Alpes Maritimes (TAM) tramway between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Grasse:

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/11/...s-sur-mer-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-20

The second half of the story of the TAM tramway between Grasse and Cagnes-sur-Mer:

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/11/...s-sur-mer-part-2-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-21


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

There was also a Tramway between Grasse and Cannes. ......

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...rasse-and-cannes-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-22

And a Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) (later SNCF) branch-line from Cannes to Grasse. The post below includes a link to a video of a cab-ride along the line:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ndard-gauge-line-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-24


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

Grasse also benefited from a funicular railway linking the town centre with the PLM (SNCF) railway station. This post provides details of the funicular and also of plans which have been made but not yet implemented(if they ever will be) for a new funicular. .....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ailway-in-grasse-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-23


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The Central Var line continues from the station in Grasse to Peymeinade:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-5-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-25


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

This next length of the Central Var line runs from Peymeinade to Tanneron. After the invasion by allied forces in 1944 and the destruction by retreating German forces of a number of Viaducts, Tanneron became the eastern terminus of the Central Var line and renmained so until full closure of the line early in 1950.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-6-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-26


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The next length of the line starts at Tanneron and finishes at Seillans:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-7-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-27


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

Our survey of the Central Var Metre-Gauge Line continues with the length from Seillans to Claviers ....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-8-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-28


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The journey along the Central Var metre-gauge line continues from Claviers to Figanieres.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ntral-var-part-9-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-29


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

In this next post we reach Draguignan which very quickly became the premier town on the Nice to Meyrargues line.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-10-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-30


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

Draguignan to Lorgues

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-11-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-31


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The journey along the Central Var Metre-Gauge line between Nice and Meyrargues continues with the length from Lorgues to Sillans-la-Cascade:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-12-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-32


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

The next length of the Central Var line runs from Sillans-la-Cascade to Barjols:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-13-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-33


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

And now from Barjols to Rians

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-14-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-34


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var*

And from Rians to Meyrargues

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...tral-var-part-15-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-35


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Ligne de Central Var - Locomotives and Rolling Stock*

I have produced a short series of posts about the Locomotives and rolling stock on the line from Nice to Meyrargues. The first of these covers the steam traction on the line:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...entral-var-line-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-50

As well as the Central Var Line the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France had two other main lines. The next one I will focus on is the coastal route from Toulon to Saint Raphael.

I will start posting about this line in the next post on this thread and will continue the posts about locomotives and rolling stock on the Central Var as time permits.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France - Le Macaron*

Le Macaron was the nickname given to the metre-gauge line along the coast between Toulon and Saint-Raphael. This line had no direct physical connection to the rest of the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France. Any transfer of locomotives and rolling stock between the two parts of the network had to take place via the standard-gauge lines of what was the PLM network


This is the first of the posts about Le Macaron. ....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...t-raphael-part-1-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-36


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