Chemin de fer du Montenvers

Chemin de fer du Montenvers
Montenvers rack railway
Route length:	5.14 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	11 kV 50 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	110 to 220  ‰
Rack system :	Strub
Top speed:	14 to 20 km / h
Region (FR):	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Chamonix – Montenvers
Legend 0.00 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 1042  m Connection to SNCF ( Saint-Gervais – Vallorcine ) 0.34 Torrent du Grépon 1.54 Planards tunnel (104 m) 1.90 Les Planards 1280  m 2.11 Grépon tunnel (306 m) 3.62 Caillet 1627  m 4.30 La Filliaz (terminus 1908–1909) 4.49 Bois Viaduct 4.72 Montenvers Viaduct (152 m) 4.91 Bridge over the hotel driveway 5.14 Montenvers 1913  m

The Chemin de fer du Montenvers is a rack railway that runs from Chamonix to the 1913 meter high Montenvers . It overcomes a height difference of 871 meters over a length of 5.1 kilometers.

history

Disaster of 1927

Historic cogwheel steam locomotive (1908–1954)

In 1892 there were first concrete discussions about the construction of a rack railway in this area, but construction did not begin until 1908.

The opening of the first section up to kilometer 4.541 took place on August 9, 1908.

The entire route between Chamonix – Montenvers was then opened on May 29, 1909. In 1953 it was electrified.

The valley station of the cog railway on the Montenvers is in the immediate vicinity of the Chamonix train station on the Saint-Gervais – Vallorcine line , which reached Chamonix as early as 1901.

On August 25, 1927, a locomotive crashed together with a passenger car, with 22 fatalities.

operator

The rack railway is operated by the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc , a company that operates the various railways and cable cars in the Chamonix area (including the Tramway du Mont Blanc and the telepherique d ' Aiguille du Midi ).

Rolling stock

Montenvers electric rack railway in Chamonix

Diesel locomotives

In the summer of 1967 the first diesel locomotive (number 31) was purchased from the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory (SLM). Due to the satisfactory operation, two similar machines (numbers 32 and 33) were reordered from SLM and put into operation in 1972. Number 31 was transferred to the sister company Tramway du Mont-Blanc in 2001.

Electric railcars

Four electric railcars of the Swiss type Bhe 4/4 were ordered in 1952 from Winterthur SLM and Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO). The former was responsible for the car body, bogies, gear drive and brakes, the latter for the electrical part, and some of it was produced in Ornans, France ; The final assembly also took place due to state aid for electrification at Decauville in Corbeil-Essonnes , instead of the usual in Switzerland. The vehicles were put into operation in 1954 under the numbers 41 to 44. The number 45 was re-ordered in 1961 and the number 46 in 1979. Between 1998 and 2001, railcars 42 to 45 were overhauled.

Passenger cars

For the first four electric railcars, four presentation cars were ordered from Decauville , which were optically based on the railcars, and were classified under the numbers 51 to 54. No completely new building was ordered for railcar 45; Based on the chassis of a car from the steam era, the Belle-Clot company only manufactured a new structure. Classed as car 55, it was no longer used in passenger transport from the early 1980s and was finally replaced in 1984 by a new car from Socofer . In 1979, railcar 46 received a new car with number 56 from Socofer.

Articulated display cars were ordered from Belle-Clot to go with the diesel locomotives, and these were rebuilt on the chassis of old steam-era cars. Number 61 was delivered in 1966 and holds around 160 passengers. The subsequent numbers 62 and 63 differ slightly and hold around 200 passengers. Number 61 was handed over to the sister company Tramway du Mont-Blanc in 2001 together with locomotive 31 , but is not used there.

Infrastructure

Railroad crossing with raised rack in Chamonix, 1986

The rack (Systems Strub) is higher than the rails. So that the level crossing in Chamonix could be built without a hump to protect it, it was mounted there so that it can be lowered. It is only raised above rail or street level for the passage of a train.

Web links

Commons : Chemin de fer du Montenvers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Montenvers cog railway ( Memento from November 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ AC: La Saison. (…) Le chemin de fer du Montenvers  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . (French). In: Journal de Genève , ZDB-ID 192128-9, second edition, No. 219/1908, (LXXIX. Year), August 11, 1908, p. 3, column 5.  
2. ↑ Chronique locale. (…) De Chamonix au Montenvers (Mer de Glace)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . (French). In: Journal de Genève , ZDB-ID 192128-9, second edition, No. 146/1909, (LXXX. Year), May 30, 1909, p. 4, column 2.  
3. ↑ Serious accident on the Chamonix – Mer de Glace cable car. In: Neue Freie Presse , evening paper of August 26, 1927, p. 1 (online at ANNO ),
4. ↑ La catastrophe du Montenvers. In: Journal de Genève , third edition of August 27, 1927, p. 2 (French)
5. ↑ The serious accident on the cog railway on Montblanc. In: Wiener Bilder, September 4, 1927, p. 4 (online at ANNO)

Coordinates: 45 ° 55 ′ 21.8 "  N , 6 ° 52 ′ 31.4"  E