Decauville Railway of the Paris World's Fair (1889)

Train in front of the Pavillon de l'Algérie

Route

Route length:

3 km

Gauge :

600 mm ( narrow gauge )

Maximum slope :

25 ‰

Minimum radius :

45 m

Top speed:

10 km / h

Dual track :

At a distance of 2 m

Legend

	0	Pavillon de l'Algérie Esplanade des Invalides
		Boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg
		Galeries de l'Agriculture
		Underpass 20 m
		Galeries du Palais de l'Alimentation
		Avenue de la Bourdonnais
		Underpass 106 m
		Galeries du Pont d'Iéna Eiffel Tower
	3	Galeries des Machines avenue de Suffren

The Decauville train the Paris World Exhibition in 1889 ( French Chemin de fer intérieur de l'Exposition universelle de 1889 ) was a three-kilometer long Decauville - narrow-gauge railway with a track width mm 600, during the World Expo Paris 31 from 6 May to October In 1889 drove from Esplanade des Invalides to Avenue de Suffren .

Route

Station de la Concorde ( Esplanade des Invalides )

Underpass at the Eiffel Tower ( Pont d'Iéna )

Station de la Tour Eiffel (Pont d'Iéna)

Station du Palais des Machines (avenue de Suffren)

At 90 hectares, the area of the World Exhibition of 1889 was too large to be explored solely on foot. Therefore, an internal railway was built connecting the exhibition buildings on the Esplanade des Invalides with those under the Eiffel Tower . The three-kilometer-long railway line began 250 meters from the Concorde Bridge at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs near the Seine . She crossed the Esplanade des Invalides and followed the Quai d'Orsay on the banks of the Seine within the fence of the World's Fair between the two rows of trees furthest from the bank. It crossed the Boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg at a level crossing, ran in a 106 m tunnel under the avenues Rapp and avenue Bosquet , crossed the avenue de la Bourdonnais , then drove in an underpass past the Eiffel Tower and finally turned in a 90 ° -Turned onto Avenue de Suffren , which she followed to the terminus at the Galerie des Machines .

In addition to the two terminus, there were three stops on the Quai d'Orsay: the first at the Malar intersection, the second opposite the Palais des Produits Alimentaires, the third on the corner of Quai d'Orsay and Avenue de Suffren. The infrastructure and rail vehicles were supplied by Decauville . The line was double-tracked with a distance of two meters.

The station buildings at the stops were sights that could be seen from afar and attracted passengers. The son of one of the concessionaires, Louis Gaillot, a young architect, gave them forms of unusual originality and functionality. The awnings that covered the platforms offered passengers protection from the elements. At the terminal stations there were buffets where the passengers could meet and relax.

construction

The track was designed by the general director of works, Monsieur Alphand, who commissioned Antoine Gaillot and Paul Gallotti of Gaillot et Cie to build the track under the supervision of Monsieur Lion, the exhibition's engineer. The construction work was led by the deputy chief engineer and responsible for the metalwork J. Charton, who dealt in particular with the construction of the railway on the Champ de Mars .

business

Historical drawings

There were regulations that regulated the operation of this railway line by the concessionaire. The trains had to leave the terminus every ten minutes from 9 a.m. to midnight, i.e. six trains per hour or 90 trains per day in each direction. On Sundays, up to 150 trains could run in each direction. Although the route was completely closed to public traffic for most of its length, a low maximum speed of 10 kilometers per hour was set. This maximum speed should even be reduced to four kilometers per hour at certain points along the route, especially at level crossings where a train attendant preceded each train . The length of the trains was not allowed to exceed 50 meters and they were all equipped with a fast-acting brake.

The fare was a uniform 25 centimes per person in an open summer car and 50 centimes in a saloon car, regardless of the length of the journey. Passengers could buy their tickets in advance at many sales points. It was enough to show the tickets to the railway staff to get into the car. At the exit they were deposited at the turnstiles. According to the official census, 6,342,446 passengers were carried during the six-month operating time.

To be on the safe side, there was a remote-controlled, disc-shaped signal at each stop that could only be released when the barrier was closed. All trains were announced by a system of electric bells that led from the level crossings to the nearest station. After all, there was a telephone service in every station.

Railway attendant
Station de la Concorde
In the car
Two-way traffic on the Quai d'Orsay
At the Eiffel Tower
Station master

operating cost

After the first month of operation it was found that the total cost of running the railroad was £ 120 per day, of which £ 40 was for wages, fuel, oil and storage, £ 40 for track and rolling stock depreciation and interest on capital, and £ 40 Set aside to cover the later costs of backfilling the tunnels and cuttings and restoring the road surface. In addition, the French administration imposed a tax per thousand passengers carried.

On a few days, almost 40,000 people drove into the exhibition, and the train carried its millionth passenger within six weeks. She had gross income of £ 10,000, or about £ 240 a day, during that period. On this basis, it was confidently projected that the railway's gross revenues would exceed £ 70,000 over the six months of the show as it was not believed that traffic would decrease.

Locomotives

Only steam locomotives of various types were used. One was from the artillery captain PECHOT these Fairlie - double locomotive was specifically designed for the use of the army. In addition, locomotives based on the mallet principle, patented in 1884, were used. The wagons that were used for passenger transport were of different types that were similar to those of the Army Ministry.

There were around 12 steam locomotives and 100 wagons of various types in operation. The Swede Fredrik Arvidsson Posse bought two of the locomotives shown in Paris, Massouah and Turkestan , two passenger cars and track material and used them on the Helsingborg – Råå – Ramlösa Järnväg , which was inaugurated on July 16, 1891 . Other of the locomotives on display were later used on the Tramways de Royan , the Chemins de fer du Calvados and the Decauville Railway near Diego Suarez :

Wheel alignment	Weight	Serial number	Dealer number	Surname	Remarks
0-4-0T	3 t	Couillet 903/1887	Decauville 56/1887	Ma Camarade Later: Marc Seguin	Sold to De Malzine, Carrières de Rogeries, Département Nord .
0-4-0T	3 t		Decauville 49	La Mignonne	Sold to Decauville Railway Diego Suarez - Camp d'Ambre .
0-4-4-0T PECHOT	9.5 t	Pechot 1	Decauville 57	France	12 t operating weight, sold to Direction d'Artillerie de Toul (No. 1).
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 661/1887	Decauville 52	L'Avenir later Sergent Bobillot	12 t operating weight, suitable for 8% inclines, radii of 20 m and rails with 9.5 kg / m.
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 697/1887	Decauville 58	Later Kosta	Sold by Canon Legrand in Mons and Raismes to Hummel in Sweden.
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 713/1888	Decauville 59/1889	Ville de Laon later Diego Ferre	Sold in 1891 to Tramways de Royan , later in 1896 to the sugar plantation in Pardu ( Peru ) through Decauville's Ayulo & Cie .
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 735/1889	Decauville 71/1889	Massouah Later Råå	Then the Helsingborg – Råå – Ramlösa railway line
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 736/1889	Decauville 72/1889	Kairouan later Varaville	Sold in 1891 to Tramways de Royan, later to Chemins de fer du Calvados (N ° 6).
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 739/1889	Decauville 73/1889	Turkestan Later Helsingborg	Then the Ormaryd – Anneberg railway line . Until 1907 the Helsingborg – Råå – Ramlösa HRRJ N ° 2 railway line , scrapped in 1923
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 751/1889	Decauville 74/1889	Australie Later Cabourg	1891 sold to Tramways de Royan, later to Chemins de fer du Calvados (N ° 1).
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize 752/1889	Decauville 75/1889	Dumbarton Later Madagascar Later Sallenelles	Sold in 1892 to Chemins de Fer du Calvados (N ° 2, Sallenelles ), 1908 to Bourillon & Pelleron.
0-4-4-0T Mallet	9.5 t	Tubize	Decauville 80/1889	Hanoi later Haiphong	Later the Hanoi – Đồng Đăng railway line