Tramway d'Annecy à Thônes
| Tramway d'Annecy à Thônes | |
|---|---|
 Thônes station before 1914
| |
| Route length: | 22 km |
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) |
| Maximum slope : | 60 ‰ |
| Top speed: | 25 km / h |
| Region (FR): | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
The Tramway d'Annecy à Thônes (TAT) was a narrow-gauge railway in the French department of Haute-Savoie , which was in operation from 1898 to 1930.
history
The small town of Thônes , located on the edge of the Alps in the Fier Valley, was only accessible via a road from Annecy in the 19th century , which was often impassable in winter. In 1883 the road was expanded and new bridges were built. As in the late 19th century in neighboring places like Chamonix of winter sports became popular and brought tourists, the desire to pass usable was after the year in Thônes railway loud.
It made sense to use the route of the recently expanded road for a narrow-gauge railway largely in a lateral position. This would help limit costs and speed up construction. The building application was submitted in 1886, and approval for the construction of the line was granted in 1896. The railway opened on September 11th, 1898. The founder of the operating company Compagnie du tramway Annecy-Thônes was the banker Léon Laydernier (1866-1958), the driving force and, from 1897, the engineer and entrepreneur Jules Barut (1857-1929) on its director .
In 1908, after the expansion of the pass road over the Col des Aravis , a further bus line was set up from Thônes . Since the locomotive shed in Thônes was hardly used - the machines usually stayed overnight in Annecy - it was demolished in 1912. For the buses for which the railway advertised tourists with brochures, a multi-space garage was built in its place. For a long time, trains and buses were seen as useful and complementary to each other until they gradually became competitors in the 1920s.
Until 1914, the railway operated profitably in passenger and freight transport. In order to expand the trenches , it transported large quantities of wood during the First World War , but passenger traffic was reduced. After the end of the war it took a long time before the old situation was restored; the railway did not recover financially. In contrast to the pre-war era, the first and last train began in Thônes, where there was no longer a locomotive shed.
As road traffic increased, pressure grew in the 1920s to further expand the still single-lane road. The side-laying track stood in the way in many places. In December 1927, the General Council dealt with the situation, especially since the railway had shown a deficit for the first time in 1925 and 1926. The decision to sacrifice it for road construction was made in September 1929. The year 1928 ended with a deficit of 111,000 francs , and in 1930 it was to be as much as 148,000 francs.
On May 14, 1930, the train service ended and the passenger service was immediately taken over by buses. The railway was officially shut down on July 12, 1932. There had been no serious accidents during the entire operating time.
route
.JPG)
The railway followed the course of the river Fier with the road, there were no significant places between the two endpoints. Due to its connection with the road, the 22 km long route had gradients of up to 60 ‰, a high value for steam locomotives of the time . It was designed with a gauge of 1000 mm ( meter gauge ). The maximum permissible speed on the route was 25 km / h.
In Annecy, the capital of the department and at the same time its largest city, the western end of the route was on Avenue d'Aléry. It consisted of a small depot with a three-room wagon and a two-room locomotive shed, a small local goods facility with a goods shed and loading ramp, and a reloading hall for both gauges . From the nearby train station of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) came a regular-gauge track that ran alongside the meter-gauge track through this hall and then branched out. A gantry crane and a short multi-track section enabled heavy goods (e.g. tree trunks) to be reloaded and vehicles to be handed over. In total, the layout had four continuous tracks, seven single points , three double points , a turntable and a weighbridge . Facilities for passenger traffic did not exist there.
After a 90-degree curve, the track reached the street area of Avenue d'Aléry, where its guidance began in the manner of a tram in the pavement . First stop was Annecy P.-L.-M. with a small station building on Rue de la Gare, just a few meters south of the reception building of the regular-gauge PLM train station. The train then followed in the middle of the street on Rue Vaugelas to the Pâquier stop at its confluence with Rue Président Fauvre. The station building there - the first floor of a two-storey building with a curved, heavily glazed front - was integrated into the building line. On the Place du Théâtre, the track turns northeast and ran through the Rue de la Préfecture and the Rue des Archives to the Rue Dupanloup. She followed it to the avenue du Parmelan, on which she headed for the city limits. The last stop in the city was the stop of Solomon.
East of Annecy, in a series of sweeping curves, the ascent began on the side on what was then still undeveloped terrain. After the stops at Albigny and Vignières, Annecy-le-Vieux was reached at km 6 . The Sur les Bois station at km 7 had a crossing track and a small brick-built station building, but no freight facilities. Dingy - Parmelan (km 11) was followed by the Les Granges stop, the next railway crossing station. Wedged tightly between the river and the rock face, it had a station building and an additional stub track , but neither had a loading ramp nor a goods shed. Goods were mostly reloaded directly between rail and road vehicles. For the numerous day-trippers, a small snack hall was added soon after the opening .
In the narrowing valley of the Fier, the railway ran through the Défilé de Dingy gorge , where the engineers had wrested the road from the rock in 1883. The valley then widened again, and the Château-Folliet request stop followed - high above the river - at 15 km the Alex train station with a siding, a brick waiting room and an extension made of wood. Two other stops on demand were Chez Margueret and La Belle-Inconnue. At Morette, the railway crossed the Fier on a road bridge built in 1883 and switched to its east bank. At the station of the same name (km 19) with a simple shelter followed the Thuy stop, then Thônes was reached.
The three-track terminus with six switches had a two-storey station building with a gable roof , a toilet building, a stand-alone engine shed, a low water tower, a goods shed and a loading ramp. The locomotive shed and three stub tracks, including an open loading track , were accessible via three turntables . The station was lit electrically from the beginning - a hydroelectric power station above Thônes' has been supplying the city with electricity since 1893. The station building stood on a base about 1 m high, from which a wide staircase with six steps led down to the platform. In 1907 it received a single-storey side extension and a canopy. As early as 1912, the locomotive shed was demolished in favor of a garage for buses, but the goods shed was enlarged. In this context, the turntable in front of the locomotive shed and a stump track also disappeared.
traffic
Until the outbreak of the First World War, there were no separate freight trains ; mixed trains consisting of passenger , pack and freight cars were used. The travel time between the end points was 1:25 hours for the ascent, which corresponded to an average travel speed of 15 km / h. On the descent, the trains were a few minutes faster.
With the exception of December 25th, the trains ran daily. All year round there were up to five pairs of trains per day, in the summer season from July 1 to September 15, according to the 1910 timetable, a sixth was added in the evening. Up until 1914, two locomotives were required for all traffic every day. The 1905 timetable indicated a first train from Annecy P.-L.-M. at 5:30 a.m., followed by trips at 11:00 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. According to the timetable valid from June 1, 1912, the last return journey from Thônes began at 17:55 with arrival in Annecy P.-L.-M. at 7:05 pm. For winter sports enthusiasts and for special occasions, special trains were used if necessary.
In 1903 48,000, 1913 74,000 and 1923 75,000 passengers were counted. In 1917, due to World War I, passenger traffic was limited to one pair of trains per day.
In 1914, 12,097 tons of goods were transported in freight traffic, and 12,897 tons in 1925. The most important goods were firewood and construction wood, in 1914 also stones and grain. In 1925 973 t of wine and spirits were transported, i.e. H. more than 2.5 t per day.
vehicles
Locomotives
When the railway opened, there were three steam locomotives about 6.5 m long over buffers . The machines were built at Buffaud & Robatel in Lyon . These were three-axle vehicles, which had driver's cabs with front windows at both ends, like tram locomotives . Because of the tram-like operation in Annecy, the wheels and controls were initially covered on the sides. The side cladding in this area consisted of two rows of four rectangular panels arranged one above the other , which were apparently partly removed (top row) and later completely, in breach of regulations. Above, at the level of the kettle, there were five more square cover plates. All of these panels were probably initially painted dark green with a red border. The locomotives were later presented in black throughout. Such machines also ran for example at the Chemin de fer de la Banlieue de Laon (CBL) and the Chemins de fer de la Banlieue de Reims (CBR).
The locomotives with the numbers 1 to three were named Les Aravis, Le Fier and Le Parleman, after the river and two peaks near Thônes. A year after the start of operations, a fourth machine was added, but it was not given a name. It differed from the others by changing the cab windows. After purchasing this locomotive, two machines were in service, a third was available as a reserve and the fourth could be overhauled .
Regardless of the driver's cabs on both sides, the locomotives were turned after each run. The engine driver and stoker usually stayed in the rear driver's cab, but in the urban area of Annecy the driver always moved to the front driver's cab to better observe the route. Each front featured three copper kerosene lamps that were replaced by electric headlights in the 1920s. In the early days, property designations and vehicle numbers were attached to the vehicle fronts below the front windows - e.g. B. TAT N ° 1 - which later disappeared.
Passenger cars and vans
The vehicle fleet included six four-axle passenger cars on bogies , including one of the 1st class , two of the 2nd class and three mixed class. There were also two mixed-class two-axle cars in the same style. Due to the often problematic weather conditions, the front sides of the initially open platforms were clad and provided with three windows and a transition door. On the other hand, it was not considered necessary to equip the cars with heating. They were painted with varnish and so had a maroon color. This included two matching baggage cars, two-axle with sliding doors in the middle .
Freight wagons
The freight car park consisted of six covered and six open cars and fourteen flat cars . Without exception, they were biaxial, the wheelbase was chosen so short that they could be rotated and moved using the existing turntables.
Fares
In 1914, a single journey in 1st class car had to pay 2 francs and in 2nd class 1.45 francs. Tickets for the return journey cost 3.60 and 2.60 francs, respectively.
staff
The railway employed 40 people. In winter, the staff was increased by ten more employees to clear snow.
literature
- Peter Smith: The Thones – Annecy tramway . 2nd Edition. 2018, ISBN 978-1-72894-922-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carte postale - Bruyères-et-Montbérault at geneanet.org, accessed on August 1, 2019
- ↑ Il était une fois les chemins de fer de la banlieue de Reims at abonne.lunion.fr, accessed on August 1, 2019