Tramway de Deauville

Tramway de Deauville
Tramway de Deauville
Route length:	5.6 km
Gauge :	600 mm ( narrow gauge )
Legend 0.0 Tourgéville Avenue de la Republique 2.3 Deauville Touques footbridge and ferry Trouville

Freight train with building materials, 1895		Passenger traffic around 1900

The Tramway de Deauville was from 1876 to 1905 a 2,3 km long narrow gauge - Pferdebahn of Tourgéville of Deauville on the Côte Fleurie in Normandy in the department of Calvados .

history

The coastal settlements of Deauville and Trouville developed into vacation spots due to the rail link to Paris that had been in operation since 1883. From 1885, people were transported there by tram without a license.

The railway line was 2.3 km long and led from the suburb of Tourgéville to Deauville, from where a ferry could cross the mouth of the Touques River to reach Trouville . Horse-drawn wagons ran several times a day on the narrow-gauge line with a gauge of 600 mm. Originally the tram was intended for the transport of tourists, but since it did not achieve the expected success with these, it was mainly used by servants , maids , hotel staff and station workers. The low traffic volume led to the closure of the railway line in 1905.

The narrow-gauge railway is said to have inspired Paul Decauville to build his Chemins de fer du Calvados, which went into operation in 1891, with a gauge of 600 mm.

First World War

During the First World War , a light railway line was temporarily laid between the Trouville-Deauville station and the Croix-Sonnet hill in order to serve the numerous military hospitals and hospitals in the villas and hotels where the wounded were cared for. This 8.85 km long route was by train the British Army sail that of Baldwin locomotives of the type 4-6-0 were drawn T. Their operations were stopped shortly after the end of the war.

Second World War

Vandewalle-Feldbahn Mont-Canisy - Deauville - Vasouy
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Legend Mont-Canisy Tourgéville Clairefontaine Deauville Avenue de la Republique Stade de Deauville Avenue de la Republique Touques Trouville Hennequeville Cricqueboeuf Pennedepie Vasouy

From 1942 to 22./23. In August 1944, the German occupying powers operated the meter-gauge Vandewalle Feldbahn Mont-Canisy ^(en) - Deauville - Vasouy ^(fr) . It was mainly used to transport building materials for the construction of the bunker systems of the Atlantic Wall .

In June 1943, a freight train pulled by two steam locomotives derailed on the steep section at Chemin de Callenville. A leader locomotive has always been used in this area , and the rails were usually sanded to increase friction. On the day of the accident, the maintenance department had decided, for once, not to use sand, and the train drivers accepted the higher risk. There was also talk of sabotage . The derailment killed a woman who was crossing the street at the time of the accident.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Le Decauville de la plage de Deauville.
2. ↑ Les Chemins de Fer Secondaires de France: Département du Calvados.
3. ↑ José Banaudo: Sur les rails de Normandie. Breil-sur-Roya, Éditions du Cabri, 2009, ISBN 2914603436 , p. 275.
4. ^ René Courant: Le Temps des tramways. Menton, Éditions du Cabri, 1982, ISBN 290331022X , p. 43.
5. ^ Trouville-Deauville: Le train allemand de 1942/1944.

Coordinates: 14 ° 37 ′ 50.5 ″  N , 90 ° 30 ′ 53.1 ″  W.