Tramways des Alpes-Maritimes

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TAM
Route of the Tramways des Alpes-Maritimes
Network of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France and the TAM
Route length: 149 km
Gauge : 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system : 6600 V / 25 Hz  ~

The Tramways des Alpes-Maritimes ( TAM ) were a network of tram-like local railways that served the hinterland of Nice and remote places in the Alpes-Maritimes department , located between the mountains and the coast . It connected to the network of the Chemins de fer de Provence .

history

A viaduct on the route to La Vésubie
Saint-Martin-Vésubie station

As part of the creation of a local transport network in the Alpes-Maritimes department, the Compagnie du Sud France was granted the concession to build seven local railway lines, all of which were declared of public use on February 10, 1906. These were the following routes:

The services of the TAM remained of a temporary nature because of the increasing competition from road traffic. The operation of the routes turned out to be very costly. As a result, maintenance was saved, which resulted in frequent accidents. In 1925 the operating company Compagnie des chemins de fer du Sud de la France got into serious financial difficulties, which resulted in the closure of several routes. A few years later, the last remaining routes were also closed, and in 1935 none of the TAM lines were in service.

technical features

All lines were built in meter gauge and electrified with single-phase alternating current with a voltage of 6600 V and a frequency of 25 Hz. For their time they were important objects of technical progress. Electrification was already considered a great achievement. The construction of the lines also allowed the development of a telephone network.

Route network

Pont de la mariée, bridge for the local railway at kilometer 16 of the Pont-de-Gueydan - Guillaumes line
Old bridge of La Mescla, on which the railway crossed the Tinée. Built in 1909 according to plans by François Hennebique .

The network consisted of the following routes:

  • La Vésubie (municipality of Levens) - Saint-Martin-Vésubie , 34 km, opened September 1, 1909, closed April 16, 1929
  • Pont-Charles-Albert - Roquestéron , 29 km, opened September 20, 1924, discontinued April 16, 1929
  • Pont-de-Gueydan - Guillaumes , 19 km, opened July 29, 1923, closed May 16, 1929
  • La Tinée - Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée , 27 km, opened April 15, 1912, discontinued July 1, 1931
  • Cagnes - Grasse , 25 km,
Cagnes - Pré du Lac: opened December 30, 1911, closed May 16, 1929
Pré du Lac - Grasse: opened March 1, 1911, closed May 16, 1929
  • Pré du Lac - Le Bar-sur-Loup , 3 km, branched off the Cagnes-Grasse line, opened on October 1, 1912, closed on May 16, 1929
  • Cagnes - Vence , 12 km, opened December 30, 1911, closed on December 31, 1932

Starting points

The starting points of the routes were often in the stations of the Chemins de fer de Provence  :

Connections existed

Depots

La Vésubie station, the start of the La Vésubie – Saint Martin de Vésubie line

Each of the routes had a depot:

the Cannes-Vence and Cannes-Grasse lines in Cagnes ,
the line to Saint Martin de Vésubie in La Vesubie,
the line to Saint Sauveur sur Tinée in Tinée,
the line to Guillaumes in Pont-de-Gueydan,
the line to Roquestéron in Pont Charles Albert and
the line to Bar sur Loup in Le Pré du Lac.

Rolling material

Two-axle motor vehicles

  • 1st class motor vehicle: A 101 to 120 (1909)
  • 2nd class motor vehicle: B 201 to 220 (1909)
    • Length: 7.5 m
    • Width: 1.9 m
    • Center distance: 1.98 m
    • Engines: 2 × 55 HP
    • U-shaped pantograph
    • Top speed 46 km / h

Motor car with bogies

  • Motor car 1st and 2nd class: ABM 151 to 156 (1912)
    • Length: 10.3 m
    • Width: 1.9 m
    • Distance between bogies: 5.05 m
    • Center distance: 1.48 m
    • Mass: 24 t
    • Engines: 4 × 75 HP
    • Pantograph
    • Top speed 55 km / h

Two-axle sidecar

  • Passenger car:
    • 1st class: A 3001 à 3014 (1909)
    • 2nd class: B 3101 à 3118 (1909)
  • Freight wagons

The railways had 83 freight cars in three types:

  • 33 covered cars
  • 31 open cars
  • 19 flat cars

literature

  • José Banaudo: Le tram des Vallées. Réseau des tramways départementaux des Alpes-Maritimes . In: Histoire des chemins de fer de Provence . tape 3 . Editions du Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya 2003, ISBN 2-914603-08-8 , p. 291 (French).
  • Jean Robert, De Nice à Chamonix. Les réseaux secondaires dans les Alpes françaises , Jean Robert publishing house, Paris, 1961, 102 p. Review
  • Jean Robert, Les tramways de Nice et de la Côte d'Azur , Verlag Jean Robert, 1988, 408 pp.
  • Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France , in: Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains, No. 146, 1978.
  • Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France - Compléments, in: Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains, No. 150, 1978.