Chemins de Fer de Provence 8 – Tramway in the Tinée Valley

The Tinée Valley – Pont de la Mescla to St Sauveur-de-Tinée

This line was 26.5 Km long and connect villages in the Tinée velley to Nice to Digne line of the Chemins de Fer du Sud which became the Chemins de Fer de Provence.

Like other lines of the Tramways Alpes Maritimes (TAM), the electric current was single phase. The civil engineering works (bridges, tunnels) were executed by the Department.

The line was built in 1911 and operation started on 1st April 1912. Landslides affected the operation of the line in the early months. The original opening was delayed from January to April because of landslides and on 2nd April a further landslide affected several hundred metres of track and destroyed power lines.

The line operated until July 1931.

There were three trains in each direction and the journey along the line took 2 hours and 5 minutes. Between Tinée (SF) and St Sauveur the line climbed 333 metres or about 1000 feet. As well as passenger trains, two freight trains would traverse the line, one in each way. These took about 2 hours and 50 minutes to travel the length of the line.

There are some pictures below.

References:

http://marc-andre-dubout.org/cf/baguenaude/tinee/tinee.htm
“De Nice à Chamonix les réseaux secondaires des alpes françaises” – Jean Robert – G. Fuseau (Montreuil) – 1961.
“Gares de la Côte d’Azur et du Haut-Pays Alpes-Maritimes” – Marie – Equinoxe – 2008.
“Les tramways des Alpes Maritimes” – Delaveau – MTVS – n°46 – 1988.
“Les voies ferrées secondaires des Alpes-Maritimes”- Riffaud – MTVS – 1978.
“Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France” – Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains – n° 146 – 1978.
“Tramways des Alpes maritimes (TAM) et Sud-France – Compléments” – Magazine des Chemins de fer Régionaux et Urbains – n° 150 – 1978.
Wikipedia