Metre Gauge Railways in Southern France - The Central Var Line

[rogerfarnworth]

My wife and I travel each year to Nice or other towns/cities in Provence and on the Cote d'Azur. Out of these regular Autumn visits has grown an interest in the extensive network of metre-gauge lines which all were lost by the late 1950s with the exception of the Nice to Digne line.

I have provided a series of posts about some of these lines on the international section of this forum, but realise that the international section is primarily about present day railways. Would members like to see these posts in the Railway History and Nostaglia scection of the forum as well.

The post below is the first in the series about the Central Var line of Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de La France. ...

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/20/ligne-de-central-var-part-1

[rogerfarnworth]

A second post in a series about the Central Var line in Provence:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/ligne-de-central-var-part-2-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-14

[rogerfarnworth]

The next length of the Central Var Line takes us from Vence to Le Pont de Loup, the iconic viaduct which for many people defines the line:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/ligne-de-central-var-part-3-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-18

[rogerfarnworth]

This fourth post covers the length of the line from Le Pont de Loup to Grasse.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/ligne-de-central-var-part-4-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-19

[trainforfun]

Thanks Roger ,
I went many times to Nice and the area and never went that way , hope to travel again in that part of the French Riviera and having the time to go in that area .

[rogerfarnworth]

The Central Var line of Les Chemins de Fer du Sud de La France continues westward. This length runs from the station in Grasse to Peymeinade:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/ligne-de-central-var-part-5-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-25

[rogerfarnworth]

This next length of the Central Var line runs from Peymeinade to Tanneron. After the invasion by allied forces in 1944 and the destruction by retreating German forces of a number of Viaducts, Tanneron became the eastern terminus of the Central Var line and renmained so until full closure of the line early in 1950.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-6-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-26

[p51]

My wife and I a trip cross the pond in 2018 and I really wish I could have seen more trains like that. Other than riding the tube in London, the Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Nord, and the SNCF from Paris to Bayeux and back, I didn't get to rid any other trains (and oddly didn't see many others running). We stopped in several coastal towns in the northern Med, but didn't see any trains moving around. I saw what looked at a distance like a line blasted out of the rock wall near Marseilles, but didn't see any trains on it.

[rogerfarnworth]

A further length of the Central Var Meter Gauge Line ..................

The next length of the line starts at Tanneron and finishes at Seillans:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-7-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-27

[rogerfarnworth]

Our survey of the Central Var Metre-Gauge Line continues with the length from Seillans to Claviers ....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/ligne-de-central-var-part-8-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-28

[rogerfarnworth]

The journey along the Central Var metre-gauge line continues from Claviers to Figanieres.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/ligne-de-central-var-part-9-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-29

[rogerfarnworth]

In this next post we reach Draguignan which very quickly became the premier town on the Nice to Meyrargues line.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/ligne-de-central-var-part-10-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-30

[rogerfarnworth]

And from Draguignan to Lorgues

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/ligne-de-central-var-part-11-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-31

[rogerfarnworth]

The journey along the Central Var Metre-Gauge line between Nice and Meyrargues continues with the length from Lorgues to Sillans-la-Cascade:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/ligne-de-central-var-part-12-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-32

[rogerfarnworth]

The next length of the Central Var line runs from Sillans-la-Cascade to Barjols:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/ligne-de-central-var-part-13-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-33