RJS1977 Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Looking at Google Maps/Street View during the Grand Prix yesterday I noticed what appears to be a disused railway line running approximately parallel to the F1 circuit between the tunnel exit and the chicane - see http://goo.gl/maps/bi4L It would appear it is now being used as the Boulevard Larvotto (which continues on the flyover that crosses the circuit just beyond the hairpin). I can remember the hairpin being referred to as "the Old Station" hairpin so that makes sense. I've done a couple of quick web searches but haven't turned up much on it so far, but can't help thinking it would make an amazing model either in the era when it was open or as a modern day layout assuming the line to still be open. It could have everything - running trains, working F1 cars above and below (the old Wrenn Formula 152 might work well for this!), yachts in the marina and spectacular scenery/buildings! Whilst this idea will never be anything more than a pipe dream for me, if anyone else can turn up any info I might see if I can put a plan together to post on here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Edited by me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Edited by me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 I believe the main line was transferred from open air to tunnel. There was also a narrow gauge rack railway. See photos at various places here and also a collection here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 Tree - thanks for the links. The picture of the train crossing the viaduct at Ste Devote is the sort of thing I was looking for - it also gives some idea of the gradient F1 cars face in the first sector of a lap in that that viaduct is way above the level of Ste Devote corner, yet within a few hundred yards, the railway is tunneling under the circuit! Getting a layout idea already though it's not going to be small! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 28, 2012 That is probably part of the former SNCF main line formation before the line was diverted into the long (3km according to Wiki) tunnel in 1999 - there are some useful pics here http://www.railfaneu...Monaco/pix.html I managed to find a good picture of it but the post self-destructed and now I can't find the link so as a consolation here's one of my pics of a steam hauled excursion on Le Train Des Pignes taken while we were holidaying in Nice back in 2000 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted May 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 28, 2012 Hello RJS 1977, It could well have been similar to the once quite widespread metre gauge network found in SE Provence and the Var region. The video below shows the sole survivor of this very scenic railway system. I've been on this line (it's quite local to me) and photographed it from a car (the line follows the river valley, and road for much of its course). It becomes a semi tramway in Nice and follows the street, possibly a bit like the one in Monaco. It is well worth having a trip on and takes three hours in either direction from Digne les Bain to Nice; it traverses some very wild mountains and loads of viaducts. I've been on that line as well, as you say it does get into some very impressive scenery. I was also in Monaco last year for the F1 qualification but that's another story :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 I wonder if the construction of the underground station ties in with the construction of the large hotel over the grand prix/road tunnel, I think that was completed around 1972/73, when the grand prix track was changed to go around the swimming pool and rascasse restaurant. plenty of shots of the outside of the station during grand prix http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/image/72048.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 Stationmaster - thanks for those too. It would appear that already the "new western entrance" in those pictures has been subsumed by the Fairmont Hotel and the new road tunnel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 28, 2012 I wonder if the construction of the underground station ties in with the construction of the large hotel over the grand prix/road tunnel, I think that was completed around 1972/73, when the grand prix track was changed to go around the swimming pool and rascasse restaurant. plenty of shots of the outside of the station during grand prix http://en.espnf1.com...mage/72048.html I think perhaps not. The first section of railway tunnel was apparently built in 1974. One of the original stations remained in use until the final, long, tunnel was built in 1999 when the new station was built as part of that scheme (I'm not sure what happened in, I think, 2001 when part of the new tunnel collapsed because I presume the other, surface, section had been removed by then. (It seems there were originally two stations - one called Monaco and the other called Monte Carlo but one of them was closed quite a long time back and the remaining one was re-named 'Monaco - Monte Carlo' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Remind me not to waste time providing answers to questions on RMweb in future. When I was a youth, it was customary to acknowledge things done on one's behalf, regardless of perceived relevance, or not. Apparently in the 21st Century such banality is not a requirement. And who am I to shed light on this region? I only live a stone's throw from the said location but personages from the UK are more "in the know" than yours truly! Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 when the grand prix track was changed to go around the swimming pool It would have been fun to watch before they made that change. Definitely needed the wet tyres. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 29, 2012 A bit more info on the old station http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11559661 http://www.joueftrains.com/ http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/liverail/supplement/denishooker/dhooker06.html and I still can't find the one on Flickr I lost last night, grr. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 If it's where I'm thinking of, the line to the west of the hillside (west of Rascasse) is used by the F1 teams for parking their trucks during the Grand Prix weekends. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Remind me not to waste time providing answers to questions on RMweb in future. When I was a youth, it was customary to acknowledge things done on one's behalf, regardless of perceived relevance, or not. Apparently in the 21st Century such banality is not a requirement. And who am I to shed light on this region? I only live a stone's throw from the said location but personages from the UK are more "in the know" than yours truly! Cheers! OldLugger - sorry, I didn't mean to cause offence! Thank you for your contribution too, which was very intersting even if not what I was looking for. Please forgive my oversight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted May 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 30, 2012 The main line through Monaco has been moved twice. I can't remember all the details but there have been articles about it in the SNCFS Journal. It would be quite a long time since the line was above ground at that location, I think. But agreed that the combination of rockfaces and tall buildings would make a sensational layout even without F1 racing cars. There is a thread on here about HTM. Imagine one of their Chapelon PLM Pacifics hauling the OCEM rake or the CIWL Pullmans on such a layout with plenty of the superb 1:43 scale models of French road vehicles from Norev and others on the streets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 OldLugger - sorry, I didn't mean to cause offence! Thank you for your contribution too, which was very intersting even if not what I was looking for. Please forgive my oversight. Much obliged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggesford box Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Cabri (www.cabri.fr) do a DVD cabride in a modern unit featuring Monaco. It is a while since I watched it (my copy is on VHS lurking somewhere in the garage). From memory it includes a fair coverage of the station including the large crowds dealt with during the Grand Prix complete with police and dogs on crowd control. Also a short bit on the new station in the tunnel. I can remember getting off at the old station. My companion was pleased to arrive as we shared the couchette with what Enid Blyton would have no doubt described as 'some swarthy fellows' and I think she was worried we would get murdered in our bunks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingUnderground Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 With the price of land and lack of space in Monaco it was inevitable. The new station has 3 through roads, the northern (eastbound) platform is an island platform. I don't know if the track now runs exclusively under french territory, going below the french town of Beausoleil (which has a totally invisible border with Monaco), as the railway is someway into the hillside and Monaco isn't the biggest of countries. You can still see the western tunnel mouths very clearly from the exotic/cactus garden and a short length of the old track bed leading away from them. Trying to follow the old alignment much beyond them through Monaco is a bit harder from up there, Monaco on a wet Saturday afternoon isn't the most glamorous of places. I speak from personal experience from two months ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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