rogerfarnworth

In November 2018 my wife and I stayed in St. Raphael for 10 days. On a couple of those days, Jo and I were able to visit the old Chemin de Fer du Sud de La France station site alongside the old PLM station. The modern SNCF station seems to me to be just as ugly as I thought it would be. The site of the old metre-gauge station is now covered by the Gare Routiere. The structures which supported the old line alongside the main PLM line remain and are now in use by small retail outlets. As far as we could tell the details given in the original version of the post below are all correct. I have just added a postcript and some photos. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/01/15/ligne-du-littoral-toulon-to-st-raphael-part-13-sainte-maxime-to-saint-raphael-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-48

On the same journey on 15th November 2018, Jo and I were also fortunate enough to follow the line of the D94 linking Tanneron to the site of its station, and then to travel along the D562 and the Avenue de Narbonne before visiting the village of Montauroux The result of these visits has been some minor additions to the post below, particularly some photographs. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-7-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-27

On the same journey on 15th November 2018, Jo and I were also fortunate enough to follow the line of the D94 linking Tanneron to the site of its station, and then to travel along the D562 and the Avenue de Narbonne before visiting the village of Montauroux The result of these visits has been some minor additions to the post below, particularly some photographs. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-7-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-27

In November 2018, my wife and I visited a number of the perched villages in the area around Fayence. As a result, I have updated one or two posts on my blog which relate to parts of the Central Var metre-gauge line. The changes to the post below relate to a visit to the perched village of Tanneron which sits high in the hills above the line. The village is a staggering 11 kilometres from the old station which bore its name. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-6-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-26

In November 2018, my wife and I visited a number of the perched villages in the area around Fayence. As a result, I have updated one or two posts on my blog which relate to parts of the Central Var metre-gauge line. The changes to the post below relate to a visit to the perched village of Tanneron which sits high in the hills above the line. The village is a staggering 11 kilometres from the old station which bore its name. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2017/12/03/ligne-de-central-var-part-6-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-26

This next post focusses on the three tramways which served the city of Narbonne. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/11/03/tramways-de-laude-tramways-in-narbonne

A few random bits and pieces which relate to the docks railways in King's Lynn .... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/11/06/kings-lynn-docks-branch-part-4-miscellaneous

This post has us arriving in Narbonne ..... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/11/02/tramways-de-laude-thezan-to-narbonne/

This post has us arriving in Narbonne ..... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/11/02/tramways-de-laude-thezan-to-narbonne/

The Tramways de l'Aude finally reached the Mediterranean coast at the popular resort of Port La Nouvelle ......... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/25/tramways-de-laude-ripaud-to-port-la-nouvelle-via-portel

I have reviewed my blog of 25th October, relating to the line from Tuchan to Ripaud, in the light of comments by Joseph Pestel and added his comments to the post referenced to Joseph and along with a link to this thread. ..... The changes can be seen on the original link. .... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/25/tramways-de-laude-tuchan-to-ripaud-via-durban

Thank you. Here is my next effort. I'll look again at the last post. The Tramways de l'Aude finally reached the Mediterranean coast at the popular resort of Port La Nouvelle ......... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/25/tramways-de-laude-ripaud-to-port-la-nouvelle-via-portel

Tuchan is the terminus of one of the branches of the Tramways de l'Aude. The line travels from Tuchan to Ripaud where it forms a junction with the line from Les Palais. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/25/tramways-de-laude-tuchan-to-ripaud-via-durban The onward route will take us on towards the coast!

This post carries a bonus! Two lengths of the Tramways de l'Aude in one post! Each is dealt with separately in the posts below. I hope you enjoy them. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/19/tramways-de-laude-fabrezan-to-mouthoumet http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/19/tramways-de-laude-les-palais-to-ripaud There is still a significant amount of the network to investigate!

This next length of Les Tramways de l'Aude takes us south of Lezignan-Corbieres. Some assumptions have had to be made about the route followed based on what appears to be the route in Michelin Maps of the 1930s. Since first writing this blog a number of helpful comments have been made and the post was updated on 26th October 2018. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/16/tramways-de-laude-lezignan-corbieres-to-st-pierre-des-champs

This next post completes the length of the Tramways de l'Aude from Carcassonne to Lezignan. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/13/tramways-de-laude-siran-to-lezignan-corbieres The post which follows will begin to look at the tramways to the South and East of Lezignan-Corbieres.

This next section is the length from Caunes-Minervois in the Aude to Siran in Herault. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/09/tramways-de-laude-caunes-minervois-to-siran Topography in this area means that road gradients and curvature at the time of the building of the tramway were such that at times the tramway had to find its own route. There are two such significant lengths on the tramway in the first part of its journey with the Departement of Herault.

In this post we travel along the tramway from Carcassonne to Caunes-Minervois. This is a pleasant meander through he countryside encountering small historic villages. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/19/tramways-de-laude-carcassonne-to-caunes-minervois.

While we were in France we were able to travel along parts of, or along full lengths of the lines I have been looking at in this series of posts up to now. On 6th September 2018 we travelled along the line from Fanjeaux to St. Denis and then crossed over to Lastours and followed the line from Lastours to Carcassonne. On 10th September we were able to travel along part of the line from Belpech to Castelnaudary. This post covers the line from Lastours to Carcassonne. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/11/tramways-de-laude-lastours-to-carcassonne This line passed through areas of significant industry in the early 20th Century. Areas which are now essentially rural but which in those days were primarily wealth generating. The decline of this industries and that of the tramway seemed inextricably linked!

On 6th September 2018, my wife and I visited a series of towns and villages in the Aude before visiting the Citadel in Carcassonne. We managed to combine an interest in ecclesiastical history (Saint Dominic and the Cathars) with some visits to spectacular castles and churches and two of the tramway routes serves by the Tramways de l'Aude. I have been working on the post below with a view to publishing it after travelling the route, which we did today. First thing in the morning, we walked the first 3 kilometres of the tramway which left Fanjeaux heading for Bram. We then drove the route of the tramway from Fanjeaux to Saint-Denis in our little hire car. We went on to follow another of the tramway routes, but more of that on another occasion! I hope you enjoy this post. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/06/tramways-de-laude-fanjeaux-to-st-denis

My wife and I are spending a week or so in a village to the southwest of Carcassonne in France during September 2018. A little bit of research highlighted the existence of a network of metre-gauge tramways in the Aude. These tramways were only in operation for a few decades in the early part of 20th Century. Other matters will take priority during much of the time that we are in the department but I am interested in these lines and have pulled together a blog which gives an overview of the lines and which is based around a French Wikipedia article about the lines. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/27/tramways-de-laude-overview-part-1 The plan is to look at the different lines in turn in future posts. Here is the first of a promised series of blog posts about the Tramways de l'Aude. It covers half of the line between Belpech and Castelnaudary. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/29/tramways-de-laude-belpech-to-castelnaudary-part-a This next post follows up the first overview of the Tramways with information which comes from the first of a series articles from 1961 ..... https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/31/tramways-de-laude-overview-part-2 This is the third part part of the overview and covers much about the locomotives and rolling stock on the line. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/31/tramways-de-laude-overview-part-3 This post completes the story of one of the lines of the Tramways de l'Aude. The journey from Belpech to Castelnaudary is completed by a run from Salles-sur-l'Hers to Castelnaudary. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/29/tramways-de-laude-belpech-to-castelnaudary-part-b

As a result of some kind help from a number of people I have been able to establish the actual route of the tramway leaving Lezignan for the south-eastern part of the network. I have updated my blog accordingly. The revised text and additional aerial image have been included today (26th October 2018) in the original post: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/16/tramways-de-laude-lezignan-corbieres-to-st-pierre-des-champs

Thanks Joseph. This is my next effort. .... Tuchan is the terminus of one of the branches of the Tramways de l'Aude. The line travels from Tuchan to Ripaud where it forms a junction with the line from Les Palais. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/25/tramways-de-laude-tuchan-to-ripaud-via-durban The onward route will take us on towards the coast!

Hello Joseph I think I have now corrected my errors. Thank you for your comments, they are much appreciated! Best wishes Roger

This post carries a bonus! Two lengths of the Tramways de l'Aude in one post! Each is dealt with separately in the posts below. I hope you enjoy them. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/19/tramways-de-laude-fabrezan-to-mouthoumet http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/19/tramways-de-laude-les-palais-to-ripaud There is still a significant amount of the network to investigate!