Chemin de fer du Provence

The January meeting of the Solent Branch on 15 January began with the branch’s annual general meeting. The Committee elected for the coming year were John Godfrey (Chairman), Denis Horsman (Secretary), Peter Ifiold (Treasurer), Dave Doulton (Internet), and John Goodrich (Ordinary Member).

The AGM was followed by David Mead giving a presentation of Chemin de Fer de Provence. The line was first mooted in 1861 when the idea was to connect the Alps to Grenoble. The route was to become known as “The Pines Line” which continues to this day. The name is derived from elderly women collecting pine cones and leaving the by the track to be transported to communities for use as fuel. The metre gauge line is 94 miles in length. It is not part of SNCF. The section from Grenoble to the spa town of Digne les Bains was not constructed. A more direct route to the south was built to standard gauge.

David took us on a trip up the line starting at Nice Gare du Sud using slides taken in the 1980s. Most trains are railcars but steam traction is used as an attraction between Puget Theniers and Annot using a 4-6-0 tank loco built in 1909 at the time of David’s visit. It has been replaced by a 1923 built Henschel. The line has 27 tunnels and gains height using spirals.

Our thanks to David for an interesting presentation.