In our many trips to Nice and Les Alpes Maritimes, my wife and I have seen a significant amount of engineering works, bridges, viaducts and tunnels all on lines which were neither part of the PLM network of standard gauge railways, nor part of the general metre-gauge network. It turns out that there were a significant number of lines operated by two main tramway companies in Provence, Tramways de les Alpes Maritime (TAM) and Tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL).
These tramways ran on metre-gauge tracks but had a loading gauge not much wider than the track-gauge. In many places they ran alongside roads or within the highway itself, but often they deviated away from the highway or their own formation.
The one which first drew our attention was the Sospel to Menton Tramway which was operated by the TNL. This is the story:
There were two different tram networks in the Nice area. The TAM network (Tramways of the Alpes-Maritimes) is part of the Railway of the South of France. The other network was the Tramway Company of Nice and Littoral (NL). This post covers the history of the entire TNL network. The other posts will cover specific lines on the TAM and TNL networks.
The tram from Vence to Cagnes-sur-Mer was part of the TAM network. I have already posted on this tram elsewhere, but I have included it on this thread for completeness.
The City of Grasse was at one time very well served by rail transport. Two tramways, one from Cagnes-sur-Mer and one from Cannes approached the town from the south. A PLM branchline also linked Grasse to Cannes. There was a funicular railway linking the PLM (SNCF) railway station to the town centre, and there was the Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France Central Var line crossing the town on its way between Nice and Meyrargues.
This next post covers the first part of the story of the TAM tramway between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Grasse:
The TNL tramway line from Tourette-Levens to Levens - this is the second part of the story of one of the TNL lines. As part of the blog, I have used what railway modellers sometimes call 'modeller's license' ... the freedom to use our imagination.
The first half of the blog follows the tramway that might have been built via Aspremont and Saint-Blaise to Levens. It was certainly planned.
The second half of the blog focuses on the route that was built, along the M19.