Thursday, April 26, 2012

the Beaujolais railway, France



Mention of Beaujolais will trigger association with the wine, but like Champagne it is firstly the name of a region. The Chemin de fer du Beaujolais was a 92 km network comprising two metre-gauge lines both departing from the Villefranche PLM station. The Compagnie centrale des chemins de fer et tramways obtained the concession for the system in 1896 subsituted by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Beaujolais two years later.

The line from Villefranche-sur-Saône to Monsols, 48 km, served communities in the north of the Département du Rhône in the Beaujolais region. The line from Villefranche to Tarare, 44 km, served the mountains of Beaujolais and the valley of the Turdine in crossing the valley of Azergue, to the Ponts Tarrets.

The two lines closed in 1934. A history of the lines and their rolling stock is here

No comments: