Chemin de Fer de La Mure

Chemin de Fer de La Mure

A train on the upper viaduct at Loulla (Isère)
Overview
Termini St.-Georges-de-Commiers
La Mure (Isère)
Operation
Opened 1888
Closed 2010 (see text)
Technical
Line length 30 km
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Electrification 2400 V DC Overhead line
Highest elevation 925 m

The Chemin de Fer de La Mure (the La Mure railway) is a former coal-carrying electrified railway in (and owned by) the Department of Isère near the city of Grenoble, France, which lost its regular public passenger service from 2 February 1950 (although miners' trains continued until autumn 1962). It lost most of its freight traffic - apart from anthracite coal - in 1952, and even the anthracite ceased from 18 October 1988. However, the local tourist office had been chartering seasonal tourist passenger trains from 8 September 1968 and these developed steadily over the years, the line becoming one of the finest tourist railways in Europe with spectacular views over dams and lakes, and mountain scenery. Since 1 February 1998 the concession to operate the line and its tourist trains has been held by CFTA, now Veolia. The line can be reached easily by road from Grenoble, or by trains on the SNCF line towards Gap.

On October 26, 2010, shortly before the end of the season, a landslide destroyed the Viaduc de la Clapisse and parts of a tunnel entrance.[1] The General Council of the Department of Isère had expressed a hope to re-open part of the line from La Mure (this statement was on Veolia's website, in 2011 [2] but has since been removed); by 2014 no such reopening had taken place and it is unclear whether and when service will be resumed.

Train de la Mure)
Legend
0km Gare de St.-Georges-de-Commiers (alt. 315 m.)
 0,8 Tunnel de Ravinson (383 m.)
Tunnels et boucles de Notre Dame de Commiers
 4,8 Tunnel de Mollard (89 m.)
 5,45 Tunnel de Pré-Béron (255 m.)
 6,5 Tunnel de Commiers (129 m.)
 N.D. de Commiers (alt. 479 m.)
 7,2 Tunnel de Besat (89 m.)
 9,25 Tunnel de Pierre Villaire (89 m.)
9,8 Tunnel des Ripeaux (438 m.)
 10,9
11,3 Viaduc du Pivou
 11,7 Tunnel de Sallanche I (153 m.)
 11,95 Tunnel de Sallanche II (299 m.)
13,1 Tunnel de Serguignier (310 m.)
 13,5 Viaduc de la Clapisse
 13,5 Tunnel des Brondes (401 m.)
 14,4 Viaduc de la Rivoire
 14,4 Tunnel de Rivoire (50 m.)
 14,7 Tunnel de Gravaison (85 m.)
 15,65 Tunnel de Raux(30 m.)
 Station La Motte-les-Bains (alt 620 m.)
 17,0 Viaduc du Ravin de Vaulx (170 m.)
 18,1 Viaduc de Loulla (85 m.)
 18,95 Tunnel de la Tuilerie (136 m.)
 19,6 Viaduc de Loulla (110 m.)
 19,6 Tunnel du Loulla (36 m.)
Notre Dame de Vaulx
22,0 Tunnel de Combefolle (214 m.)
Gare de La Motte d’Aveillans (alt. 867 m.)
23,9 Tunnel de la Festinière "Le Tunnel Mystérieux" (1071 m.)
 Point Culminant de la ligne (alt. 925 m.)
Peychagnard-Crey (alt. 890 m.)
Le Villeret (alt. 881 m.)
30 Gare de La Mure d’Isére (alt. 882 m.)
La Mure Ville
Corps
Saint-Georges de Commiers station

History

The line was built between 1882 and 1886, to link Saint-Georges-de-Commiers and La Mure through a mountainous region of the department of Isère.

The 30-kilometre (19 mi) long, metre gauge line runs from La Motte-d'Aveillans and La Mure to a connection with the main line of the PLM railway at Saint-Georges-de-Commiers. The line was almost closed in the mid-1970s and if the country hadn't been suffering an oil crisis the line would have met its end. Its life was extended by fifteen years, which proved to be its saviour. Unlike many other lines this became a tourist attraction which combines an area of industrial heritage with some of the finest scenery on any similar line on the continent.

The railway was electrified in 1903, using a symmetrical current power supply with two overhead lines at plus and minus 1200 volts direct current respectively. In 1950, this non-standard system was replaced with a conventional power supply with a single overhead line at 2400 volts direct current. The branch line between La Mure and Corps was opened in 1932 and closed for passenger traffic in 1952.

Coal traffic ceased in 1988, and most of the coal installations were demolished, the coal being transported by road. The Matheysine coalmines were finally closed on March 28, 1997. The SGLM found a new vocation in providing a tourist attraction and as a result, there remain all of the line's historical installations, the workshops, forge, joinery shop, etc. The network's departure and arrival stations were dependent on connections with the PLM railway's Grenoble - Veynes line. The necessary facilities together with the transhipment platform for the automatic transfer of the coal from the SGLM coal cars to the trains operated by PLM (which became SNCF in 1938) were built adjacent to the PLM station, today the station for the Chemin de fer de La Mure. When last they operated, the trains of the railway ran at the leisurely pace of up to 30 km/h.

Rolling stock

Electric and Electro-Diesel Locomotives

No. Name Wheels Arr. Builders Details Date Built Notes.
E1 La DracBo-Bo CGC/Thury 1903E-loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942
E2 L'IsereBo-Bo CGC/Thury 1906-09E-loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942
E3 TailleferBo-Bo CGC/Thury 1906-09E-loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942
E4 Obiou Bo-Bo CGC/Thury 1906-09E-loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942
E5 Bo-Bo CGC/Thury 1906-09E-loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942
E6 Bo-Bo CGC/Thury 1903Withdrawn 1933, since scrapped
T6 Bo-Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E-loc
T7 Bo-Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E-loc
T8 Bo-Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E-loc
T9 Bo-Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E-loc
T10 Bo-Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E-loc
T2 Bo-Bo B+L/Ren. DE-loc, ex-VFD, Note 1
T4 Bo-Bo B+L/Ren. DE-loc, ex-VFD, In working order but not in use, Note 1
B Decauville Draisine, P.W.Dept., acquired in 1966, in regular use
Suisse Locotracteur

Note 1 : Part of a class of 10 electro-diesel locomotives, 2 are in service at the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ), 1 at the Chemins de Fer de Provence (CP).

Locomotive T7 in La Mure
Locomotive T2 in La Mure

Electric railcars

No. Name Wheels Arr. Builders Details Date Built Notes.
A1 CB/T-H 1927Electric railcar, preserved, out of order
A2 CB/T-H 1913Electric railcar, scrapped
A3 CB/T-H Electric railcar, preserved, out of order
A4 CB/T-H Electric railcar, scrapped
A5 CB/T-H Electric railcar, preserved, out of order
A6 CB/T-H Electric railcar, scrapped
A7 CB/T-H Electric railcar, scrapped
A8 CB/T-H Electric railcar, scrapped
1 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1916Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex-NStCM, acquired in 1986-1992, In service
5 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1916Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex-NStCM, acquired in 1986-1992, Out of Service
10 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1918Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex-NStCM, acquired in 1986-1992, Out of Service
11 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1918Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex-NStCM, acquired in 1986-1992, In service
Passenger cars

Passenger trailers

No. Name Wheel
Arrangement		 Builder Details Year Built Notes
ex-SGLM
B3 ANF 1907ex-Chemin de Fer Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1992
B5 ANF 1907ex-Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1992
B23-24 2'2' SIG 1915ex-Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985
BC52 SWS 1918ex-Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985
B61-62 2'2' D+B 1922ex-Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985
ex-Rhätische Bahn (RhB)
MOB49 2'2' ex-Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland-Bernois (MOB)
ex-Chemin de fer Aigle-Sepey-Diablerets (ASD), acquired in 1990
B242 2'2' with balcony
B244-2452'2' with balcony, 74 seats
A former coal wagon in the station at La Motte d'Aveillans

Freight cars

No. Name Wheels Arr. Builders Details Date Built Notes.
3 FL 1888-190610 Ton Coal-wagons, gondolas and side-door vans
3 CB 1908-1913100x 15Ton Coal-wagons and side-door vans
3 CFMCF 1932 10 Ton Coal-wagons and side-door vans. In total there were 373 10 ton cars delivered in 1888-1906 and 1932.
N10xx HBD 2 Richard 1961 23 m3, 21,4 ton, 72x coal-wagons and side-door vans, 20 wagons were sold to Madagascar and 5 to the Brig-Visp-Zermatt (BVZ).

Abbreviations - railroad companies:

Abbreviations - manufacturers:

References

  1. ↑ "Le train de La Mure ne circule plus". Le Dauphiné Libéré. 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  2. ↑ "En direct de La Mure". Chemin de fer de la Mure. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
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