Tramway de Fontainebleau

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Plan of the Tramway de Fontainebleau.

The Tramway de Fontainebleau (CTF) was a tramway system in Fontainebleau, France.

As a royal town, Fontainebleau benefited of an early 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in) narrow gauge tram system. At its biggest, the network comprised of three lines with the first one linking the Palace to the station from 29 september 1896. On 20 August 1899 an extension was opened to Vulnaines and a third line to Samois opened in 1913.

The fleet was made of eight small two-bogey tramcars capable of carrying 36 passengers. These were equipped of two 25hp engines which gave them relatively high power. current powered the tramcars by a trolley, as it was the rule on most tramway networks. Six trailers were also part of the fleet. In 1910, three tramcars were bought (numbered 12 to 14), these possessed a Brill truck, 2.4m wide. They were capable of carrying 39 passengers.

In 1924 the CTF purchased four tramcars form the Tramway de Melun, these were subsequently sold to the Tramway de Cannes after a brutal fire destroyed most of Cannes' fleet.

Both extensions to Vulaines and Samois closed in 1937 and the oldest tramcars were scrapped. The following fifteen years were uneventful and no changes to operations were made. Even though the tramway were generally well kept, the bus was proving to be easier to operate and the tram closed on 31 December 1953.

[edit] Tramcars in preservation

Fontainebleau tramcar n°11 is currently preserved at the Musée à Saint-Mandé.

The car was put into service around 1900 on the Tramway de Melun and ran there until 1914 when it was transferred to the Tramway de Fontainebleau]], it was withdrawn in 1945.

The tramcar was rescued from a scrapper in Maisons-Alfort and preserved on 26 October 1957.

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Tramway de Fontainebleau

[edit] References

• "Histoire des Transports dans les Villes de France", Jean ROBERT