Besançon [3 : Beauregard Bregille]

These three residents of Besançon (France), interviewed by TV channel France 3 in 1972, did not know it existed. The editor of this magazine ...

... lived there in 1970 and 1971 and he didn't know. Funimag is an on-line magazine about Funicular Railways!

Personnellement j'ai vécu à Besançon en 1970 et 1971 et je n'ai jamais eu connaissance de l'existence de ce funiculaire!

Besançon has (more correctly "had") a funicular railway. It linked river and railway with the developing village of Bregille. click on the picture for a larger image.

The river Doubs is far left, followed by a local railway line; Bregille is the little collection of properties in the top right. The strange shape, like a white crop circle, is Fort Beauregard ( in English "nice view") ...

... built in the early 19th century when this bit of France was swapping ownership with Austria and Spain. The funicular, which built in 1912 and opened in 1913, ran across the top of the picture and is currently VERY difficult to spot on Google Earth etc. But here it is in its early days ...

... leaving the base station and ...

...arriving at the top. The line attracted significant interest in 1972, its 60th birthday year with a flurry of photos ...

... and that news report from France 3.

Three staff were needed; a driver ...

... who controlled the cars from the top; and a "receveur"  (conductor) in each car ...

... to collect the fares. By 1972 the hours of operation were significantly reduced ...

...and the cars were looking very "tired".

The service hung on until 1987 when it finally closed, despite having "modernised" the cars. Removal of anything useful happened in the following year.

The lower station plus one car (replica with no track!) remains as a memorial to the line.

The upper station is still remarkably intact and just about spottable on Streetview ...

... but better seen from a non google-viewed track alongside.

The "Friends" association would wish to rebuild and reopen the line, but ...

If you were to visit Besançon, you can take a footpath, the "Sentier de l'Aiguille" (The Needle Path) ...

... which runs alongside the track. Worth a visit?

But after such a nostalgia-fest, we need to report on the new tramway; a very different kettle of fish from the previous effort.

 Next Besançon blog : Friday 28th August