The fuel saving plan which led to the introduction of Trolley routes 163 and 164 was becoming a much grander scheme to have a large network of services radiating from the former Portes, the gates in the demolished Thiers wall.
On 16th January 1950, service 183 commenced from Porte de Choisy to Choisy le Roi (Rouget de Lisle). And it is much the same today.
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (10 May 1760 to 26 June 1836), was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the "Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin" in 1792, which would later be known as La Marseillaise and become the French national anthem.
And here he is singing his song!
And here he is at the former trolleybus terminus.
As before, there are multiple connections at the inner terminus of Porte de Choisy, many of which would have been available in 1950.
The broad PINK line is Métro line 7 and the ORANGE line is Tram 3b.
When the 183 started, the tram's ancestor would have been a further chunk of the Petit Ceiture (PC) bus route. And here is a modern 183 waiting to set off southbound.
The sleek and silent predecessors did just the same from the same layby!
Nearby, there is another link with the Trolleybus service ...
... the depot.
A tram depot until the 1930s, then a bus depot, then a trolleybus depot ...
... and then back to a very large bus shelter!
The route itself is lacking in anything of specific interest, being a thrash down the main roads.
Today's motorbi cross the boulevard Périphérique on an overbridge; we can only marvel at the Parisian traffic!
But most of the route lacks beauty!
The ride can be spectacular, however ...
... and a stop for Kentucky Fried Chicken could ameliorate the possible tedium.
Nowadays the 183 continues well beyond Choisy le Roi to run alongside tram 7 to Orly airport.
Alas, neither 183 nor T7 was in evidence when the Streetview viewer viewed!
But, here again, the early part of the route remains the same after 67 years of transport history. And, going back a bit further, it was tram No 83.
Plus ça change!
More on Paris Trolleys soon.
More on Paris Trolleys soon.
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Just a Quickie
The fbbs are off to the Isle of Wight to day for the funeral of an Island acquaintance. As the years progress, attending funerals (including your own) becomes statistically more frequent.
Yesterday, however,the Wightlink car ferry was in the news.
A fire broke out in an air conitioning unit on one of the car ferries.
The fire was dealt with by the crew and passengers were able to complete their journey.
Excellent work by the lads!
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Next assorted blog : Saturday 21st January
I like your articles on French trolleybuses! May we expect coverage of other systems when Paris series is complete?
ReplyDeleteOne of Michael Palin's travel programmes featured a remarkable trolleybus line over the mountains of the Crimea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Trolleybus. Now that really is something!!!
ReplyDelete