Peculiar Paris Pod (4)

La Gare Est Compliquee

La gare possède de nombreux accès qui donnent directement sur la gare routière, le centre commercial, et les parkings de ce centre.

Les quais sont entièrement souterrains. 

À l'exception de leur extension, ils sont aménagés avec une décoration dans le style Andreu-Motte du métro parisien de couleur rouge, avec banquette recouverte de carrelage plat de cette couleur, ainsi que de sièges Motte blancs (rompant l'uniformité colorimétrique du style), et des bandeaux d'éclairage rouges. En revanche, l'extension des quais réalisée en 2013 à l'occasion de l'aménagement de la nouvelle gare routière, sont dépourvus de banquette et bandeau rouge : l'éclairage est assuré par des lampadaires et les sièges Motte, toujours blancs, sont simplement posés sur une structure métallique noire.

So, in amongst the exciting details of the station's fixtures and fittings, we can possibly glean the following. The very new looking bit of Noisy-le-Grand station ...

... was developed in 2013 to provide access to the new bus station (gare routiere). It involved extending the platforms, presumably under said bus station as here viewed from the eastern footbridge.

It is, of course, how public transport should always be, with modes fully integrated.

But there is no integration from this newer part of the station with the now abandoned Mini Metro, the Peculiar Parisian Pod.

For this we have to go to one of the gloomy brutalist 1960s exits from the lower floors of the "Arcades" shopping centre.

This is the as-built way to and from the RER platforms. To the left, as we gaze upon this welcoming entrance ...

... in the gloom of a now-removed canopy, we see the anonymous roller shutter that gave access to the closed Mini Metro. Later pictures show this access replaced by a mural and a locked door.

Clearly the authorities have long since given up any notion of rejuvenating the funny little trains, although it would have made an intriguing visitor attraction. 

But there have been official tours and, sadly, unofficial "visits" by graffiti "artists" and destructive vandals.

Any visit nowadays is bound to be both fascinating but depressing.

Escalators have been stripped, lifts are no longer operational and stairways are in poor condition.

Likewise, anything potentially saleable has been ripped from the control room.

But it is the vandalised pods that look so sad.

One lies half on its side having been tipped over "for fun" ...

... but the manufacturers logo is still visible here and there.

The RATP (Paris City Transport) logo can still be seen on some cars ...

... because for nearly a decade after M Pelletin's fall from commercial grace, RATP was required to keep everything in working order. 

But when plans for the Horizon site were officially changed, the remnants at the RER station were simply abandoned whilst the Horizon terminus was filled in.

Tin Traveller (You Tuber par excellence) ...

... was one who took advantage of official visits and he ended his vlog with this screen.

After struggling with a translation from French into english of the word "underground", fbb concludes that plans are in hand for a chic hybrid underground space - whatever that may be. There is an artist's impression on-line ...

... which rather suggests that it is not the sort of place that would over excite fbb's elderly heart - thankfully. It certainly offers no memory of what the Mini Metro was supposed to be.

Sadly. 

A revitalised Mini Metro would have been fun, but probably little used and certainly far too expensive to operate.

Quel dommage!

Another French failure is found around Paris.

Two SK 6000 lines were built at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The first was supposed to open on 1 May 1996 ...

... but the length of the line (3,500 m) created many technical problems making it impossible to open for public service. Line 2 should have opened in 1997, but it was never opened either. The project had a cost of 148 million euros before being abandoned. 

It was replaced by CDGVAL.

Other similar pod systems do exist elsewhere.

If ever you are in Shanghai, the under-the-river tourist line shows what Noisy-le-Grand could have become!

The Shanghai set-up is very familiar and it is good to see that it works and is used!

These are SK6000 cars, one step up from those at Noisy-le-Grand.

Terminus Turning Technology

This is a bit of an fbb guess, but note how he Noisy-le+Grand Mini Metro track slopes up as it approaches the terminus.

The long cable tuns at a constant speed, too fast for those awkward customers called "people" to leap on and off safely. So, as the pod approached the end, a ramp beside the car ...

... disconnects it from the cable. It then rolls, using its own inertia, on to the "carousel" (it may be grabbed by another lever???). After alighting and boarding at a funereal but safe speed the pod is re-linked to the cable.

One very fuzzy and very dark bit of video (a screenshot here, which fbb has brightened!) shows the large pulleys on which the main cable is turned. 

Look no Pods! They are disconnected.

 Next Superloop blog : Friday 8th March 

A Peculiar Paris Pod (3)

The Lost Horizon

The novel was published in 1933 and subsequently made into a film. 

Our Lost Horizon refers to the outer terminus of the Noisy-le-Grand "Mini Metro" at the failed development named Maille Horizon. To be exact, it was M Pellerin's development that failed when his company went bust, thus removing any immediate prospect of passengers for the Mini Metro.

There is now no sign of the outer terminus.

To gain some context, here is Noisy-le-Grand railway station to the east of the hexagon of roads the surrounds the town centre "facilities" including the "Arcades" shopping centre,

The tracks emerge eastbound immediately after the station and can be viewed from a footbridge.

It would appear that the tunnel was cut and covered to facilitate the building of said central area.

Yep, definitely cut and cover.

We now move west, in our imaginary drone, passing over that hexagon of town centre ring roads.

Here, past the "backwards D" shaped block we espy the train tracks emerging once again from the central tunnel (picture below, upper left).

We have already met the "backwards D" as an example of Noisy-le-Grand's "trendy" architecture; but we didn't see the ominous monolith in the earlier picture.

Weird?

It's a block of flats; not the HQ of the Noisy secret police!

So not scary, honest!

The map shows the Pod tunnel in blue ...

... and the RER tunnel in orange.

If we land the personal fbb helicopter on the road junction we can see today's set up.

It is under here that the Maille Horizon terminus was hidden. It hardly seems worth the effort for such  short Mini Metro distance but M Pellerin was nothing if not ambitious.

Before the apartment block seen above was built, this evidence of what was "down below" could be seem.

Apart from ventilation this was the right size through which to lower the pods as delivered.

We can see below the hatch as well.

In the clump of trees beyond can be seen the peak of the trapezoidal glazed roof of the terminus station building ...

... which ended up looking somewhat dilapidated and was subsequently demolished. From within it could be seen in pristine and unused marble-clad wonder.

Then later, closed and neglected but not yet filled in!

Piecing together various bits of video, it appears that the Maille Horizon station was the "depot" for the pods.

Other bits of video show visitors peering underneath the raised siding to look at the working bits. 

The pods were 100% mechanical and, below, the videoed guide explains how a little lever engages with a trackside prodder to open and close the doors.

Simple, easy to maintain and very reliable!

But, sadly it has all gone, removed and/or filled in and its remnants lost under posh pads for posh Parisians. 

Now we can only dream of a ride that once terminated at Maille Horizon. 

Our Pod swings round the gentle curve ...

... and comes to a slow crawl enabling us to exit to M Pellerin's super but never built shopping centre and business park.

One thing that pictures of the defunct outer terminus have shown is a bit more of the technology of the turn round.

We will add that to a look at the RER station terminus and see something of that area's proposed future non railway use.

Cheaper After 50 Years

From yesterdays list,  here are the things that are cheaper than they were in 1974.

GREY is the actual 1974 price

PURPLE is the price after 50 years' inflation

GREEN is today's typical price

£1.30 is for Tesco's sliced blotting paper. Wonderloaf advertised itself as "same price as ordinary bread" because it WAS ordinary bread!

Most electric and electronic equipment is now hugely cheaper than 50 years ago.

The picture from 1974 is of a Hewlett Packard Scientific calculator.

Good whisky was ludicrously expensive in 1974. Production methods account for some of today's savings!

fbb's grannie bought a colour telly a bit like the above. He visited her much more often thereafter until dad got one for home. Disgraceful - but true! If you reverse inflation, today's colour Tv would have cost £16 in 1974.

The fbbs' Fellowship meetings were preparing the "congregation" for next month which is a week after Easter. The Cost of The Cross and the way in which God prepared the Cross and Resurrection from the very beginning of the Bible are important thoughts and themes for the real Easter; much more important than fluffy bunnies or chocolate eggs.

 Next Peculiar Paris Pod blog : Thursday 7th March