Chemin de fer de La Mure

Narrow gauge railway line in Isère, France

The Chemin de Fer de La Mure (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 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 26 October 2010, shortly before the end of the season, a landslide destroyed the Viaduc de la Clapisse and parts of a tunnel entrance. In June 2017, the General Council of the Department of Isère announced that the company Edeis had been chosen to repair the railway and take over its operation, with the aim of having it operational again for the 2020 season. Half the line eventually reopened in July 2021, from the top at La Mure as far as the viewpoint at Le Grand Balcon.

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 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 28 March 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.

No. NameWheels Arr. Builders DetailsDate BuiltNotes. E1 La DracBo Bo CGC/Thury 1903E loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942E2 L'IsereBo Bo CGC/Thury 1906 09E loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942E3 TailleferBo Bo CGC/Thury 1906 09E loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942E4 Obiou Bo Bo CGC/Thury 1906 09E loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942E5 Bo Bo CGC/Thury 1906 09E loc withdrawn 1933, dismantled between 1940 and 1942E6 Bo Bo CGC/Thury 1903Withdrawn 1933, since scrappedT6 Bo Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E locT7 Bo Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E locT8 Bo Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E locT9 Bo Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E locT10 Bo Bo ANF/SAAS 1932E locT2 Bo Bo B+L/Ren. DE loc, ex Voies ferrées du Dauphiné, Note 1T4 Bo Bo B+L/Ren. DE loc, ex Voies ferrées du Dauphiné, In working order but not in use, Note 1 B Decauville Draisine, P. W. Dept., acquired in 1966, in regular use Suisse Locotractor

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).

No. NameWheels Arr. Builders DetailsDate BuiltNotes. A1 CB/T H 1927Electric railcar, preserved, out of orderA2 CB/T H 1913Electric railcar, scrappedA3 CB/T H Electric railcar, preserved, out of orderA4 CB/T H Electric railcar, scrappedA5 CB/T H Electric railcar, preserved, out of orderA6 CB/T H Electric railcar, scrappedA7 CB/T H Electric railcar, scrappedA8 CB/T H Electric railcar, scrapped1 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1916Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex NStCM, acquired in 1986–1992, In service5 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1916Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex NStCM, acquired in 1986–1992, Out of Service10 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1918Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex NStCM, acquired in 1986–1992, Out of Service11 ABDe4/4SWS/BBC 1918Electric railcar, 400 hp, ex NStCM, acquired in 1986–1992, In service

No. NameWheel ArrangementBuilder DetailsYear BuiltNotes B27,B30 2'2' 1930 ex SGLMB3 2'2' ANF 1907ex Chemin de Fer Nyon–St Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1992B5 2'2' ANF 1907ex Nyon–St Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1992B23 24 2'2' SIG 1915ex Nyon–St Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985BC52 2'2' SWS 1918ex Nyon–St Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985B61 62 2'2' D+B 1922ex Nyon–St Cergue–Morez (NStCM), acquired in 1985B49,AB98 2'2' 1943 46ex Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB), acquired in 1998B32 33,35 ex Chemin de fer Aigle Sepey Diablerets (ASD), acquired in 1988B242 2'2' with balcony, ex Rhätische Bahn (RhB), acquired in 1993B243 245 2'2' with balcony, 74 seats, ex Rhätische Bahn (RhB), acquired in 1997

No. NameWheelsetsBuilders DetailsDate BuiltNotes. 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).

NStCM Chemin de fer Nyon St Cergue Morez
VFD Voies ferrées du Dauphiné [fr]

ANF Ateliers du nord de la france
B+L Brissonneau and Lotz, Creil, France
BBC Brown, Boveri & Cie
CB Chantiers de La Buire, Lyon, France
CGC Compagnie General Construction, St. Denis, France
CFMCF Compagnie Française de Matériel de Chemin de Fer, Maubeuge, France
D+B Dyle et Bacalan
FL Compagnie de Fives Lille, Givors, France
Ren Renault
Richard Etablissements Richard, St. Denis de l'Hôtel (Loiret), France
SIG Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland (now Alstom)
SWS Schweizerische Wagons und Aufzügefabrik AG Schlieren Zürich, Switzerland (closed)
T H Compagnie Francaise Thomson Houston (Nowadays: Alstom)
Thury Ateliers Rene Thury, Geneva. (Later: S. A. Ateliers Secheron (SAAS))