Trams in Fontainebleau (CTF) was the public transit system in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 1896 until 1953. At its greatest extent the network comprised three lines.

History

As a royal town, Fontainebleau benefited from an early

Metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

tram system. The first tramline linked the

Château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

to the train station, and opened on 29 September 1896. On 20 August 1899 an extension was opened to Vulnaines. The third tramline to

Samois Samois was a lesbian- feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. It took its name from Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the fictional estate of Ann ...

opened in 1913. The initial fleet consisted of eight small two-bogie tramcars, capable of carrying 36 passengers, plus six trailers. The motor cars were equipped with two 25 hp motors which gave them relatively high power. In 1910, three more tramcars were bought (numbered 12 to 14); these possessed a Brill truck 2.4 m wide, and were capable of carrying 39 passengers. In 1924 the CTF purchased four tramcars from the

Tramway de Melun Tramway may refer to: * Tramway (industrial), a lightly laid railway for uses such as logging or mining * A tram transport system (public transport vehicles running on rails) ** The tracks which trams run on (also a section of reserved track for t ...

, these were subsequently sold to the Tramway de Cannes after a fire had destroyed most of Cannes' fleet. The 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 was generally well kept, the

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

was proving to be easier to operate and the tram closed on 31 December 1953.

Tramcars in preservation

Fontainebleau tramcar n° 11 is currently preserved in Paris by AMTUIR. The car was put into service around 1900 on the

and was one of the batch purchased by Fontainebleau in 1910; it was withdrawn in 1945. The tramcar was rescued from a scrapyard in

Maisons-Alfort Maisons-Alfort () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fort de Charenton, constructed betwe ...

and preserved on 26 October 1957.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tramway De Fontainebleau

Metre gauge railways in France Fontainebleau