Grenoble around the Railway.
-disused, forgotten, taken away or abandoned lines.

11- The old Chambery line from the Foch bridge to the Stalingrad garage.
All the pictures can be enlarged with a mouse click!
 

143- The old Chambery line under the Foch bridge.
 
 

144- A small part of the line which is missing now.
 
We are back to the boulevards of Grenoble, or rather under Foch Bridge. Here, one track is left, the other has been replaced by a cycle track. After the bridge, the rails were torn up as far as the pedestrian crossing where the General Mangin crossing used to be. Why? The photo below shows the crossing before 1967. The image, on the right, shows the same scene now, the keeper's house, of course, has gone,  but the other buildings are all there.
 

145- The General Mangin road level crossing in 1966.
 

146- The crossing now, with it's traffic lights.
 

147- The signal before the decommissioning of the line .
 
After our visit to the Mangin road crossing, and the remarkable Mangin 16 floor apartment tower, we carry on to Léo Lagrange street. The line has had several phases to its existence. The Grenoble-Chambéry service began in 1864. It was an important industrial development motor, with its many connections to factories and warehouses on the way. The 1925 exhibition, from this point of view, was very important. But with the 1968 Olympics, things moved up a gear. From 1967, the Chambéry line is moved south to Echirolles and Eybens and one of the two tracks is removed, but the other part continues to operate until the 2000s. Probably, the last user was Métalisère, which has now closed. The land is at the heart of the Vigny-Musset development. The part of the line which served Saint Martin d'Hères is no longer used after 1975.
 
 

148- We go past the Mercury hotel on the left.
 

149- In front of the Reynies retirement home.
 

150- Pedestrian access to the Reyniés-Lagrange bowling club.
 
 

151- The Reyniés-Bayard sports centre crossing.
 

152- Here part of the old Bayard barracks wall is visible.
 

153- A long gone signal.
 
 

154- Going past the disused AMS electrical construction factory.
 

155- At the end of the Léo Lagrange road, the 'LOU' building.
 

156- The LOU 1983 reconversion.
 
 

157- Stalingrad road with the LOU building on the other side.
 

158- The Stalingrad level crossing in 1967.
 

159- Going into a wasteland area in 2008.
 
 

160- A shed and tracks going to Balzac road in 2008.
 

161- In 2012, the shed has gone and the area has been landscaped.
 

162- Buffers at the end of a parking track.
 
 

163- Two sets of tracks, for Balzac and Jacquard roads.
 

164- Looking from the Balzac road the other side.
 

165- Going past the old 'Nord-Est' factory.
 
 

166- Looking behind us towards the Stalingrad road.
 

167- At the end of the road, the line goes through some flats.
 
We started out at the Foch Bridge went to the sidings and shed at Stalingrad road, then we left on the industrial track of Balzac road. In the image on the left, we can see a curiosity. The railway runs through a block of flats. The railway was there before the houses, so they had to put up with it. On the other side, the track crossed the Allies road to the Pacific water heater factory and a drinks distributor. The line is no longer in operation and the railway handling and sorting area is part of the Faubert Park project and the green corridor.
 

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©Trevor Hornsby/Slip-Sliding 2012