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

9- The Rondeau, private lines and other interesting points.
All the pictures can be enlarged with a mouse click!
 

100- The level crossing on the U2 express way access road at the Rondeau.
 
We are now in the Rondeau neighbourhood, where many main roads around Grenoble converge. Here, if you come on the A480 from Lyon, you can go towards Chambéry by the U2 express way or you can take the A51 motorway towards Sisteron or Gap.
Our single line railway for Pont de Claix, Vif and Veynes must cross the express way here, as does the short Pierre de Coubertin road. On doing so, it becomes Leo Fournier Street as it enters the Echirolles district.
 
 
 

101- Automatic level crossing gates.
 

102- Google's shadow and the U2 down below.
 
 
It's Google that provides these images which are so difficult to take now. Who would dare to stand in the centre of the road to take pictures today! In the photo on the right, the shadow of the camera mounted on the roof of their car is clearly visible.
If we forget the express way that passes beneath us, and if we close our ears, the atmosphere here is reminiscent of a time when the railway went through fields. But it does take a lot of imagination!
Now we are on the outskirts of of Grenoble and are entering into Echirolles. To one side, small factories and warehouses, on the other side, the gardens behind the houses on the Jean Jaures avenue.
 

103- Crossing the bridge over the U2 at the Rondeau.
 

104- The buffer on the Rondeau private sidings.
 

105- Points on the Rondeau private sidings.
 
 

106- Two sets of points for three private sidings.
 

107- The three private sidings.
 

108- The first line going to the SMG.
 
 

109- Looking back towards Grenoble.
 

110- The second line in front of the SMG.
 

111- The second line crossing Gaston Monmousseau road.
 
 

112- The third line going towards another factory.
 

113- At the end of the private sidings, the buffer.
 
We have now reached the end of the Grenoble and Echirolles private sidings of the Grenoble-Veynes line. Although we are in an industrial area, here there is a countryside feeling from the gardens behind the houses on the Jean Jaures avenue. We are on the track going to Nice that was once was called 'the Alps shortcut',  or 'Alpazur'. It was the shortest way to Nice, but with a longer travelling time than the passage through Marseilles. It would be nice to carry on a little bit further! Let's go to 'Pont de Claix' at least!
 

114- Level crossing, Echirolles- Casino.
 

115- Level crossing, Echirolles- La Quinzaine.
 
 

116- Level crossing, Pont de Claix- Flottibulle, the swimming pool.
 

117- Level crossing, Pont de Claix- Les Olympiades.
 
 

118- Level crossing, Pont de Claix town centre.
 

119- Pont de Claix, the station and it's garage.
 
 
We will stop our trip south here, maybe some day I will continue the trip to Nice. But now, we are going back to to Grenoble to the junction with the Chambery line. There are still things to see on the new track. Afterwards, we can go back to 'La Capuche' to visit the old private branch lines that are still left, although they are fast disappearing.

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©Trevor Hornsby/Slip-Sliding 2012