The Bois de Boulogne is a large public park in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, located to the west of the city and opened in 1852. The tramway in the Jardin d'Acclimatation, an amusement park which opened in 1860 at the north entrance of the Bois, is of historical importance as it was the first line in France to carry passengers on a very narrow track, a gauge of 50 cm.
Our main postcard dates from around 1910 and is card 2202 from E.S. of 2 Rue Ménars, Paris. The small view below left, showing the earlier horse tramway, is an extract from card 47 of P.Marmuse of Paris and described in French as a "Miniature Tramway". It was posted in 1908. The third view is also an extract from a contemporary postcard.
In 1879, Paul Decauville, wanting to experiment with narrow gauge passenger transport, asked for authorization to construct a railway line between the Trocadero and the Military Academy for the Paris Exhibition. The authorization being refused, Decauville proposed a similar installation to the Jardin d'Acclimatation, which was accepted. A 2km circular track was constructed within the garden giving visitors a ride at 15kph. The line was popular carrying up to 3000 passengers on some Sundays, but for some unknown reason the track was quickly removed.
In 1880, another enterprise installed a new line going as far as Porte Maillot. This line had a loop terminus the length of the Fortifications, cut across the Allee des Fortifications and the route of the Porte des Sablons, then up to the Jardin which it traversed for its entire length. The outward and return tracks took slightly different paths in places. The curves were of 8 to 15m in radius. The total length of the tracks was 5km. The line was operated originally in little carriages seating eight, travelling singly or in pairs and pulled by two ponies. The passengers sat back-to-back on a longitudinal bench. The animal traction continued, it seems, until around 1910. (see postcard left and contemporary view below right)
Its operation was eventually replaced by locomotives towing three or four open carriages with transverse benches, all forward facing. Different models of locomotives were used: the first ones were built to resemble steam engines as in our main postcard view (top). Others had the appearance of Renault taxis of that era, whilst the last ones were more classic. All had a single driver's cabin behind the engine.
Around 1930, the line was made shorter at each end: the section within the Jardin was completely abandoned; then the restructuring of the Porte Maillot (construction of the underground passage) led to the transfer of the east terminus to its current position, along the road of the Porte des Sablons.
In 1945, traction powered by batteries was used because of the shortage of petrol. The same open trailers were then drawn by electric vehicles, the pneumatic tyres of which were able to run on the ground external to the rails. The former petrol engines nevertheless quickly resumed their service until in 1960, the date at which the Renault Factory delivered 7 new locomotives with two coupled axles clad as steam engines in vivid colours. These new machines, 3.05m long and 1.20 m wide, weighed 5 metric tons. Their motors of approximately 50 horsepower enabled them to attain 19 km/h. The trailers stayed the same as previously, light roofing being installed however around 1950. The locomotives were again updated in 2010 with new electric locomotives with steam outline.
Of the original Paris tramways, that of the Jardin d'Acclimatation is the only one to survive today, although now a miniature railway. It is also one of the oldest rail operations in the Parisian region.
Most facts for this article were from 'Les Tramways Parisiens' by Dr. Jean Robert, for which we are extremely grateful.
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