Sunday, April 3, 2011

Streetcar Sunday - Limoges, France

Here's a photo from around 1900 of a great intersection with trams in Limoges, France.  Limoges had tram service from 1897 until 1951.  At that time, the system was replaced by trolley buses.
The Limoges tram system was built very quickly with six lines in its first year of operation.  In 1898,  its second year of operation, the system transported four million passengers. By 1928, route extensions brought the system to its maximum coverage of 20 km.

By the 1930s, trams had lost their appeal and were being replaced by trolleybuses. In France, Paris had set the trend by removing all of its trams. Other cities, including Limoges, followed suit. There has been talk in the last few years of bringing trams back to Limoges, but the idea has yet to gain widespread political support.

11 comments:

  1. I have to stop in every Sunday to get my fix of streetcars. This is another winner.

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  2. Oh, cool blog! Found you via Apfel. A few days ago I found and posted 2 old postcards of trolleybuses in Croydon UK. (They were never mailed). Looking forward to perusing your photos this week!

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  3. Wonderful postcard, such great detail. Love the trams.
    Judy

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  4. Vastly enjoyed your Poisson d'Avril series of cards, they are fabulous. And thanks for the history on that as well. The first of April was a bit subdued this year in France it seemed to me. It's a shame we don't have lovely cards like these to send to friends today...

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  5. Nice 'skirt' on the building in the center! While the street on the right looks legit, the one on the left doesn't quite look real, more like a stage set- even the people in the street seem odd, a bit of editing perhaps?

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  6. Owen,
    I'm so glad you liked the poisson d'Avril cards; they are my personal favorites.

    Archie,
    I don't think that street's been edited, as surreal as it may look.

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  7. That is a wonderfully detailed picture, once you click and enlarge you can almost go for a walk around the town - and you don't have to remember to look out for the trams either.

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  8. Streetcars make towns seems so romantic. I wonder if it felt that way at the time!

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