Ligne de Saulieu/TCDO 0-6-0 Locomotives in France

Class 1 (Locobase 20490)

Data from Schneider Catalogue, last accessed 25 December 2018 at at []. See also "Histoire des tacots de la C(te d'Or", last accessed 25 December 2018 at [] for history, [], for maps and documents. Works numbers were 2456-2467 in 1891.

These engines were bought for the brand-new Ligne de Saulieu, which opened between Beaune a' Arney-le-Duc on 16 March 1891 over a distance of 42 km (26.1 miles or one marathon). An 30 km (18.6 mile) extension from Arnay-le-Duc to Saulieu was completed two months later. The final segment -- Saulieu a' Semur-en-Auxios--opened on 3 July 1895.

Relatively powerful for their size, the class served a typical tramway. The line featured tight curves (40 m), occasional steep (2.5%) grades, and rail weighing 23 kg/metre (46 lb/yard). Its right-of-way mostly paralleled local roads except where difficult sections such as Mavilly-Mandelot, Echarnant, and Lusigny-sur-Ouche required a route independent of any roads. Some of these projects required extensive engineering.The climb from Pommard (258 metres/846 ft ASL) to the Laucy Pass (topping at 550 metres/1,804 ft) ran up a specially constructed grade that covered 13,295 metres (8.26 miles). In larger towns, the railway ran right down the street.

Mixed trains consisted of two-three passenger coaches, a luggage van, and freight wagons--two of these ran in each direction each day in addition to several freight trains. In 1910 the Saulieu line was brought under the umbrella of the Tramways de la C(te d'Or (TDCO). Passenger service continued for another 24 years before the TCDO introduced buses, with only the Beaune-Arnay-le-Duc section remaining in use and operated by the SGTD.