The wild abandoned railway in the centre of Paris

[GentlemanJim]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24655733?SThisFB

[Nortube]

Franklin has the map of the Petite Ceinture at 1900 here:
[ Click here ]
The route can also be seen in Google Earth if you have the Rail layer turned on (More / Layers / Transportation). The 5/2004 view gives the best quality view

The only part of the line that I've seen is in the where it passes through a cutting in Parc des Buttes Chaumont before it passes into the Belleville tunnel. The path of the line can be clearly followed on GE after it crosses over Canal St Martin to the parc. The line crosses under the junction of Rue de Crimee and Rue Manin that border the north east corner of the parc. There used to be a triangular rail junction in this area, with Bellville station in the middle. This can be clearly seen if you look at the 6/1949 view on GE, which shows remarkable detail for the resolution. The south end of the triangle is shown here:
[ Click here ]

The photo is looking north and shows the bridge over the Rue de Crimee. The two main tracks are still in place, although there may be a little difficult to get a train running on one of them The south eastern part of the triangle is to the left of the photo and has no track.


If anybody is in Paris, I'd suggest a trip to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. It's a bit off the beaten track for tourists, although it's not that far from the centre of Paris, but it's well worth a visit. Located at Belleville, it's that kidney-shaped bit of green below the canal, just inside the north east part of the ring road. Although I've not been to Paris for a while, I try and visit it when I go. Look it up on wiki:
[ Click here ]

If the weather's good, I suggest a stroll along the Canal St Martin, perhaps starting at the Basin de la Villette (Stalingrad or Jaures stations). Walk east along the north bank until you get to where the canal narrows. Here there are two bridges to the other side of the canal - a pedestrian bridge and an unusual hydraulic road bridge - the Pont levant de la rue de Crimée - which lifts vertically. If you're lucky, you may get to see this in operation as it lets traffic to / from the Bassin. You get a good view if watching it from the pedestrian bridge.
[ Click here ]

The bridge is part of Rue Crimee. Cross the canal, and carry on walking up Rue Crimee until you get to the Petit Ceinture / Parc des Buttes Chaumont.