2024-02 - Blog Posts
The Mulhouse-Thann tram-train
Combining a suburban train service with the ability to navigate city streets sounds amazing. People can live nearer to the countryside, get frequent service into town, and, if everything lines up, commute straight into work without changes and avoiding the main station. The complementarity and opportunity to revitalise a branch line all sounds appealing... but a real challenge to implement. In France, only Mulhouse has truly achieved it.
Tram-trains aren't exactly rare in France: there are several lines around Paris, Nantes and Lyon have them (and many more had tram-train projects at some point). But, while the vehicles are capable of running in both modes, they are mostly used as a cheaper way to operate a line. The Nantes-Clisson and Nantes-Châteaubriant tram-trains, for example, which I have ridden, are just regional trains, running on heavy rail nearly all the way, and only stopping where the trains always used to.
Mulhouse is the only place in France to have true tram-train operations as described in the introduction: the tram-trains add traffic to line 3 between Mulhouse central station and Lutterbach, before switching to train mode and continuing on the branch line to Kruth as far as Thann.
The vehicles themselves are remarkable, as they need to be equipped for both streetcar and heavy rail operations, and each has its own requirements: lighting, horns, power supply, safety features... Mulhouse's vehicles are Siemens Avanto S70s, built in 2009-2010, and operated by SNCF as class U 25500. Similar units were introduced near Paris as early as 2005.
After that news post, back to Thann, for this view of the Thur valley and the Vosges mountains. On the day of my visit, I climbed here first, before continuing along a ridge to the Grumbach summit and down to the Grumbach pass, before circling back down to Engelbourg Castle which I posted about first. A nice hike, not too difficult - most of the climbing is done when you've reached the Roche Albert viewpoint. There's something to be said about why it's called "Albert's Rock", but I'll save that for another time.
The "Witch's Eye" - Engelbourg Castle ruins, Thann
For what it's worth, Prince Albert II of Monaco is visiting Thann in the South of Alsace this weekend, as he is also Count of Ferrette. Held by the Austrian Habsburgs for a while, the title was bestowed upon Cardinal Mazarin, a prime minister to King Louis XIV, following the French conquest of Alsace in the 1640s. A member of House Mazarin married the Prince of Monaco in 1777 and that's how the title ended up where it is today. I don't plan to explain the origin of the other bazillion oddball titles the Prince of Monaco holds...
It's just a pretext to mention Engelbourg Castle, built by the Counts of Ferrette in the 13th century on a hill above Thann. The French Counts wouldn't benefit from it for too long: as it lay too far from the German border to be of strategic value, the same Louis XIV ordered its demolition in 1673. But, as you can probably tell from the photo, something weird happened during the process. The cylindrical dungeon came apart in segments, and one of these landed on its side. For whatever reason, it was left there, creating a unique landmark known as the "Witch's Eye", as an echo to the "Witch's Tower" in the town of Thann, but all it reminds me of is Polo mints.
A short hike uphill from Thann, it also offers nice views of the valley and the vineyards on the neighbouring hills.
Sounds like a train, but isn't: the Saig to Titisee Rodelbahn
In fact, it's just a footpath. OpenStreetMap puts it at 1.2 km in length, and it's all downhill from Saig. A 165 m drop to be precise, which means an average gradient of nearly 14% - that is steeeep with four Es. In the winter, it should be covered in snow, and, with its four turns, you'd figure it would be a really cool route for tobogganing...
Well, that's what a Rodelbahn is, it's a sled/luge/toboggan track! If you look up the term, you'll come across summer Rodelbahns which are rides on rails (little roller coasters, I've seen one next to the Arzviller boat lift that I'll probably talk about one day, and the Bobbahn is a cracking bobsleigh-style ride at Europa-Park), but this is a natural Rodelbahn. Which runs on a hiking trail, so a few rules need to be laid out, such as pedestrians should hug the inside of the corners.
Most of the trail is in the forest, but once (if!) you reach the final stretch, the ride into Titisee with this view of the lake must feel incredible.
Notice on the left that the base of a pole has got some padding around it... That's not (just) for visibility in the snow! If you can zoom in that far, you might notice that the walls of the bridge at the bottom are padded too.
You'll probably be thinking "again!" once you've reached Titisee, but, as we joked with my sister, that "again!" won't come soon - you've got a long, steep climb back up to Saig first! Those numbers, 1.2 km and 14% gradient, aren't so amusing when starting from the bottom... And the train from Titisee to Schluchsee mentioned yesterday doesn't stop at Saig! XD
A last, albeit light, taste of winter for this season in the hills of Southern Schwarzwald. There should have been a lot more snow in this area in February, but still saw some, both on-site at Titisee, and in the distance, on the Alps visible from the village of Saig. With my sister, we walked through a snow shower on the way back down!
Not the first time we've been to this area. A train goes from one lake at Titisee to another at Schluchsee, with this cheeky station on the way:
"Taaaaaaake the train!"