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Decauville Tramway at Exposition Universelle in Gent, 1913

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Stockton & Ione Railroad
"Depot du Tramway de la Societe Nouvelle des Etablisse­ments Decauville Ainé, Bruxelles 58-60 Bv du Nord"
Technical
Line length3 kilometres (1.9 mi)
Track gauge600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)

The Decauville Tramway at Exposition Universelle in Gent, 1913 (French Tramway de Decauville Ainé) was a temporary narrow gauge railroad with a gauge of 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in), which was operated during the World Fair held in Ghent from 26 April to 3 November 1913.[1]

History

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After the success of the Decauville railway at Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris, the Belgian subsidiary of the French company Decauville in Corbeil-Essonnes exhibited their products also at the Exposition universelle et internationale (1913).

Route

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The route passed amongst others the following stations:

  • Palais de Beaux Arts
  • Ville de Paris
  • Delhaize Freres & Cie ‹Le Leon›
  • Modern Village
  • Rue Belvedere
  • Chateau d’eau[2]

The Depot was between the Modernen Village and the sport fields.[3]

  • Palais de Beaux Arts
    Palais de Beaux Arts
  • Ville de Paris
    Ville de Paris
  • Rue Belvedere
    Rue Belvedere
  • Chateau d'eau
    Chateau d'eau

Operation

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Eight Montania locomotives of the Paris branch of Orenstein & Koppel and Arthur Koppel were used on the temporarily laid line. They could be operated with benzene, petrol, alcohol or petroleum. On the side of the engine cover they had a discreet lettering of the company 'Decauville', which was responsible for the distribution of this locomotive in Belgium.[4]

The operation was carried out by a 24-strong team of 10 locomotive drivers, 12 uniformed conductors, a railway attendant dressed in white and the train dispatcher.

  • Locomotive
    Locomotive
  • Engine drivers and conductors
    Engine drivers and conductors
  • Railway attendant
    Railway attendant
  • Tramcar
    Tramcar

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exposition Universelle (1913) Decauville tramway.
  1. ^ Davy Depelchin: "The Ghent Universal and International Exhibition of 1913: Reconciling Historicism, Modernity and Exoticism", in Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840-1940, edited by Marta Filipova (Farnham, 2015), p. 185. Partial preview on Google Books.
  2. ^ Claude Faseur: Gent geprent: Bezoekerstreintje.
  3. ^ Billen Jos: Tramway Decauville.
  4. ^ Catalogue "Locomotives 'Montania' au Benzol, a la Benzine, a l'Alcool, au Petrole etc, O&K et Arthur Koppel, Paris" with postal stamp of 15 March 1919.
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