The Tramways

Route of Tramways.jpg


QUEND-PLAGE LINE

The starting point of the line was Boulevard Maritime on the beach front when the tramway was used for the transport of building materials.  
The passenger terminus was a few hundred meters away opposite the Grand Hotel Bellevue, it consisted of a simple stone building with terrace, ticket office, waiting room and shop. At this time the area consisted of dunes without vegetation, the hotel and a small number of newly built chalets. 
The track continued along Avenue de la Plage on the southern edge passing a depot, consisting of a maintenance workshop, carriage sheds and housing for rail staff.
At Chalet de Diane the line left the road to avoid a curve and passed over a small viaduct before rejoining the rural road of Monchaux la Garenne, it then passed through the crossroads, later to be called Junction Fourrier, where it met the line that would eventually come from Fort Mahon.
The line then passed by the Chapel of Monchaux before entering Quend.
At the crossroads (Rue du Littoral/Rue de la Mairie) to the west of the church the line moved to the north side of the road (
Rue de la Mairie) before passing through the staggered crossroad into Rue des Ecoles where it followed the southern side of the road. It then followed Rue des Foraines on the southern side before crossing to the northern side of Rue Pont Gerville and continuing on via Avenue de la Gare to the mainline station.
In 1902 the route was adjusted to run from Rue Pont Gerville in a straight line to the station through the Marais de Quend avoiding Avenue de la Gare.

FORT-MAHON-PLAGE LINE
The line had its starting point at the Boulevard Maritime, with the station located approximately 875 meters from the sea, opposite the Hotel de Paris (Hotel Delalain) then a simple wooden construction on Avenue de la Plage.
Between the station and the sea there was a brickworks which was connected to the tramway.
Running along the entire length of Avenue de la Plage on the south side the line arrived at the crossroads of Les Sapins.
After Royon the line crossed the road to follow the northern side of the road, then reverted to the south before entering Routhiauville.
As with the Quend-Plage line, this change from one side of the road to the other was to increase the radius of a curve which otherwise would have been too tight for the train to navigate safely.
After Routhiauville the line follows the east side of Chemin Vert and Chemin des Bas Champs to reach Junction Fourrier where it joined the Quend-Plage line.


© Stephen Ramsay 2022