Of Interlockings And Other Machines ...: Track remains at Granville, 2023

Deutsche Version dieses Postings

Last year, during a vacation in Granville in Normandy, these track remains unexpectedly appeared in front of me:

Track remains in the pavement, Granville, 9.9.2023

When a little strolling around uncovered more old tracks, I became a little curious as to where these tracks used to run. An internet search turned up nothing at all; but in a local bookshop I found a booklet about an attack by German troops during the Second World War: On March 8 and 9, 1945, they attacked Granville from the occupied Channel Island of Jersey to capture coal and other supplies—details can be found in Wikipedia. In the booklet there is an American map of Granville, in which I have marked the railroad tracks in Granville:

On the top right, the tracks of the Granville terminus are marked in orange.
The red line marks the steeply sloping siding from the station to the port facilities.
At the port, there were three tracks each at Quai Sud (for loading coal) and Quai Nord (for other goods), as well as two tracks connected via turntables at Quai d'Orléans.

(Click on the map to open a larger version)

In a French blog, someone added a comment with the following explanations:

Trains linking the station and the port ran during the day. They were used to empty (or load) the ships' bunkers. This traffic came to an end around 1992. As the ramp up to the station was very steep, there were rarely more than 4 or 5 cars at a time. So there was a lot of traffic. The last steam freight traffic took place in 1970. The Pacific you see smoking is indeed at the head of a special train, which brought railway enthusiasts there in 1989.

Granville station

Old station building, Granville, 19.9.2023

Connecting track

Track remains north of station, Granville, 19.9.2023

Track remains towards Rue du Boscq, Granville, 10.9.2023

Track remains at Cours Jonville, Granville, 10.9.2023

Junction

Points remains near the junction to Rue Lecampion and die Voie du Pont Jacques, Granville, 10.9.2023

Track remains entering Voie du Pont Jacques, Granville, 10.9.2023

Some pictures of the above-mentioned special trip in 1989 at the entrance to the Voie du Pont Jacques can be found on the web here and here.

Track remains on Quai Sud

Track remains at the exit of Voie du Pont Jacques near Quai Sud, Granville, 10.9.2023

Track remains on Quai Sud, Granville, 10.9.2023

Remains of a capstan system and a crane track on Quai Sud, Granville, 19.9.2023

Remains of double points on Quai Sud, Granville, 19.9.2023

Frog remains on Quai Sud, Granville, 19.9.2023

Track remains on Quai Nord

Track remains in the port, Granville, 10.9.2023

Bassin a flot, Granville, 10.9.2023

Track remains at the bassin a flot, Granville, 10.9.2023

Remains of points at the bassin a flot, Granville, 10.9.2023

Useful track remains at the bassin a flot, Granville, 10.9.2023

Track remains on Quai Ouest

The map also shows three tracks at Quai Ouest, which were connected via a turntable and were probably moved by a capstan system. I have not seen any remains of these tracks, but I did find a picture of these facilities from 1919 on this website. The name "Le quai de grues à vapeur" there means "quay of the steam cranes".

Track remains on Quai d'Orléans