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Miliana-Margueritte Tramway

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Miliana-Margueritte Tramway
Garratt locomotive with ore train
Technical
Line length9 kilometres (5.6 mi)
Track gauge750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Route map

Legend
km
0
 Miliana-Margueritte (PLM)
3
 Righa
5
 l'Oued Azif
7
 le Petit Drapeau[1]
8
 Oued Anasseur[2]
9
 Miliana

The Miliana-Margueritte Tramway or Zaccar Mines Tramway was a 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long steam and diesel powered 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge railway from PLM's Miliana-Margueritte station to the iron ore mines on Mont Zaccar in Miliana, Algeria.

Historical background and foundation

On 16 September 1874, the governor granted a 17-year general mining concession to Messrs. Dupin and Allemand.[3]

On 5 March 1888, the brothers Giraud, two bankers from Oran, received an extension of this concession until 1 July 1906.[3]

On 22 March 1904, the public company Société des Mines du Zaccar was founded in Paris.[4] The purpose of the company was the exploitation of mineral deposits and the construction and operation of all railways required for the transport of ores and metals for a period of 60 years.[4]

Operation

Arrival of a train in Miliana
Works
Train
Head office and shed

The operation started on 7 October 1904, with an initial production of an average of 300 tons of iron ore per day.[5] The production in 1905 already 87 879 tonnes.[6] The railway was accepted for public use on 18 September 1908 and publicly operated from 14 October 1909.[3] The transport volume rose until 1912 to a maximum of 227,000 tons per year.[7] In 1927, as a record even 293,870 t were reduced.[8]

The steam locomotive Jeanne could pull six large, funnel-shaped iron wagons filled with ore. These cars had a movable floor and transported 5 to 10 tons each.[9] The Societe Anonyme des Mines du Zaccar took 1912 one of the first eight-wheel Garratt locomotives in operation.[10][11][12] On 4 August 1926, a decree was passed, according to which the concession and modification of the operating conditions of the tram from Miliana to Margueritte by the Prefect of Algiers of 24 December 1925 were approved.[13]

The underground mine employed up to 2,000 workers, or about every fourth worker in the city of Miliana. The mine and its railway were decommissioned on 31 December 1975.[14] The mines and their railway closed on 31 December 1975.[14][15]

Locomotives

Old diesel locomotive in Miliana
No Name Manufacturer Works No[3] Year Type and Power
1 Miliana Saint-Léonard N° 1379 1903 0-4-0T steam locomotive
2 Château-Ronsin Saint-Léonard N° 1380 1903 0-4-0T steam locomotive
3 Jeanne Saint-Léonard N° 1430 1904 0-4-0T steam locomotive
4 Zaccar Saint-Léonard N° 1510 1910
0-4-0T steam locomotive[16]
5 Marguerite Saint-Léonard N° 1781 1912
0-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive
6 Kerr, Stuart and Company N° 3121 1918 0-4-0T steam locomotive
7 Kerr, Stuart and Company N° 3122 1918 0-4-0T steam locomotive
8 Adélie Haine-Saint-Pierre N° 1752 1936 0-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive[10]
9 Pierre-Noire Haine-Saint-Pierre N° 1783 1937 0-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive
130-1 Gmeinder N° 4040 1943 Diesel locomotive
130-2 Gmeinder 1943 Diesel locomotive
130-3 Gmeinder 1943 Diesel locomotive
200-1 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 106 A 1949 Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
200-2 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 106 B 1949 Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
200-3 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 106 C 1949 Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
250-4 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 125 1952
250-5 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 180 1953
250-6 CFD workshops in Montmirail N° CFD C 870 1961 Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 300 bhp Poyaud diesel engine

Literature and art

Abdelkader Hadj-Hamou (born 1891 in Miliana, died 1953) described in 1925 a ride on the tram in his book Zhora, la femme du Mineur..[1] He was son of the judge of the city of Miliana, court interpreter, professor of Arabic and almost 20 years chairman of the Grand Mosque.[17]

The Dutch painter Bart van der Leck has produced a large number of studies of the mines and their rail vehicles, which have been purchased, archived and exhibited by the German-Dutch art collector Helene Kröller-Müller.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Abdelkader Hadj-Hamou: Zhora, la femme du Mineur. 1925.
  2. ^ Jim Fergusson: Algeria Railways - Passenger Stations & Stops. SL 74, Rev. 4, 2002.
  3. ^ a b c d Jean-Pierre Vergez-Larrouy: Miliana–Marguerite: l'autre ligne francaise en voie de 75 In: Voie libre N° 15 of April, May, June 2001 p. 11 and p. 12-13
  4. ^ a b Constitution Mines du Zaccar. Cote de la Bourse et de la banque, 7 June 1904.
  5. ^ Le trafic de la houille et des minerais de fer à Alger L’Écho des mines et de la métallurgie, 7 September 1905.
  6. ^ Mines de fer de Fillols. Le Journal des finances, 16 June 1906.
  7. ^ Mines du Zaccar. 5, r. Jules-Lefebvre, Paris. In: Auguste Pawlowski: Annuaire des mines et minerais métalliques de France et d’Algérie, Annuaires industriels Heudelot, Paris, 1919, S. 128.
  8. ^ Mines de fer de Fillols. In: Le Journal des finances, 14 June 1929.
  9. ^ Les Mines du Zaccar.
  10. ^ a b A.E. Durrant (übersetzt und bearbeitet von Wolfgang Stoffels): Garratt-Lokomotiven der Welt. Springer-Verlag, 2013. S. 23 und 99
  11. ^ Pictures of Garratt Locomotives - 1.
  12. ^ Aktie der S.A. des Mines du Zaccar.
  13. ^ Algérie Lois, décrets, arrêtés. In: Les Annales coloniales, 12 August 1926.
  14. ^ a b Mohamed Landjerit: Miliana se raconte… Boq Lermiz (La sirène de la remise).(WayBackMachine)
  15. ^ Latifa Abada: Miliana: Nos ancêtres les mineurs. 18 September 2017
  16. ^ J.D.H. Smith: Mines du Zaccar steam locomotives.
  17. ^ Gadames: Le petit train de Miliana. 9. Februar 2018.
  18. ^ Bart van der Leck: Kröller-Müller-Sammlung: 'Mijnen bij Zaccar, Noord Afrika' (39 works).
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