The Tram Line

At the start of the 20th century, the Jura mountain comprised 400 kilometres of metric railway lines completing the main general interest lines such as the Andelot-La-Cluse line. On these narrow lines, the “Tacot” carried both goods and people both in the summer and in the winter. The first connection - Lons-Saint-Claude - opened in 1898, Champagnole to Foncine-le-Bas through Planches-en-Montagne in 1924, before closing in 1950. Tacots were beneficiaries until 1927. Later, breakdowns, derailing and delays, as well as the rise of automobiles sealed the fate of the “little train” in 1958 with the closing of the Morez-les Rousses-La Cure line. In fifty years, through their exchanges and their work, tacots marked the memories of Jura inhabitants and contributed towards building a heritage similar to that of the viaducts of the gorges of Malvaux.