Miliana-Margueritte Tramway

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.

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

Historical background and foundation

On 16 September 1874, the governor granted a 17-year general mining concession to Messrs. Dupin and Allemand.[3] At the end of this period in time, the mines delivered a portion of high-quality iron ore for the 1887-1889 Eiffel Tower to the forges and factories of Fould-Dupont in Pompey near Nancy.[4][5][6] 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.[7] 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.[7]

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.[8] The production in 1905 already 87 879 tonnes.[9] 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.[10] In 1927, as a record even 293,870 t were reduced.[11]

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.[12] The Societe Anonyme des Mines du Zaccar took 1912 one of the first eight-wheel Garratt locomotives in operation.[13][14][15] 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.[16]

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.[17] The mines and their railway closed on 31 December 1975.[17][18]

Locomotives
Old diesel locomotive in Miliana
NoNameManufacturerWorks No[3]YearType and Power
1MilianaSaint-LéonardN° 137919030-4-0T steam locomotive
2Château-RonsinSaint-LéonardN° 138019030-4-0T steam locomotive
3JeanneSaint-LéonardN° 143019040-4-0T steam locomotive
4ZaccarSaint-LéonardN° 15101910
0-4-0T steam locomotive[19]
5MargueriteSaint-LéonardN° 17811912
0-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive
6Kerr, Stuart and CompanyN° 312119180-4-0T steam locomotive
7Kerr, Stuart and CompanyN° 312219180-4-0T steam locomotive
8AdélieHaine-Saint-PierreN° 175219360-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive[13]
9Pierre-NoireHaine-Saint-PierreN° 178319370-4-0+0-4-0T Garratt steam locomotive
130-1GmeinderN° 40401943Diesel locomotive
130-2Gmeinder1943Diesel locomotive
130-3Gmeinder1943Diesel locomotive
200-1CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 106 A1949Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
200-2CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 106 B1949Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
200-3CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 106 C1949Upgrade of an 0-4-0T steam locomotive
with a 180 bhp Willème diesel engine
250-4CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 1251952
250-5CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 1801953
250-6CFD workshops in MontmirailN° CFD C 8701961Upgrade 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.[20]

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.[21]

References
  1. Abdelkader Hadj-Hamou: Zhora, la femme du Mineur. 1925.
  2. Jim Fergusson: Algeria Railways - Passenger Stations & Stops. SL 74, Rev. 4, 2002.
  3. 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. Wonders of the World: Choice of the iron for the Eiffel tower. Abgerufen am 13. Januar 2018.
  5. P.P.: Fould-Dupont principal fournisseur d'Eiffel. L'Est Républicain, 4 May 2014.
  6. Francis Laur: Les mines et usines en 1889: étude compète sur l'exposition universelle de 1889. p. 399.
  7. Constitution Mines du Zaccar. Cote de la Bourse et de la banque, 7 June 1904.
  8. Le trafic de la houille et des minerais de fer à Alger L’Écho des mines et de la métallurgie, 7 September 1905.
  9. Mines de fer de Fillols. Le Journal des finances, 16 June 1906.
  10. 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.
  11. Mines de fer de Fillols. In: Le Journal des finances, 14 June 1929.
  12. Les Mines du Zaccar.
  13. A.E. Durrant (übersetzt und bearbeitet von Wolfgang Stoffels): Garratt-Lokomotiven der Welt. Springer-Verlag, 2013. S. 23 und 99
  14. Pictures of Garratt Locomotives - 1.
  15. Aktie der S.A. des Mines du Zaccar.
  16. Algérie Lois, décrets, arrêtés. In: Les Annales coloniales, 12 August 1926.
  17. Mohamed Landjerit: Miliana se raconte… Boq Lermiz (La sirène de la remise).(WayBackMachine)
  18. Latifa Abada: Miliana: Nos ancêtres les mineurs. 18 September 2017
  19. J.D.H. Smith: Mines du Zaccar steam locomotives.
  20. Gadames: Le petit train de Miliana. 9. Februar 2018.
  21. Bart van der Leck: Kröller-Müller-Sammlung: 'Mijnen bij Zaccar, Noord Afrika' (39 works).
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