Blog Rogera Farnwortha

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The Nice, Cuneo, Tende Railway
Part 9 – The Short Golden Age

I am writing this article having just returned to Menton where we were staying in November 2025. We travelled to and from Tende which is the terminus of Zest Bus Ligne 25. There was little action to observe at the railway station.

The line from Nice to Tende via Breil-sur-Roya was closed until the beginning of 2026. The alternative route from Ventimiglia was still active but we did not see a train during the two hours we spent at Tende.

This is the ninth article in a series relating to the railway between Cuneo, Nice and Ventimiglia. In earlier articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Breil-sur-Roya and then to Ventimiglia, before looking at the line between Breil-sur-Roya and Nice. As we looked at the two routes we also looked at the history of the line over the period before it's opening in 1928.

This article covers the period from 1928 to 1939.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/02/0...-tende-and-cuneo-part-9-the-short-golden-age/

 

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Developments in Freight Transport – The Railway Magazine – January 1959

A, then, recent exhibition at Battersea Wharf Goods Depot of British Railways and British Road Services freight vehicles and handling equipment prompted a review in The Railway Magazine of January 1959, of developments in the handling of freight. The emphasis of the exhibition was on the improvement of door-to-door services. It was part of the broader Modernization and Re-Equipment of the British Railways plan launched in 1954, which sought to modernize and improve freight services in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Freight Transport Exhibition at Battersea Wharf Goods Depot in London was held from 28th–30th October 1958. It was a major showcase organized by the British Transport Commission.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/03/2...-transport-the-railway-magazine-january-1959/

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Some Railways in Quebec in the 1950s

The featured image for the linked article is a photograph of Saint Felicien Railway Station in 1959.

In the North of Québec, some 300 miles from Montreal, there is an area of extensive mining – deposits of copper, zinc, gold and cobalt wee being mined in the mid-20th century. In the first half of the 21st century, Northern Quebec's mining sector is a significant part of the province's economy, focusing on gold, nickel, lithium, graphite, iron, and copper, focusing on gold, nickel, lithium, graphite, iron, and copper, with major operations like Glencore's Raglan (nickel) and Agnico Eagle's Canadian Malartic (gold) leading the way, alongside emerging lithium projects in the James Bay region, leveraging Quebec's hydropower for cleaner operations and creating jobs in remote areas like Nunavik, despite logistical and environmental challenges.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/02/11/the-1950s-some-railways-in-quebec/

 

[rogerfarnworth]

The Railways of Barrow-in-Furness (UK)

Barrow was featured in The Railway Magazine in March 1959. The rebuilding of the old Central Station at Barrow-in-Furness which was virtually destroyed in the air-raids of 1941 was completed in the late 1950s. The replacement buildings marked another link broken with Barrow’s past.

Originally known as Barrow Central Station and the headquarters of the Furness Railway, it was, by the end of the rebuilding renamed Barrow-in-Furness. Early in the 20th century, the borough boasted ten stations. It had grown from a hamlet of a few farms with a population of around 100 to “a seething steel-town of 60,000 in under forty years.”

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/02/16/the-railways-of-barrow-in-furness/