The latter half of the 19th century saw the increased mobility and growth of the urban setting, with growing industrial production and the expansion of cities, new means of transportation began to be explored. With booming populations, growing numbers of immigrants and workers, the need for an efficient and large-scale transit system was necessary. Whereas before, the citizens of cities like Paris relied mainly on foot travel, with instances of water transportation (along the Seine), with horse drawn omnibuses appearing in 1828 – the railways presented a completely new revolution in the life of the state, and specifically the city itself. With a widening distance between residential areas and the city’s commercial districts, and a greater necessity for transportation back-and-forth, new technologies came to the forefront.
Rail technology, which had been employed as a means of long distance transportation and held may industrial applications, was in the middle and later half of the 19th century introduced into the heart of burgeoning city centers. For Paris and Chicago both, long distance rail transportation had long before established itself as a means of moving between cities; Chicago most notably having emerged during this time as a railway hub, linking all corners of the United States. It was the scaling down of this means of transport, its refinement and specialization that defined it as a new means of structuring perceptions of the city and its dwellers. Quite distinct from regular rail transport, the elevation of this new mode (in Chicago’s case, quite literal) created a new set of norms for those seeking movement throughout the city. Yet a focus on European rail lines, Paris’ specifically speaks to a new vision of the city, reflected in the Universal Expositions and urban planning of the era. By tracing the development of inter-city rail, one can trace the development of a new means of viewing the city and the sense of freedom and potentially limitation that came with this change.
The Parisian Chemin de Fer, named La Petite Ceinture de Paris (The Little Belt) was the city’s first large scale rail intra-muros rail project. Begun in 1851, the Petit Ceinture ferroviale was seen as a means of addressing not only the growing population of the city, but the challenge of linking Paris’ five main rail stations, which were at the time owned by independent rail companies and had control of different lines exiting the city. Though an ideal solution, the concept for the Petite Ceinture, which has been proposed by Louis-Philippe as a means of centralizing Paris as a hub for the nations rails, was delayed for several years due to difficulties with acquiring funding. It was not until the rise of power of Napoleon III, that a financial agreement was reached. With each of the five rail companies in France contributing 1,000,000 francs each for the endeavor, they unified to form a ‘Syndicat de Chemin de fer de Ceinture’ which would fund and oversee the expansion of the project. With the finance for the line cleared on December 2, 1851, the Petit Chemin first saw growth between 1852-54, with expansion on the Right Bank, and finally saw its completion in 1869 as a closed circuit rail line, surrounding the whole of Paris.
The creation of the Petite Ceinture, promoted the notions of expansion and development on a miniature scale, just as the growth of national railways done in previous years. The circular shape of the belt, formed by the shape of walls which at this point still surrounded the city, was meant to foremost facilitate transport between five major outgoing stations. Whereas before goods had to be transported between these stations by horse and cart, the implementation of the Petite Ceinture offered a new and quick means for transporting such goods throughout the city.
Yet beyond simply moving goods, the Petite Ceinture quickly saw a boom in the number of travelers it had traversing the city. After its final completion the Petite Ceinture would transport thousands of individuals, as it saw its popularity increase dramatically between 1862 and 1867, (the year of the Paris Universal Exposition) and continue through to the 1900 Exposition. By the close of the century the Petite Ceinture played witness to an average of between 85,000 and 90,000 voyagers per day.
By the time of the 1900 Universal Exposition, the line alone was able to take on the 39 million visitors to Paris. By opening as many as 29 stations, which would circle trains in both directions every ten minutes, a new level of circulation and mass transport was achieved within the city borders. As a quick, though often loud and dirty means of travel, the intra-muros rail line nevertheless captured the spirit of technology and innovation that marked the golden expansion of the rail age. Before bowing out to the electric, modern and faster Metro system, introduced in the early 20th century the Petite Ceinture had revolutionized the mode of travel by almost all levels of Parisian society and brought with it a new way of seeing the city.
The Paris of Napoleon III, saw a stark rejection of the urban sprawl and unchecked growth that marked the Second Republic. In line with the remaking of Paris between 1852 and 1870 under the watchful eye of Baron Haussmann, the Petit Ceninture too created a new way of visualizing the city, and in turn, its inhabitants. Just as Haussmann’s urban planning sought to attack the problem of sprawl from within, by creating radiating sets of boulevard and providing order to a once chaotic system, so too did the Petit Ceinture - in its ringing of the entire city – in essence rope off the city and impose a new order. The Paris of Haussmann was a Paris which embraced iron and glass. Many of the main train terminals, such as the stunning Gare de Lyon (1855) and Gare du Nord (1865), were built specifically in this style as a testament to the advances of French engineering. The Petit Ceinture too, as an engineering feat, boasted lines which challenged standards for railway construction. With stretches of the railway on elevated tracks, white bridges with rails spanning the Seine, and many kilometers of track dug into the ground as to be unobtrusive to the surroundings – the age of the steam engine had integrated elegantly into the life of the city, promoting a vision of future technological advance.
Getting on at one of the eventual 29 train stops with nothing more than a ticket, an individual could open themselves to a stunning new view of the city. Along its 35km length, the train ran through slums, past meatpacking districts and alongside vast parks. Ducking under bridges and floating over the city on suspended tracks – the commuter could perceive the city as ever more manageable than before. Instead of traversing a maze of streets, both Husmann and the Petit Ceinture reduced navigation to a set of boulevards, or a swatch of scenes from a train punctuated by train stops.
One example of blur of images and breakthrough of technologies comes from archival footage shot by Jacques Melies in 1989. His Panorama from the Top of a Moving Train/Panorama pris d’un train en march, perfectly captures this new sense reality for the passenger. By attaching his camera to the front of the train, he films the route of the train as it enters several tunnels, traveling through and each time emerging into a new world of light. In this new world of technology, the camera just like the individual, is able to envision and create new worlds of opportunity. The individual, no longer confined to a quarter, possessed a new capacity to explore and control his surroundings. In upsetting the statuts quo of an bustling yet uncontrolled city, the train provided a paradigm shift by literally creating a sense of direction, and imposing a new order.
The phenomenon of the toy train also speaks to this directionality, the train provided the vector through which the city, the individual could be controlled and transported. Like goods and trade before him, individuals and later the working class, would too be just another part of this organized motion. The miniature toy train, like the miniature railway (literally small, as the translation of Petit Chemin implies) creates this vision of a microcosm of order and movement, imposed upon the 19th century city.
Yet in navigating the city, is it crucial to establish who was a member of just who exactly was a member of this new order. As with the universal exposition of the day, technology and advancement had a price. With first and second class ticketing options, the segregation of individuals meant that this taste of technology was something reserved for those who could afford the ticket pricing. For a time, it would appear that the future vision of Paris would be reserved solely for those with the material means. Yet as the demographics of the city itself began to shift, so too did the use of the trains.
Industrialization and manufacturing within the city itself, meant that the railways of the Petit Ceinture had always been connected with the world of manufacturing and the shipment of goods. Built to connect the primary train lines importing goods to the city center, the Petit Chemin saw a smaller scale version of this same distribution in the quick links it created between factories and workshops. On this basis, though the Petit Chemin had 196 voyager trains (with as many as 212 on the Auteil line), at least 148 more trains were meant specifically for the transport of merchandise.
It was with the introduction of the Metro and the greater reliance on rail transport to facilitate the movement of workers to disparate parts of the city, which created a new demographics of the Petite Ceinture. Rail culture and increasing ease of transport created a movement of workers outside of the city, and defined the north and western suburbs (with its rail access) as the domain of the working class. Despite the decay of the Petit Chemin into obscurity by the mid-20th century, its remnants within Paris – many of which are still explored and documented by groups of enthusiasts, hearken back to this original implementation of order and movement, tucked into the rhythm of the city.
Works Cited
- “CAMT: Syndicat des chemins de fer de Ceinture.” Archives nationales. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/camt/fr/inventairesaq/75aq.html>.
- “Histoire de la Petite Ceinture ferroviaire.” Site de l’Association Sauvegarde Petite Ceinture (ASPCRF). N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.petiteceinture.org/presentation85.html>.
- “Panorama From Top of a Moving Train - Georges Méliès - An in-depth look at the cinema’s first creative genius.” FilmJournal.net. N.p., 18 May 2008. Web. <http://filmjournal.net/melies/2008/05/18/panorama-from-top-of-a-moving-train/>.
- Ezra, Elizabeth. Georges Melies. New York: Manchester UP, 2000. Print. Pg. 61-63.
- Lamming, Clive. Paris Ferroviaire. Paris: Parigramme, 1999. Print.
Images
- Paris, Petite Ceinture 1898. Digital image. Http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Paris_Petite_Ceinture_1898.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Pitrou, Pierre, and Bernard Tardien. Le Chemin de Fer de Petit Ceinture de Paris. Paris: n.p., 1891. Print.
June 02, 2009, 12:00am
