European Railroad Discussion > Versailles Palace

At the northwest boundary of the Versailles park at the crossing of Rue du Docteur Valliant with a lightly used rail line ,there is a gate that allows access to the palace grounds, although it is quite a walk from the gate to the palace. The rail line in that vicinity that seems to get little or no use. It seems to have been left in place to service a nearby government depot. It seems to be totally overgrown until it reaches the town of Noisy-le-roi where it is a very well maintained commuter line. What is the function of the tracks in the Versailles palace area and how often are they used?
Thank you

I doubt there's much current function - the former function was as part of Paris's Grand Ceinture or big ring (though perhaps better translated as outer circle in contast to the petit ceinture - small ring/inner circle). The Grande Ceinture was built mostly as a freight by-pass for Paris. Much of it is still in use, but the westernmost part has no traffic.

Thanks for the info - it all makes sense now that I looked at the bigger picture. Isn't Google Earth wonderful along with Babel translation? I was able to look a photos of the St. Cyr Station and use Google steet view to 'railfan' the area.

Happy to help.