European Railroad Discussion > Paris Metro Train and Eiffel Tower

Fall of 2010 on a visit to Paris, here is a Line 6 train crossing the Pont de Bir-Hakeim headed for Passy.
Line 6 connects Nation in the 12th arrondissement with Charles de Gaulle - Etoile in the 8th arrondissement.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/15 13:48 by train1275.

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That tower was supposed to be temporary and torn down long ago.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> That tower was supposed to be temporary and torn
> down long ago.

Radio saved the tower. A tall tower was needed for radio, and later television, antenna's. While the tower was only meant to be temporary, the need for a tall tower for antenna's made Paris think twice about tearing it down.

That is a beautiful picture! When I get back to France in a couple years I will have to try for that shot as well.

Here is what La Tour Eiffel looks like from onboard the Metro subway, at least on a crowded one in 2013. 

Jim

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Very nice photo !....thank you for posting it.
Chris

That must be line 14 metro running in the first picture? Line to be automated now (work is in progress), so we will miss those units seen here. New trains miss something that these old ones have. Even is you don't mind the noise of the newer rubber wheeled sets and their efficient but uncomfortable atmosthere.

Did you know that Eiffel tower is just about only surviving-in-use structure of Eiffel left? Even this tower was built twice (and many times over later). Its modular, so changing parts does not mean dismantling the whole tower. Many other structures were not rebuilt, so they can not be used in feat of collapse.

Eiffel initially did not have money to build the tower properly, so it was made cheap and light. Once Parisians fell in love with it and wished to spare it from the demolition after 1900 World fair ended, parts of the tower were changed to more robust ones. I think the lighthouse and cool star effects were added sometime after year 2000 and can be observed every full hour when it is dark. Dfiinitely something to see!

The Eiffel Tower is a landmark known around the world.  It's a Paris icon.
 

Did not Eiffel do the interior structure of the Statue of Liberty? If so, it would be another of his structures still in use. Frank

McKey Wrote:
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> Did you know that Eiffel tower is just about only
> surviving-in-use structure of Eiffel left? 

If you go by the list in this link, I think there are quite a few still in use (although maybe the use has changed): 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel

Ray

Well, if you look list more closely, calculate how many were rebuilt to handle the traffic they were intented to carry! And how many of the nonrebuilt ones are not in use...uou may be surprised! 

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
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> McKey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Did you know that Eiffel tower is just about
> only
> > surviving-in-use structure of Eiffel left? 
>
> If you go by the list in this link, I think there
> are quite a few still in use (although maybe the
> use has changed): 
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel
>
> Ray

Time to throw in another Eiffel bridge (out of many): viaduct de Carabit, picture by our friend Focalplane. Finished in 1884 it is 565 meters ! long, 122 meters high and the longest span is 165 m, true engineering marvel for the time! Inspite of this this bridge is no more in use, because inherent structural weaknesses Eiffel could not foresee. Ok, they filmed one movie there where the train plunges into the waters when bridge collapses under it, but other than that, it is all quiet here. Below the bridge is an Eiffel museum, seen in the picture if you look carefully.  
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/15 03:55 by McKey.

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It is a spectacular structure. You can only imagine it's immense size from a photo. Standing underneath at the base and looking up is the best way in my opinion to really grasp it's true size.

It is a huge structure and maybe this photo showing the base can give an idea for those who have never seen it.

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Circa 1991 I saw the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Santa_B%C3%A1rbara_%28Santa_Rosal%C3%ADa%29
While its provenance might be in question, it was looking quite robust.
...Lorenzo