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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
River Rhone, France
Above
: Post card view of Ville de Lyon - the ultimate paddle steamer for the
River Rhone trade, and displaying the hallmark of a typical Swiss
design - this time from Escher, Wyss of Zurich. Public domain.
The
River Rhone has always been a major transport artery from the centre to
the south of France but development was always constrained by flooding
and the shifting course of the river. Passenger transport on the river
was badly decimated by the advent of the railways and it was not until
1912 that the Compagnie Lyonnaise de Navigation et de Plaisance was
established and 1914 when they put their new paddle steamer Ville de
Lyon into the tourist trade between Lyon and Avignon. Ville de
Lyon, 56 metres long, was built by Escher,Wyss of Zurich, Switzerland
who were well established paddle steamer builders for the Swiss market
and represented a major improvement in opportunities for excursions on
the Rhone. The ship's life, already limited by the First World
War, was to be short. She sank on June 1st, 1923 in a collision with
the Pont du Teil bridge at le Teil near Montelimar. Today, the "improved" Rhone has reinvented itself as a major river cruise
destination. There are also numerous excursion boats operating out of
Lyon, France's second city.
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