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Until the end of the 19th century, the only means of land communication to reach our town was by mule track. The road we know today did not exist (the RD 559 was built in 1930). Cavalaire was therefore very isolated.
Railways first appeared in France in 1837. In the following years, 17,000 km of tracks were built by private companies (l’étoile de Legrand).
The PLM company built the line that linked Paris to Lyon, then to Marseille (1857) and Toulon and finally to Nice (1864) via the interior.
The construction of a railway line along the Var coast was therefore a great opportunity that allowed the human and commercial development of the entire coast.
It was the small company Chemins de Fer du Sud de la France that won the contract to build the first 80 km stretch of coastline between St Raphaël and Hyères. Work began in 1882 and lasted 8 years. 5 tunnels and 20 metal bridges were built to allow the installation of a metric track, which was easier to adapt to the complex topography than the standard 1.435 m gauge and less expensive to build (80,000 gold francs per km instead of 175,000).
At the time, the 285-metre-long Dattier tunnel was dug by hand, as the nature of the rock through which it had to pass meant that explosives could not be used. The local “mica schist” is a very brittle rock. There was no way of knowing how the ground would react to an explosion..
In those days the train was pulled by a steam engine. It was known by 2 names: “Train des Pignes” or “Macaron”. The first name refers to the slowness of the train, which allowed passengers to get off to collect pine cones (pignes) while the train was moving, and then get back on. The name “macaron” may have come from “Lou mascaroun”, which means “the black one”, or more precisely a person blackened by coal (drivers and passengers!).
After the great storm of 1932, which destroyed much of the coast, the engines were replaced by railcars.
During the Second World War the line was sabotaged and bombed, and parts of it were closed down. Faced with competition from the car, it was eventually completely dismantled in 1949 and replaced by a coach service. However, an old section of track between Nice and Digne, known as the Train des Pignes, is still in use, much to the delight of tourists.
Most of the stations of the Train des Pignes sitll exist. Their similar architecture makes them easy to recognise. They are now used for a variety of purposes. At Cavalaire, the station houses an exhibition hall open all year round.
The line is now used as a cycle path or a road, depending on the commune it passes through. : V65
