Paris Metro

Classic Sprague Stock on lines 2,3b,5,8,9,12, Articulated Stock, Steel-Wheeled Stock MF67 and MF77, Rubber-Tyre Stock MP55, MP59 and MP73, Montmartre Funicular, Montparnasse-Bienvenue Traveler, Mirabeau Station etc. This DVD was filmed on four separate visits to Paris between 1976 and 1987, the earlier ones specifically to record the famous classic Sprague Stock in sound and vision, the design of which dated from the early years of the system. Contrary to popular belief, only lines 1, 4, 6 and 11 are worked by rubber-tyred trains. The other nine lines and two shuttles are worked with conventional trains. The first part of this DVD, filmed in 1976, captures the atmosphere of the Paris Metro as seen by a tourist using it to visit popular locations such as Sacre-Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, the Opera, Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Sprague Stock is seen on lines 2, 5 and S. The stock and the Montparnasse-Bienvenue Traveler. The next section was filmed with live sound in 1980 with Sprague Stock featured on lines 2, 3b, 9 and 12. The hissing air and the tram-like motor noise is particularly evocative. The noisy MA52 Articulated Stock of 1952 is seen on line 10, together with the unique station at Mirabeau where outbound trains pass the inbound platform at speed on a ramp. By this time the latest steel-wheeled MF77 Stock had appeared on line 13. Film shot in 1987 completes this presentation, visiting many interesting locations. These include the sharpe curve at Bastille on line 1, together with forward views travelling the section of line 5 between Quai de la Rapee, over the Seine to Gare D'Austerlitz where the Metro station is above the main line platforms, and the elevated section of line 6 to the south of the city.