Questembert – Ploërmel railway line

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Questembert – Ploërmel
Old postcard from Malestroit train station
Route number (SNCF) :	471 000
Route length:	33 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	17  ‰
Legend Savenay – Landerneau railway line from Vannes - Landerneau 540.326 Questembert ⊙ (100 m) reversal of the kilometers Savenay – Landerneau railway line to Savenay - Nantes Kilometers from Paris-Austerlitz train station 545.5xx Doctor 550.780 Pleucadeuc ⊙ (54 m) 553.6xx Claie (40 m) 557,337 Malestroit ⊙ (66 m) 564.71x Oust / Canal de Nantes à Brest (46 m) 564,540 Roc-Saint-André - La Chapelle ⊙ (23 m) 565.92x Oust / Canal de Nantes à Brest (47 m) 567.24x Oust / Canal de Nantes à Brest (60 m) Chemins de fer du Morbihan (CM) from Locminé Châteaubriant – Ploërmel railway line from Châteaubriant CM from La Trinité-Porhoët Station of the CM 573,498 33,173 Ploërmel ⊙ (56 m) Ploërmel – La Brohinière railway line to La Brohinière

Railway keeper's house and Hotel de la Gare in Roc-Saint-André

Cycle path near Questembert on the old route (2009)

Engine shed in Ploërmel

The Questembert – Ploërmel railway was a standard-gauge French railway that connected Ploërmel with Questembert on the Savenay – Landerneau railway until 1991 . It ran completely in the Breton department of Morbihan , was single-track and not electrified. After the end of operation and the official closure, it was bought by the department and has been a long-distance cycle path since 2002.

history

chronology

• December 31, 1875: Establishment of public interest.
• June 27, 1881: opening as a state railway.
• June 28, 1883: Handover to the PO .
• October 7, 1947: cessation of passenger traffic.
• 1991: Freight traffic ceased.
• 1994: Formal shutdown.

construction

As early as 1862, the Breton MPs demanded a transversal through central Brittany between Vannes and Dinan via Ploërmel. The public interest in the Questembert-Ploërmel line was declared in a law of December 31, 1875. This line was built at state expense; a law of July 31, 1879 authorized the building minister to build the line. The Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO) , which already owned the Savenay – Questembert – Vannes – Landerneau line, was commissioned to take over operations on May 18, 1881, and it went into operation exactly one month later , the opening ceremony followed on June 27th. An agreement was signed on June 28, 1883 and confirmed by law on November 20, 1883, which handed the line over to the PO .

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ploërmel became a regional rail hub. The Ploërmel – La Brohinière line was built as an extension of this line , and the Châteaubriant – Ploërmel line was added ; both routes were opened by the Chemins de fer de l'Ouest , which were taken over in 1909 by the Chemins de fer de l'État (France) . A second station was built for the meter-gauge network of the Chemins de fer du Morbihan . Their route to Locminé with connection to Vannes and Plouay ran about three kilometers parallel to the route from Questembert; another led to La Trinité-Porhoët .

Decline

In 1947, passenger traffic was shifted to the road. Freight traffic lasted until 1991. On August 17, 1993, the General Council of Morbihan submitted an application to the SNCF to close it so that a road connection could be built. On October 17, 1994, the official closure was established in a ministerial decree . To avoid splitting the line, the department bought the entire area on December 15, 1994. In the following years, the track system was dismantled and a voie verte was created, which is intended for pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities. On June 29, 2002, the 33 km long cycle path between Questembert and Ploërmel was opened, as well as the 20 km from Ploërmel and Mauron on the route towards La Brohinière. The renovation cost around three million euros.

properties

course

The line began at the east end of Questembert station. It turned to the left and descended at 17 ‰ into the valley of the Arz , passed Molac , climbed to 80 m in the hilly country of the Landes de Lanvaux and reached Pleucadeuc . It crossed the Claie , led through the train station in Malestroit and descended into the valley of the Oust , which is developed here into the Canal de Nantes à Brest . She crossed the river in front of the Roc-Saint-André-La-Chapelle train station (municipality of La Chapelle-Caro ). She followed up the valley of the river and crossed it two more times, then turned into the valley of the Ninian and then climbed northeast to Ploërmel.

It was a single track and winding route with considerable gradients.

Buildings

The buildings and bridges were made of granite. Only the buildings at Ploërmel station are made of bricks.

service

passenger traffic

Passenger traffic was first taken over by shuttle trains that ran until May 10, 1907. Passenger traffic was stopped for the first time on March 6, 1939. He was resumed the following year, during World War II ; At the end of 1940, passenger cars were hung on the freight trains two days a week. Some time after the end of hostilities, it was finally stopped on October 7, 1946.

Freight transport

The route was originally laid out to enhance the agricultural economy, but the goods transported became more diverse. In 1983 a total of 32,000 t were moved, mainly electroplated products, sand and gas in pressure tank wagons. In 1987 the amount had already fallen to 24,000 t. In 1991 the freight traffic was stopped.

literature

• Jean-Charles Guimard, “Proposition d'aménagement sur la portion Questembert-Pleucadeuc: un example pour la voie verte”, La voie verte Mauron-Questembert (Morbihan): outil de development local et de mise en valeur du territoire traversé environnant , Magistère d'Aménagement première année, projet individuel, École Polytechnique de l'Université de Tours, 2005, 11 pp.
• Jean-Pierre Rigouard, "de Questembert à Ploërmel", Gares et tortillards de Bretagne , cheminements, 2007, pp. 43-44, ISBN 978-2-84478-609-8
• Jean-Pierre Nennig, Le chemin de fer de Bretagne sud , JPN, Guérande, 2008, ISBN 2-9519898-5-7

Web links

Commons : Questembert – Ploërmel railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• La Voie verte Mauron-Questembert .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglements, et avis du Conseil d'État, année 1875, p. 626.
2. ^ "N ° 8252 - Loi qui autorise le ministre des Travaux publics à entreprendre l'exécution des travaux de superstructure de divers chemins de fer: 31 juillet 1979", Bulletin des lois de la République Française, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, série XII, vol. 19, no 461, 1879, pp. 109-110
3. ↑ Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglements, et avis du Conseil d'État, année 18810, page 120.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Rapports du Préfet et délibérations du Conseil général - Conseil général du Morbihan, année 1881/08, p. 42.
5. ^ N ° 14217 - Loi qui approuve la convention passée, le 28 June 1883, entre le ministre des Travaux publics, et la Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans: November 20, 1883 », Bulletin des lois de la République Française, Paris , Imprimerie Nationale, série XII, vol. 28, no 834, 1884, pp. 352-359
6. ^ ^{A b} Jean-Pierre Rigouard, "De Questembert à Ploërmel", Gares et tortillards de Bretagne , cheminements, 2007 ISBN 978-2-84478-609-8 , p. 43
7. ^ Journal Officiel de la république Française v. October 25, 1994, p. 15 149.
8. ↑ Guillaume Moingeon, Artisans bretons, Gens d'ici , Cheminements, 2002 ISBN 978-2-914474-42-9 , pp. 59-60