The 141-R and the Central Massif

Auteur : Clive Lamming

Located in the heart of France, this very “massive” mountain range has always been a heavy obstacle for road and train traffic and is the main reason for the creation of long bypass lines either from the west with Limoges or Angoulême, or from the east and the Rhône valley.

The companies that historically built the French national network preferred single track for mountainous regions because they are cheaper to build. This choice involves winding routes and steep gradients, but also requires a large number of viaducts and tunnels.

The depot in the town of Le Teil, located on the line from Lyon to Nîmes via the right bank of the Rhône, shows the difficulty of allocating emergency depots in sparsely populated and difficult to access areas. The magnificent and generous PLM rotunda around 1920. The Rhône is in the background. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Collection Trainsconsultant-Lamming

OIL FIRED LOCOMOTIVES BECAME RARE

When the 141-Rs came into service at the Liberation, oil fired locomotives such as our 1187 (known as “goudonneuses”, as opposed to “charbonnières”) conquered the Massif Central and demonstrated their qualities in terms of power and, above all, very long autonomy. This was particularly the case for the 921 to 860 and 961 to 1020, which were distributed between the depots of Avignon, Le Teil, Nîmes and Blancarde. With the exception of Blancarde, these depots operated lines that run long distances into the Massif Central and are used by freight trains from the marshalling yards at Chasse-sur-Rhône, Badan, Vénissieux, etc., but it is mainly the ‘charbonnières’ that will be used on the mountain lines. The 141-Rs with ‘big numbers’ 1100 and 1200 from the Blancarde and Nice depots will mainly be pulling passenger trains along the Côte d'Azur, and will hardly run on the tough lines of the Massif Central.

Two N°141-R locomotives of Yves Machefert-Tassin who had a passion for steam traction, on display at the Vierzon depot in 1965.© IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Collection Trainsconsultant-Lamming

THE ‘CHARBONNIÈRES’ CONQUERED AUVERGNE AND AQUITAINE

With the arrival of the oil-fired 141-Rs, a large number of coal-fired locomotives were added to the Roanne depot's fleet for regular service trains to Lyon, Tarare, St-Germain-au-Mont d'Or, St-Germain-des-Fossés, Nevers, etc. The 141-Rs replaced the ageing 141-B, C, D and E trains, which were reaching the end of their careers. Similarly, in Vierzon, the 141-Rs took over the lines to Saincaize, Nevers and Tours. Finally, the massive presence of 141-Rs in Narbonne was noticeable as far as the depots in Châteaudun, Limoges and Brive. In the 1960s, the last decade of 141-R's existence, the Massif Central was mainly served by 141-Rs from Nevers to Clermont-Ferrand via St-Germain-des-Fossés, from St-Germain-des-Fossés to Lyon Roanne, from Roanne to St-Etienne, and south from Nîmes to La Grande-Combe. The route from Lyon to Nîmes (on the right bank of the Rhone) belonged unconditionally to 141-Rs. After 1974, the last 141-Rs were withdrawn from circulation.

A locomotive type 141-R-1 to 141-R-1340, oil fired and with four Boxpok drive axles, observed in Vierzon. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Collection Trainsconsultant-Lamming

Line network of the 141-Rs in 1963. This very interesting document from the SNCF shows that some regions west of the Massif Central, as well as the entire Pyrenees, offered resistance, which meant that no 141-Rs were running. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Collection Trainsconsultant-Lamming

ELSEWHERE, AT THE SAME TIME

142, THE BEAUTIFUL AUSTRIAN OF GIESL

Austria, a mountainous country in the heart of Europe, has a duty to provide the international trains passing through the country with performance equivalent to that of the networks in the lowlands.

GÖLSDORF'S GENIUS IDEA: REVERSE THE AXIS ARRANGEMENT

The gauntlet had to be taken up and engineer Gölsdorf tackled the problem, but he could not rebuild the railway lines: he was made responsible for the design of the locomotives. And here Karl Gölsdorf showed his astonishing capacity for railway innovation: in a simple way he turned the "Pacific" or type 231 around and made it a type 132. Instead of one load-bearing axle, an extremely heavy part of the locomotive, he placed two load-bearing axles under the firebox so that the axle load was reduced.

The prestigious 142 locomotive of the famous Austrian 214 series, N°1 to 13. This remarkable series was built between 1928 and 1936 by engineer Adolph Giesl. Rare glass negative from the H-M. Petiet collection. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Collection Trainsconsultant-Lamming

THE TRANSITION TO THE USE OF FOUR DRIVE AXLES

The new express locomotive of the years 1925 to 1935 was of the type 241, or “Mountain”. Engineer Adolf Giesl-Gieslingen designed a prototype 142 in 1928, which could pull trains of 500 tons on a gradient of 10 miles and at a speed of 50 km/h. The series 214, which succeeded the prototype, was without doubt one of the most beautiful locomotives in the world and left its mark on the Austrian and Hungarian railways. This is the most original of all express locomotives.

AN ERA

The remaining secondaries have died or are dead by the time the 141-Rs reign. This is a type 030 tender locomotive still running on the St-Gobain to Chauny line in 1975.© IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Document Jacques Henri Renaud.